Marvin Burks Jr. had every reason to be surprised.

The Missouri football safety was all alone, after all, and there was a pass coming toward him like it had been hardwired and programmed to end up in his arms. There wasn’t a Buffalo receiver in the area code. Bulls quarterback CJ Ogbonna, on the first-quarter, third-and-10 heave, may as well have gift-wrapped it for Burks.

It was as simple and sweet an interception as Burks likely will ever pluck from the sky.

He had every reason to be a little surprised at the present, but he wasn’t. Not really.

“I don’t wanna say I was surprised, because, like I said, we were watching a whole lot of film,” Burks said postgame. “… Basically, (Bulls receiver Nik McMillan) was (Ogbonna’s) guy that he was trying to look to, and I kind of saw them looking at each other pre-snap. So I just made a great play.” 

There have been a fair few of those from the Tigers’ defense through two games. 

Through two straight shutouts. 

Mizzou is 2-0, and it has cruised to 2-0. Its 38-0 win over Buffalo on Saturday night on Faurot Field in Columbia marked eight straight quarters without allowing a point to open the 2024 season. 

Dating back to last season — and for the first time since 1941, per MU coach Eli Drinkwitz —  the Tigers have gone 12 straight quarters without allowing a touchdown. It’s the first time Missouri has held two straight opponents without a single point since 1935.

The transition wasn’t supposed to go this smoothly.

The Missouri defense was supposed to be one of the team’s foremost question marks.

Through two games — through two shutouts — consider any concerns resoundingly answered.

“It’s impressive. I think, you know, the general thing, and all offseason you see in the media, … ‘Oh, what’s the defense going to be?’” Missouri quarterback Brady Cook said. “You know, it’s still going to be that same ‘Death Row’ defense that we’ve had.”

For a unit that lost five starters to the NFL Draft, five more key pieces to graduation and had to replace a defensive coordinator all in the same offseason, that’s surely been a little bit of a surprise, right?

But there’s a reason Burks wasn’t shocked. There’s a reason nobody in the Mizzou camp even seems remotely surprised.

Under defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, the Tigers are giving off the impression that they know what’s coming.

New linebacker Corey Flagg mentioned it after the Murray State win, saying that color-coordinated signs from the sideline put them in prime position to make plays.

Burks echoed that.

“We just kind of feel like we just know what’s going on every time we’re out there,” the sophomore safety said. “On third down, second down, first down, end of game, end of half, … we just know what’s going on throughout the game, I feel like.”

The shutouts are impressive. The numbers behind them are jarring.

Missouri’s opponents, Buffalo and Murray State, have not sniffed the end zone. The furthest either of them has made it up the field was the MU 30-yard line. Including turnovers on downs, Mizzou forced the Bulls into three first-half turnovers on Saturday, which takes the Tigers’ total for the season to six. 

Buffalo quarterback CJ Ogbonna passed for just 55 yards. That was more than double what Murray State managed last week.

Crucial to it all, Missouri’s opponents have completed just 5-of-27 third-down attempts between them. Buffalo went 1-of-12 on third downs.

It hasn’t just been shutouts. Nobody has been close to scoring.

Sure, Murray State and Buffalo are far overmatched, but what’s making it so difficult for teams to sustain drives against these Tigers?

Maybe Theo Wease Jr., who had a career-high 149 yards on 13 catches against the Bulls, can answer that.

“That’s ‘Death Row,’” Wease said. “They’re out there flying around; Coach Batoon is doing a good job disguising … and sending pressures from different places; and then, at the end of the day, the plays are being made.”

How about Cook, who surpassed Blaine Gabbert for sixth all-time on Missouri’s career passing yards standings?

“I went against them for however many days in fall camp. You know, they suffocate you,” the quarterback said. “They don’t give up much.”

The Tigers are likely to move up in the national polls Sunday after a loss from No. 5 Notre Dame. A top-25 matchup could be on deck next weekend, when Boston College, who surprised Florida State, comes to town.

Mizzou, a pair of shutouts in hands, has been all about no surprises so far, though.

“It’s a great confidence boost for us, but we’ve still gotta keep our head down,” Burks said. “And like I said, just keep working each and every day, each and every week because it’s … getting tougher and tougher each week as we go.”

STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY, Mo. (First Alert 4) – A man from Arnold died in a single-car crash in Ste. Genevieve County on Friday.

According to a report from MSHP, at around 8:35 p.m. Friday, a 2013 Chevrolet Camero was traveling westbound on Route O, east of Missouri 32, when the driver failed to yield to Ste. Genevieve County Sherriff’s Deputies. The Chevrolet traveled off the road’s left side, hitting an embankment and then a tree. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver was identified as Keegan Schubert, 21, of Arnold, Missouri.

Schubert was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

The crash was investigated by MSHP Troop C.

Copyright 2024 KMOV. All rights reserved.

Week two of college football is upon the city of Columbia, Mo. and a week two matchup against the Buffalo Bulls is set up for 6 p.m. on a Saturday night for Missouri football.

The Tigers now have a performance baseline after a week one blowout, but the Bulls should prove to be more of a challenge. Plenty of guys played solid in limited snaps. Majority of the skill-position starters didn’t play at all in the second half, making it hard to judge how well they truly played.

Buffalo should be a matchup the Tigers can handle which might limit the amount of time the starters play. With a few minor injuries last week, as well as some players who didn’t quite play as well as they could have, here are four players to take note of on Saturday night.

There are no doubts that Cook will play to his potential as the season progresses, but some missed deep balls and other throws in general may have left a bad taste in some peoples mouths. He went 19-of-30 against Murray State, with 228 passing yards and a touchdown.

His accuracy wasn’t necessarily an issue, only missing a few debatably-bad throws. These are throws he is capable of making. Those mistakes were likely nothing more than early-season miscues, ones that can be fixed with more reps in practice and more deep shots in game.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz was not thrilled with the passing core as a whole against the Racers, receivers included. Some general inconsistencies that were displayed were ones that needed to get ironed out in practice.

“Fundamentals. It starts with fundamentals, route depth, timing, the quarterback setting his feet when he makes throws,” Drinkwitz said.

This time last season, Cook was not a set starter. He was splitting game-reps with sophomore quarterback Sam Horn, but won the position battle. Now, he is a consensus starter with room for error. The deep ball is something he needs to improve on by the time the Tigers make it to conference play, but should be an area he shows growth in in the early part of the season. Expect Cook to fall back on the deep ball again against Buffalo where he has room to make mistakes and teammates to fall back on.

Starting tight end Brett Norfleet was ruled out against Buffalo earlier in the week, according to ESPN reporter Pete Thamel. With Norfleet out, the reigns get passed down to backups Tyler Stephens and Jordon Harris.

READ: Key Offensive Playmaker to Miss Missouri’s Week 2 Game with Injury

Stephens will play against his alma mater for the first time in his career on Saturday night. He was the only other tight end to record a reception last season outside of Norfleet, recording five receptions for 49 yards. He was questionable last week in limited snaps, splitting targets with Harris. It is not clear who will be the starter between the two, but both of them should see the field.

Harris did not record any receptions last week, but was listed as the second string ahead of Stephens. He has not recorded a single reception in his career as a Tiger, but he gives Cook, or whoever is at quarterback, a large and athletic target. He is not as experienced as Stephens, but Cook does like to dump it down to his tight ends. Harris also plays an important pass and run blocking role, giving him another reason to see the field.

Young did not put any numbers on the stat sheet this week, but that is likely to change. He had an impressive quarterback pressure last week that resulted in Murray State quarterback Jayden Johannsen throwing a pick-six to Tiger cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. Young displayed power and bend to get to the quarterback.

It’s only a matter of time before Young records a sack or tackle for loss with the moves he put on display against the Racers. The entire Tiger defensive line really stood out, with defensive tackles Chris McClellan and Kristian Williams also putting pressure on the quarterback and getting in the stat books.

Young never posted incredible numbers with the Michigan State Spartans, his former team, with a career high of 26 total tackles and a sack-and-a-half in his 2023 campaign. He showed the same flashes last week that he did all of last season with the Spartans. He has more freedom to show off his pass rush moves in the Tiger defense and in the right situation, his moves could stand out above the rest.

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