Missouri Football: 5 takeaways from win over Abilene Christian

3. Missouri football won the turnover battle

After losing the turnover battle mightily last week at Kansas State, the Tigers turned things around. In the third quarter, Ennis Rakestraw fought through a bubble screen to make a phenomenal interception — the first interception of his collegiate career. On Abilene Christian’s next drive, Missouri linebacker Chad Bailey forced a fumble on a Noah Caldwell reception and recovered it for Missouri’s second takeaway of the game. The Tigers’ offense would return the favor just minutes later. See: offensive line.

4. Brady Cook put together a much-needed solid outing

Brady Cook’s final line of 21-for-30, 292 yards, and three touchdowns is easily recognized as his best collegiate performance. He also ran for 42 yards. Despite feeling constant pressure, Cook looked more comfortable in and around the pocket, delivering accurate throws down the field. He did miss a few throws here and there and had the one turnover (See: offensive line, again) but overall played the game that he was expected to as the starting quarterback. His performance quieted the talks of a possible change at quarterback in the near future — at least for one week.

5. The offensive line continued to struggle

One way to describe the play of the offensive line is: inconsistent at best. There are glimpses of big play potential in the run game but those glimpses continue to be overshadowed because of their inability to sustain clean blocks and avoid penalties. The offensive line was flagged five times for holding penalties — one of which negated a touchdown run.

For the second straight game, there have been constant issues in pass protection versus a 3-down alignment. An inexcusable breakdown in protection led to a third-quarter sack of Brady Cook who fumbled the ball into the endzone for an ACU touchdown. In a game in which they were supposed to dominate the line of scrimmage, more often than not they failed to do so.

With the win, Missouri’s record improves to 2-1 on the season. The first game of the conference schedule will be at Auburn — their first trip to Auburn as a member of the SEC.