Missouri Football: Is Eli Drinkwitz in trouble after Kansas State loss?

Bad weather and bad play doom Missouri football as Kansas State wins going away. Deuce Vaughn ran for 145 and two touchdowns to lead the way.

It was a gloomy day in Manhattan for Missouri football (1-1) as Deuce Vaughn runs wild for Kansas State in Saturday’s 40-12 victory.

The Kansas State Wildcats’ offense wasted no time inflicting their will on the Missouri Tigers’ defense — scoring on touchdown runs on each of its first two possessions of the game. Vaughn kicked off the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown plunge followed by an Adrian Martinez 16-yard scamper to put the Wildcats up 14-3.

The Tigers’ offense struggled against the Wildcats’ 3-3-5 defensive formation all game long. After an outstanding performance against Louisiana Tech last week, the running back tandem of Nate Peat and Cody Schrader never got on track due to Kansas State’s penetrating defense, rushing for a total of 29 yards on 19 carries.

Brady Cook appeared shaky behind an offensive line that despite only having given up one sack got pushed back on its heels more often than not. Cook’s passing stats of 15-for-27, 128 yards, and two interceptions were indicative of how out of sync the entire offense was.

After a one-hour and 10-minute second-quarter weather delay, Phillip Brooks fielded a Sean Koetting punt and raced down the sidelines for a 76-yard touchdown return to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 20-3.

In the second half, Missouri had four consecutive drives end in interceptions. Backup quarterback Jack Abraham was subbed in to relieve a struggling Brady Cook — who’d thrown interceptions on consecutive drives. Abraham promptly tossed two interceptions in his three pass attempts.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Mizzou defense had done a respectable job of slowing Kansas State’s offense down after falling behind earlier in the game. But after holding Deuce Vaughn to only 67 yards on 15 carries, his next nine carries went for 78 yards and a score to finish off the Tigers. Backup DJ Giddens ripped off another long touchdown run to put the game further out of reach. As a team, the Wildcats ran for 235 yards and four scores — completely dominating in the trenches against Missouri’s defensive front.

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz on the loss, “One game doesn’t define a season. It’s not gonna define our season. How we respond will.”