Mizzou football gets back in win column against Abilene Christian

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou football team improved to 2-1 on the season with a 34-17 win over Abilene Christian at Faurot Field on Saturday.

You can watch extended highlights from the game below.

The Tigers got the win in front of 53,253 fans, which is the largest home crowd in head coach Eli Drinkwitz's time in Columbia.

The victory over the Wildcats was much-needed after MU's 28-point loss to Kansas State in week two. In that game the Tigers struggled to get going offensively, but Drinkwitz's group was a bit more productive against Abilene Christian.

The scoring got started on the first Wildcat punt of the game. Wide receiver Luther Burden fielded the punt and took it 78 yards to the house. It was the first time that Burden had been back to receive a punt this season. He finished with 58 yards receiving on six targets and eight on the ground.

Mizzou put up two touchdowns in the first quarter, but would not find the end zone again until the second half. The Tigers went into halftime leading Abilene Christian 17-3, which is MU's lowest scoring first half against an FCS team since 2015.

Quarterback Brady Cook went 21-30 for 292 yards and two touchdowns. Cook's top target was wide receiver Dominic Lovett. They connected for 132 yards on nine targets and two touchdowns.

You can watch the full interviews with Cook and Lovett in the player below.

The MU defense stayed solid early in the game. Ty'Ron Hopper, once again, led the team with five tackles, two of which were for a loss.

Defensive back Ennis Rakestraw nabbed his first-career interception. That INT led to a Tiger touchdown, courtesy of a Cook pass to Rock Bridge alum Nathaniel Peat.

You can watch the full interview with Rakestraw and linebacker Chad Bailey in the players below.

Up next - Mizzou will make its first-ever trip to Auburn to meet the other Tigers on Saturday, Sept. 24. Kickoff is at 11:00 a.m.