Missouri Football: What to make of Kelly Bryant’s debut against Wyoming

Kelly Bryant’s career with Missouri football got off to an interesting start with a loss at Wyoming. What should we make of his performance, though?

Losing to Wyoming isn’t the best way to start a career at a new Power Five program, but it wasn’t all Kelly Bryant’s fault. While if you looked at the stat comparison between the teams, you’d be led to believe Missouri dominated, but a final score of 37-31 in favor of the Cowboys was the reality.

So Bryant must have been terrible, right?

Not so much. He finished with 423 passing yards and two touchdowns with one interception and a fumble lost. His turnovers were critical and contributed to a couple of momentum swings, but it still shouldn’t overshadow an otherwise productive day from the Clemson transfer.

Those mistakes were hard to stomach, though. His first was a fumble he coughed up that was returned for Wyoming’s first touchdown to halt Missouri’s momentum with a 14-3 lead and driving and flip it the other way.

And then there was this ill-advised throw across the field in the end zone with his Tigers down 10 points in the third quarter.

Bryant’s receiver wasn’t even close to being open (maybe if he led him to the pylon) and he threw across his body in double-coverage. He needs to clean up these mistakes and stop trying to be the hero if he’s going to have success at Missouri. He needs to play within himself and realize the situation. Yes, it was third-and-goal, but throwing it away and settling for a field goal is better than a turnover and momentum swing.

The two turnovers were tough and will stand out despite the fact that he put up a career-high for total yardage and had two touchdowns through the air. While that may not be fair, it just shows he has work to do.

Missouri isn’t going to win the SEC this season, but the Tigers could surprise some folks, especially if Bryant cuts down those silly turnovers and has the type of game he had against Wyoming outside of the cough-ups.

The Bryant era will be a fun one for Missouri, so don’t count the transfer quarterback out just yet, he’s going to get better and make smarter decisions as the season progresses. He showed flashes of brilliance even in a loss.