COLUMBIA, Mo. – The 11th-ranked University of Missouri football team shut out Murray State in the season opener for both teams, cruising to a 51-0 victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 62,621 fans at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.
It was Mizzou’s 17th consecutive home victory against a non-conference opponent and the Tigers’ 24th season-opening win in the last 28 years. Additionally, it was Missouri’s first shutout since a 41-0 home victory over Vanderbilt in 2020 and first season-opening blanking since defeating Bowling Green, 37-0, in 1998.
The Tigers scored four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes of the game, earning an early 28-0 lead and never looked back.
Mizzou outgained the Racers 489-85 and had a 29-5 edge in first downs. Murray State ran just one play from scrimmage on the Tigers’ end of the field. The last time a Mizzou team held an opponent to under 100 yards of total offense was in 2019 when it limited Southeast Missouri to just 94 yards.
The home side scored on its first possession, recovering an onside kick and moving 42 yards in six plays. Preseason All-American Luther Burden III took a pass from quarterback Brady Cook and spun out of a shoestring tackle and high stepped 16 yards into the endzone for the Tigers’ opening score. Blake Craig added the extra point – the first of his career.
The Missouri defense stuffed the Racers on a fourth-and-inches play moments later, and in three plays running back Nate Noel swept around the right side for a nine-yard touchdown, his first as a Tiger, to increase the lead to 14-0.On the next drive another newcomer, this time cornerback
Toriano Pride Jr., intercepted a pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown with 9:41 left to play in the first quarter, marking the fastest by which any Missouri team had scored its first 21 points. Pride’s touchdown came seven seconds after Noel’s, the third smallest interval between Mizzou scores in school history.
The Tigers then tied the school record for points in the first quarter of an opening game when running back Marcus Carroll went in from one yard out, capping a 70-yard drive – his first touchdown in a Mizzou uniform.
With one second left in the first half, Cook ran a quarterback draw from the 3-yard line to extend the Tigers’ edge to 35-0. It marked the 12th time in his career that the St. Louis, Missouri, native had recorded a rushing and passing score in the same game, tying him with James Franklin for the second most in Mizzou annals.
Craig made it 38-0 with 8:50 to play in the third quarter after kicking a 39-yard field goal. The boot closed out a 76-yard drive that featured a 49-yard pass from Cook to Mookie Cooper.
Moments later, tackle Chris McClellan forced a fumble at the Murray State 10-yard line that was recovered by Joe Moore. Redshirt freshman RB Jamal Roberts then converted the turnover into a touchdown with a two-yard run for his first career score. Four different Tigers had rushing touchdowns marking the most since five Tigers turned the trick against Louisiana Tech in 2022.
The defense forced another three-and-out and backup quarterback Drew Pyne came on to lead a 14-play, 76-yard drive that led to a 22-yard field goal by Craig. The Kansas City, Missouri, native closed out the scoring with a 27-yard field that came at the end of an 84-yard drive also orchestrated by Pyne.
UP NEXT
The Tigers remain at home for their next game when they host Buffalo on Saturday, Sept. 7, for a 6 p.m. kick at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised on SEC Network+/ESPN+. Buffalo’s athletic director, Mark Alnutt, lettered as a linebacker and tight end at Mizzou from 1993-95, and served in several administrative roles at Missouri from 2000-12.
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