Mizzou Football Shuts Out SEMO, 50-0 in Memorial Stadium’s 500th Game

Saturday, September 14

Columbia, Mo.

6:30 PM

University of Missouri

2-1

Southeast Missouri State

1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

SEMO

Mizzou Tigers

Mizzou Football Shuts Out SEMO, 50-0 in Memorial Stadium’s 500th Game

9/14/2019 9:58:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Rountree tallies eighth career 100-yard rushing game in Memorial Stadium’s 500th Game

Photo Gallery

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football won the 500^th game at Memorial Stadium in dominating fashion, as the Tigers defeated Southeast Missouri, 50-0, on Saturday.

Mizzou scored in a variety of ways on Saturday, scoring touchdowns on a passing TD, rushing TD, punt return TD and an INT return TD in the game. Mizzou is the first team to score a touchdown in those four ways in 2019, and the first Power 5 team to do so since Mizzou accomplished the feat in 2017 vs. Vanderbilt.

Mizzou moves to 2-1 on the season, while Southeast Missouri goes to 2-1. Mizzou continues its five-game home stand next Saturday (Sept. 21) when the Tigers open SEC play by hosting South Carolina.

TOP PERFORMERS

Junior RB Larry Rountree III had 18 rushing attempts for 142 yards and two touchdowns in the game, as he moved into 14^th all-time on Mizzou's career rushing yards list with 2,206 yards. It was his eighth career game with 100+ rushing yards and the fifth in his last six games.
Senior QB Kelly Bryant went 15-for-20 for 225 yards and one touchdown. He finished the game with a QB rating of 176.
Senior LB Cale Garrett led the team in tackles with five and recorded a pick-six in the first quarter, the first touchdown of his career.
Sophomore WR Jalen Knox made two big plays with his only two receptions of the game, tallying 104 yards in the game. It was his third career game with 100 receiving yards or more.
RS junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam had two catches for 24 yards and one TD, his third of the season and 20^th of his career. The preseason All-America selection is now one touchdown away from fourth all-time on Mizzou's career receiving touchdowns list.

A QUICK RECAP

Mizzou opened the game with a near-perfect drive, as a seven-play, 75-yard series resulted in a 3-yard touchdown run from junior RB Larry Rountree III. Mizzou's starting tailback touched the ball on each play of the drive, tallying 77 rushing yards and one reception for eight yards. On the following drive, senior LB Cale Garrett intercepted a Redhawk pass and ran 27 yards into the end zone for a pick-six, making the score 13-0. After the defense halted SEMO with another three-and-out on the next drive, Mizzou responded with another scoring drive, as senior QB Kelly Bryant found redshirt junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam for a three-yard TD. The short TD reception was set up by a 54 yard pass and catch from Bryant to sophomore WR Jalen Knox.

Mizzou wasn't finished scoring in the first quarter quite yet, as senior PR Richaud Floyd took a SEMO punt to the end zone for a 71-yard TD. It was Floyd's third-career punt return TD, and Mizzou's first since Floyd had a 74-yard punt return TD vs. Vanderbilt on Nov. 18, 2017. Mizzou finished the first quarter up 27-0, marking the most points in had scored in a quarter since scoring 27 vs. Memphis (Oct. 20, 2018) and the most in a first quarter since scoring 34 vs. Idaho (Oct. 21, 2017).

Rountree and sophomore RB Tyler Badie added rushing touchdowns in the second and third quarters, respectively, while senior K Tucker McCann connected on 3-for-3 field goal attempts, including a 52-yarder in the fourth quarter, his third career field goal of 50 yards or more.

TEAM NOTES

Saturday's game marked the fourth all time meeting between the Tigers and Redhawks. Mizzou now leads the series 4-0.
Mizzou has scored at least 31 points in eight consecutive games, dating back to last season. The Tigers last accomplished this feat in 2007 when they had a 14-game streak (Nov. 25, 2006 - Dec. 1, 2007).
The Tigers' 37 first-half points were their most in a first half since Oct. 27, 2018 (scored 48 first-half points in a 65-33 victory over Memphis).
Mizzou scored its most points in a first half when shutting out an opponent since Sept. 24, 2016 (led Delaware State 58-0 at the end of the first half in a 79-0 victory).
Today's game was the first for the Tigers with both a punt return for a touchdown and an interception for a touchdown since the Nov. 18, 2017 game against Vanderbilt. This was the first time in the 21st century that both have happened for the Tigers in the first quarter.
Senior K/P Tucker McCann landed a 62-yard punt in the first quarter, the longest of his career.
Mizzou is the only NCAA Division I team in the nation to have recorded at least one punt return touchdown, one interception return touchdown, one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown in the same game this season. Mizzou was the last Power Five program to have accomplished this feat on Nov. 18, 2017 in a 45-17 victory over Vanderbilt.
RS sophomore Case Cook and RS freshman Bobby Lawrence logged their first career starts for the Tigers.
The Tigers are now 9-4 under head coach Barry Odom when they score on their opening drive.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

Mizzou has outscored its opponents 51-0 in first quarters this season, and 67-7 since Nov. 10, 2018.
The Tigers recorded more than 240 yards both through the air (242 passing yards) and on the ground (259 rushing yards) for the first time since Dec. 31, 2018 (recorded 373 passing yards and 264 rushing yards in a 38-33 loss to Oklahoma State in the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl).
The Tigers' 27 points in the first quarter were the most they've scored in an opening quarter since Oct. 21, 2017 (scored 34 first-quarter points in a 68-21 victory over Idaho).
Ending his day with 142 rushing yards, junior RB Larry Rountree III is now 14th all-time in rushing yards with 2,206 in his Mizzou career. The junior passed Derrick Washington and Tommie Stowers in the record books.
Rountree recorded his most yards on the ground in a single game since Dec. 31, 2018 (racked up 204 rushing yards in a 38-33 loss to Oklahoma State in the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl), and his 7.9 yards-per-carry average was a single-game career-high (min. 10 carries). Saturday marked the eighth game of Rountree's career in which he rushed for 100 yards or more.
Rountree's 30-yard rush early in the first quarter was his longest of the young 2019 season. His last rush of 30 yards or more was a 55-yard run in the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
In addition to his plethora of rushing yards, Rountree's pair of touchdowns on Saturday marked the first time in the junior's career to record touchdowns in four straight games.
RS senior DB Richaud Floyd returned a punt for a touchdown for the third time in his career. Floyd's 71-yard return for a TD in the first quarter was his first since Nov. 18, 2017 (74-yard touchdown punt in a 45-17 victory over Vanderbilt).
Sophomore RB Tyler Badie's 49-yard rush in the second quarter was the longest of his career. Badie's 73 rushing yards were also a career high for a single game.
With his touchdown catch in the first quarter, Junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam reached the 20-touchdown milestone for his Tiger career. He accomplished the feat on just 78 career catches -- good for a touchdown once every 3.9 receptions.
Sophomore WR Jalen Knox's 54-yard reception in the first quarter was the second-longest reception of his career, and his longest since Sept. 15, 2018 (hauled in a 59-yard reception in a 40-37 victory over Purdue).
Knox's 104 receiving yards were the sophomore's second-most in a single game for his Tiger career (recorded 110 receiving yards on September 15, 2018 in a 40-37 over Purdue). He is the first Mizzou receiver to record two receptions of 50 yards or more in a single game since Emmanuel Hall recorded a pair of 50+ yard receptions on Nov. 24, 2017 (recorded 55- and 56-yard receptions in a 48-45 victory over Arkansas).
Senior QB Kelly Bryant's 75% passing completion percentage marked the sixth time this century a Tiger QB connected on at least 75% of his passes in a game (min. 20 pass attempts). Legendary Tiger QBs Drew Lock and Chase Daniel are the only other Mizzou QBs to have accomplished this feat since 2000.
McCann's made 52-yard field goal in the fourth quarter was his third-career made field goal of 50 yards or more. He is one of just three kickers in Mizzou history to make 3+ 50-yard field goals. Tom Whelihan had six, and Jeff Jacke had four.
Ending the game with a combined 138 yards in made field goals, McCann is the first Tiger kicker to have amassed that yardage since Andrew Baggett recorded 162 yards with five field goal makes on Oct. 19, 2013 in a 36-17 victory over Florida. McCann's performance marked the first time this century that any Mizzou kicker has totaled 138 yards with only three field goal makes.
McCann's 57.5 yards-per-punt was the best punting average by a Tiger punter in a single game since Trey Barrow posted a 58 yards-per-punt average on Sept. 9, 2011 (on four punts in a 37-30 OT loss against Arizona State).
McCann's four 50+-yard punts and three 40+-yard field goals mark the first time this century an NCAA Division I kicker has accomplished such a feat.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

Senior Cale Garrett's interception for a touchdown marks the second consecutive game the Tigers have logged a pick-6, with sophomore Nick Bolton grabbing one against West Virginia. This was the first time the Tigers had a pick-6 in back-to-back games since they did so against SEMO (Sept. 6, 2008) and Nevada (Sept. 13, 2008). This also marked Garrett's first defensive score of his career.
Bolton and Garrett are the first Mizzou players to tally at least five total tackles and return an interception for a touchdown in back-to-back games since Sean Weatherspoon did it in weeks one and two of the 2008 season.
The Missouri defense once again put up a defensive front, holding the Redhawks to a shutout. They allowed only seven points over two consecutive games, the fewest since 2010 when they shutout Iowa State with a score of 14-0 on Nov. 20 and then beat Kansas 35-7 on Nov. 27.
Last week. the Tigers held West Virginia to 171 yards of offense, the fewest allowed since Sept. 24, 2016. This week, the Tigers once again broke that record, holding SEMO to just 94 offensive yards. That is the fewest yards allowed by the Missouri defense since allowing only 44 yards to Western Illinois in 2011.
The defensive front also kept opponents under 200 yards of offense for two consecutive games. This is the first time this has happened since the Tigers held Murray State to 150 yards (Sept. 2, 2006) and Mississippi to 162 yards (Sept. 9, 2006).
Of the 94 offensive yards for the Redhawks, just 40 of them were on the ground. This is only ten more than last week, when the defense held West Virginia to just 30 rushing yards. The last time Mizzou held an opponent to 40 rushing yards or less in back-to-back games was against Colorado (Oct. 31, 2009) and Baylor (Nov. 7,2009).

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