Missouri handled the 98-degree heat just fine. Players showed a bit of poise, too, against a lightly-regarded opponent that had the upper hand for a while.
James Franklin threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns before coming out early in the third quarter, helping the Tigers take command after early struggles and whip Murray State 58-14 Saturday night.
“You want everything to go perfect,” coach Gary Pinkel said after Missouri finished with 45 unanswered points. “I don’t want any stress. By the way, there wasn’t any, was there?”
Henry Josey was presented with the game ball after gaining 113 yards on 13 carries with a 68-yard score in his first game back from a left knee injury that required two surgeries and sidelined him all last season. Russell Hansbrough had 104 yards on eight attempts with a pair of scores for Missouri, coming off a disappointing 5-7 record in its first SEC season.
Maikhail Miller threw three interceptions, two by E.J. Gaines, against a defense that stiffened after allowing two early touchdowns. Murray State faded quickly against its first SEC opponent since 2005, getting 11 first downs in the first quarter and just five more the rest of the way.
“You could tell midway through the second quarter, we just ran out of gas,” coach Chris Hatcher said. “It’s like pushing on a brick wall over there for four quarters.”
Walter Powell, who opened the scoring with a 17-yard reception, said depth took a toll.
“That was the story,” Powell said. “I think I sweated about three gallons of water out of me.”
Miller, who transferred from Mississippi last month, threw a touchdown pass and caught one on a flea-flicker for a 14-13 lead with 3:58 to go in the first.
Missouri scored the last 17 points of the first half, recovering from a rough start on both sides of the ball against a school picked to finish tied for sixth in the FCS-level Ohio Valley Conference. Franklin was done for the evening after throwing two touchdown passes the first 5:09 after the break, a 37-yarder to Darius White and 4-yarder to L’Damian Washington to make it 44-14.
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