STARKVILLE, Miss. - The season’s starting quarterback had to play defensive back. That’s how grim things became for the Missouri defense in what’s been a dreadful December and got no better Saturday at Mississippi State.
In a game that was supposed to be far more evenly matched than Mizzou’s lopsided loss to Georgia a week earlier, the Tigers’ decimated defense was no match for Mike Leach’s Air Raid attack in a 51-32 defeat.
It didn’t matter that this was one of the least prolific offenses in the two decades Leach has spent terrorizing defenses. Three days after Mizzou spent the bulk of its newly signed recruiting class on defensive players, the Tigers were down to just three scholarship cornerbacks and by game’s end had just two.