COLUMBIA, Mo. – Brady Cook passed for a touchdown and ran for another TD, helping No. 6 Missouri top No. 24 Boston College 27-21 on Saturday.
Nate Noel rushed for 121 yards for the Tigers (3-0), who trailed 14-3 early in the second quarter. Blake Craig kicked four field goals.
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“Was not pretty, wasn’t our best performance top to bottom but really responded,” Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “We hadn’t been challenged all year and (I) was concerned with so many new faces about what that response would be. Today I think you saw a team that’s committed to each other, a team that responds, a team that’s never out of the fight.”
Cook was 21 for 30 for 264 yards. He found Luther Burden III for a 19-yard touchdown with 3:04 left in the first half, and Noel tied it at 14 when he carried in the 2-point conversion.
Cook’s 6-yard TD run lifted Missouri to a 24-14 lead in the third quarter, and Craig made a 31-yarder with 5:58 left in the fourth.
Thomas Castellanos passed for 249 yards and three touchdowns for Boston College (2-1), but he also tossed two interceptions. The Eagles finished with just 49 yards rushing on 26 carries.
Castellanos and Boston College got off to a fast start, putting together a 14-play, 75-yard drive on the opening possession of the game. Castellanos’ 12-yard touchdown pass to Jerand Bradley made it 7-0 with 7:31 left in the first quarter.
Eagles coach Bill O’Brien offered praise and support for Castellanos, who repeatedly used his legs to extend plays against the Missouri pass rush.
“We’re lucky to have Tommy,” O’Brien said. “We’re in the game because of Tommy and some of those plays that he made. He knows that he’s got to execute better, make better decisions, more consistent decisions, and he’ll do that.”
After Craig kicked a 38-yarder for Missouri, the Eagles scored again on their third drive — this time on a broken play. Castellanos dropped the snap and recovered his own fumble, and then passed to a wide-open Reed Harris for a 67-yard strike with 9:44 left in the first half.
“They fumble a ball and we have everybody on the defense run up instead of staying in coverage,” Drinkwitz said.
But the Tigers rallied in the last part of the second quarter. Craig made a 56-yarder on the final play of the first half to give his team a 17-14 edge at the break.
The defense helped lead the way at the end, holding the Eagles to seven points and minus-3 yards rushing in the second half on eight carries.
Burden, who had six catches for 117 yards, wore a T-shirt after the game that read: “Something To Prove ’24.” He expressed frustration that the only game Saturday featuring two ranked opponents wasn’t selected for a more prominent time slot and a more marquee TV window.
“To me, it’s disrespectful to not have us on the big stage with the big TV cameras and stuff,” Burden said. “I took that personal, and I’m pretty sure everybody else in that locker room took it personal. We ain’t going nowhere. We’re here to stay.”
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Missouri is going to need more discipline and composure as it heads into Southeastern Conference play.
The Tigers had eight penalties for 78 yards, including two personal fouls and two flags for unsportsmanlike conduct. Burden was whistled for one of each in a three-play sequence late in the third quarter that led to Missouri facing a second-and-58 from its own 14-yard line.
Drinkwitz took the blame for the penalties, but also took Burden to task for what he called “selfish football.”
“I’ve never seen that many flags on a single offense in my time,” Drinkwitz said. “Got to go back and watch that and go from there.”
UP NEXT
Boston College: Hosts Michigan State next Saturday night.
Missouri: Opens SEC play when it hosts Vanderbilt next Saturday afternoon.
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