D-Line Dominant in Mizzou Rout of UCF

The offense had just 322 total yards on Saturday against the UCF Knights, but walked away with a huge 38-10 victory.

The defensive line disrupted UCF QB Justin Holman in the second half in a big way, forcing four turnovers and bringing the Knights offense to a standstill in a game that was very tight going into the half. Mizzou lead 14-10 as the third quarter started and got huge contributions from a deep defensive line that helped keep the Knights scoreless in the second half.

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The four turnovers extended Mizzou’s streak of 47 straight games with a forced turnover. The first came late in the third quarter when Holman threw a pass that hit his own lineman and Missouri nose tackle Josh Augusta fought threw two lineman to make the interception.

Augusta is just another major contributor on a Missouri defensive line that has a surplus of talent. Most notable on the line are defensive ends Shane Ray and Markus Golden, who added to their impressive start for the #20 Tigers.

Ray was especially impressive, making seven tackles, four for a loss, 2 sacks, and forced a fumble. Ray’s forced fumble was picked up by linebacker Michael Scherer for Mizzou’s second takeaway of the game.

"“He’s the fastest D-lineman in the country,” Scherer said of Ray. “You can’t outrun him. You can’t cut him if you try. He’s an animal. He’s physical. He’s got it all really.”"

Golden added 5 tackles and 1.5 sacks, giving the dynamic pair 10.5 sacks through three games for a Tigers team seeing no regression on a defensive line that lost its two star ends from a year ago to the NFL.

Nose tackle Lucas Vincent added another 1.5 sacks and helped keep the UCF running game in check, allowing just 33 yards from UCF starting tailback William Stanback.

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The Missouri secondary made an adjustment at halftime after being challenged to play tighter coverage, making it more difficult for Holman to be accurate while running away from the Missouri line.

The Mizzou offense did what was needed, getting four touchdown passes from Maty Mauk and 142 yards from Marcus Murphy and Russell Hansbrough on the ground.

The defensive performance was one of Mizzou’s best efforts in the last few seasons, showing balance in both pass and run defense and could go a long way in creating confidence for the team as they get closer to their conference schedule.

With Mizzou finishing its non-conference schedule next week against Bethune-Cookman Missouri is making a case to be front runners in an SEC East that they won a season ago.