Can Sam Horn still win the QB job? 7 thoughts on Mizzou football's win over South Dakota

It wasn't impressive, but it was still a win. Brady Cook led four touchdown drives in the first half which was all Missouri needed.

Here are seven thoughts on the Tigers' season-opening win over South Dakota.

There's a lengthy gap between Brady Cook and Sam Horn

Eli Drinkwitz made it clear that he will not be reading our takes on the quarterback situation from tonight's win over South Dakota.

"Write what you want, say what you want," Drinkwitz said. "It don't matter. Nobody cares. In this locker room, nobody cares."

Noted.

He also talked about how Brady has a leg up in the quarterback competition because he was the first quarterback who took snaps tonight. After Cook's performance against South Dakota, it would be fair to say going into next week's game against Middle Tennessee State that it's Cook's job to lose.

We got that message when Drinkwitz was gushing about Cook and his leadership.

"He's got a girlfriend," Drinkwitz said. "Otherwise, I'd be trying to get him hooked up with one of my daughters when they turn 18. He's a lovely young man."

Still, it's not over. Drinkwitz hasn't seen enough yet.

It wasn't all Horn's fault. His pass to Tyler Stephens was bobbled into the air and intercepted, plus Horn only got one drive in the third quarter after South Dakota possessed the ball for basically the entire quarter.

Horn threw a touchdown, but he also didn't see much work. But, that doesn't matter too much to Drinkwitz.

But, even as Drinkwitz gushed about Cook, his leadership and what he means to this Tigers team, Ben Fredrickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said in response: "Sounds like you have a quarterback."

Not yet.

"No," Drinkwitz said. "It doesn't."

Can Sam Horn come back and win the QB job?

If the competition isn't over yet, can Horn come back and win the job? Yes, it's entirely possible given what Drinkwitz said Thursday evening.

If Cook isn't officially named the starting quarterback by Drinkwitz, the game is still on. The competition is still going.

What can Horn do? Get a little better luck, for starters. It wasn't Horn's fault that South Dakota possessed the ball for 11:27 of the 15 minutes in the third quarter.

Horn will have to make up massive ground with a performance that shows just how talented he is.

If Cook has another outing like Thursday night, I think that's a wrap on the competition. Cook will have led MU to multiple touchdown drives when he's had the ball, and I guarantee you no one on the staff cares how the Tigers score touchdowns. Just that they do score touchdowns.

“He was out there with the same players and the same defense in front of him," Drinkwitz said of Horn.

Cook showed he can lead the offense to touchdowns. Horn needs to do the same, while also showing off his arm talent at the same.

Can Horn do that in one half of work, assuming he gets the same amount of opportunity last week that he did Thursday night? He'd have massive talent to do so, but he also needs available reps.

Drinkwitz's 'most improved unit' needs to show it

Before the season started, Drinkwitz had high praise.

“I think I can say this without reservation,” Drinkwitz said, “that the offensive line has been the most improved unit in our football program.”

That unit didn't show it Thursday night. They have to before Kansas State comes around.

In the first half, the line committed three penalties: two holds and a false start. They had two more penalties before the game ended.

Two of those penalties came late in the second quarter when Missouri was attempting to complete the two-minute drill. The line was forgiven thanks to a targeting penalty that gave the Tigers a first down, which led to a touchdown with 33 seconds remaining and a 28-3 lead.

It all worked out. Tonight, at least. Missouri can't expect to have five penalties on the offensive line and expect to sustain drives. We saw plenty of penalties that killed drives last season or turned touchdowns into field goals.

Missouri rushed for over 200 yards, credit the line for that. But that doesn't absolve penalties which had major deja vu back to last year.

"That's the stuff that really held us back last year," Drinkwitz said. "We got to be more disciplined in fixing that.

Mizzou needs to be better

The offense needs to clean up its penalties. But the defense needs to force takeaways. The pass rush needs to get more pressure; MU only had one sack Thursday.

I'd argue the special teams needs to be better, too. A 30-yard punt return by Luther Burden into South Dakota territory was called back by a holding call. That's key field position, especially if the game has much higher stakes than Thursday night.

The fact is, every game from here on out for MU will have higher stakes. One game does not a season make, but it wasn't convincing.

What Missouri did was win 35-10. That's a 1-0 start, but it was reminiscent of the win over Abilene Christian last season where bad plays happened, the offense didn't click consistently but the opponent wasn't good enough to threaten MU overall. It's fair to feel Missouri should have won 50-10.

It wasn't convincing enough that this team can push past the .500 mark for the first time in the Drinkwitz era, but maybe that changes with a big day next week against Middle Tennessee State.

The good news is the Tigers still have the game against MTSU before the implications become massive when Kansas State comes to town.

The offensive player who seized the moment was Mekhi Miller

The first touchdown of the year was also Miller's first-career touchdown. It's fitting because I assume that'll be the first of many times we're going to see Miller make pivotal plays.

Missouri's passing game didn't go across the middle of the field very often Thursday. In fact, the offense was pretty watered down. South Dakota did throw some different defensive looks at the Tigers, but the deep and intermediate shots down the field were limited.

It's not surprising that Miller was on the receiving end of those plays.

Miller did whatever he was asked last season. He blocked punts and also got involved in the passing game. Thursday, he ran great routes and had a rapport with both Horn and Cook.

On Cook's first touchdown, he looked off the safety which opened up the middle of the field for Miller. Miller knew his assignment, he was there right in time and Cook trusted him with that throw over the middle.

Horn had the same trust in Miller, zipping a pass through the air and over the middle to the sophomore receiver for 31 yards in the second half.

The tandem of Miller and Burden could be as productive as Burden and Dominic Lovett were last year.

The defensive player who seized the moment was Johnny Walker

MU cornerback Ennis Rakestraw has been Johnny Walker's roommate since the two were freshmen. Rakestraw remembers thinking he played a position other than defensive end.

"He came in probably 180 pounds," Rakestraw said. "I thought he was a receiver."

Walker clarified he was 190 pounds, which is still massively undersized for an SEC defensive end. The good news is Walker now stands at 6-foot-3, 244 pounds. That work showed up Thursday night.

Walker led MU with six tackles and also added a half-sack as well as a tackle for loss. He was one of the few who took advantage of his role against South Dakota, and that can be attributed to the patience Walker had.

Walker had to wait behind Trajan Jeffcoat and Isaiah McGuire last season. This year, he's teaming up with Darius Robinson at defensive end and was everywhere Thursday.

"I just feel like it was my time to wait and eventually I would take over," Walker said. "It was frustrating, but obviously it worked out in my favor."

One big question mark MU had this offseason was at defensive end. Could Nyles Gaddy step into that role? Can Robinson transition smoothly? Is Walker ready?

He showed an answer to that last question.

"He stayed and bought in," Rakestraw said.

For the second straight year, we'll turn to the Kansas State game

Last year, MU went from Lousiana Tech to the eventual Big 12 champion Kansas State. MTSU is sandwiched in between, but the Wildcats are still the barometer.

This season, everything caters in MU's favor. KSU comes to Columbia. MU should be 2-0 and have a quarterback battle in its rearview mirror. There (assumedly) won't be a Manhattan monsoon.

That sets up a game where the Tigers can live up to their preseason-long catchphrase. MU wants to prove its worth? There's the best chance.

We'll learn the most about Missouri during that Kansas State game. Missouri still can't afford to overlook Middle Tennessee State, either.

A pivotal two-week stretch is coming up.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football: 7 thoughts on Tigers' win over South Dakota