COLUMBIA, Mo. — There are two very different ways to look at seventh-ranked Missouri’s past two wins, a pair of comeback affairs — the first against Atlantic Coast Conference member Boston College and the second a 30-27 double-overtime victory over Vanderbilt to open Southeastern Conference play Saturday night.
One view: The Tigers were good enough to overcome their mistakes. Another: Their opponents weren’t good enough to capitalize on them.
Either way, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz still has plenty to clean up before continuing the conference grind against No. 25 Texas A&M in two weeks, and with fourth-ranked Alabama and No. 15 Oklahoma still on the schedule later this season.
Those are opponents with much more talent, much more likely to bury a team that keeps committing penalties and mental mistakes.
“We have to take a hard look at the Missouri Tigers, and we have to figure out why we’re not executing on third downs, in the red area. Why we’re missing tackles, busting assignments,” Drinkwitz said. “I’m not even kind of worried about Texas A&M. I’m concerned about our team enjoying a win, being 4-0 — which is as good as we can be record-wise, but we’re not as good as we can be play-wise. We have to settle in on that and see what we can do to improve.”