51ºÚÁÏ

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sorry to the good folks from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, but the beat down wasn’t personal. It wasn’t even really about you. It was just business, and the Mizzou football team took care of its business.

Sure, at times it seemed a beat mean, probably nasty and definitely reminiscent of a bully who reveled in overpowering the target of his aggression. And if you’re a faithful follower of Mizzou, it’s exactly what you wanted and needed to see in this situation.

Make no mistake. Nothing was “proven� by beating a lower-tier opponent into submission and continuing the beating well after the fight had been decided. No real significant statements were made.

However, it served as an indication of the mindset of the Tigers (3-0). They’re in a Big Boy conference with Big Boy programs. There’s a mentality that must come with that if you’re going to have high-level success.

That’s what the 52-10 at Faurot Field represented on a sweltering Saturday afternoon. The 250 rushing yards (187 in the first half) by Tigers running back Ahmad Hardy were gaudy.

The fact that Louisiana (1-1) mustered 121 total yards for the entire game just underscored that these programs operated in two very different worlds.

Was the public exhibition of bullying really necessary?

Yes. Because you could’ve made the case that Mizzou appeared poised for a letdown after an emotional win in an electric environment against a longtime rival last week.

Yes, it was necessary because the biggest test so far still awaits Mizzou next week when nationally-ranked SEC foe South Carolina comes to Columbia.

So, yes, it matters that Mizzou punched Louisiana in the mouth and was able to lean on its offensive line to impose its dominance from the start.

Mizzou ran the ball eight times in its initial 10-play drive. On one play during that opening possession, the offensive line opened a hole large enough to squeeze through a small Volkswagen. Hardy averaged a ridiculous 11.7 yards per carry in the first half.

And you can chalk all that up as the offensive line answering the bell.

“I think we improved from last week,� center Connor Tollison said. “That’s really the goal we’ve been trying to do every week, just get a little better and better. I think we did better today in communication. There’ll still be some things to clean up. I know we had a few tackles for loss, but we’ll get better.�

That unit has been where a lot of the question marks landed this season, dating back to fall camp when they shifted a potential All-American left guard, Cayden Green, to left tackle. Since the games started, the group has had some real ups and downs in winning performances.

In his comments during the week leading up to the game, Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz pointed to Louisiana’s defensive line as a strength. Drinkwitz also mentioned the pressure Mizzou allowed and the “inability to gain short yardage in critical situations� last week against Kansas.

It didn’t take any reading between the lines to understand the implication. Drinkwitz challenged the offensive line to control the game in a way it hadn’t so far this season.

The Tigers gave up four sacks in last week’s rivalry tilt against Kansas, though they rallied from a 21-6 first-quarter deficit to earn the win in front of their home crowd. Even in the season-opening 61-6 rout of Central Arkansas, quarterback Beau Pribula faced pressure caused by miscommunication and missed assignments along the line of scrimmage.

This week leading up to the game, senior guard Dominick Giudice described the goal for the offensive line this week as “everyone has to have the same set of eyes.� That encompasses pre-snap communication, nonverbal communication and reacting to the defense in synchronicity.

It’s safe to assume their eyes collective lit up when they looked at the Louisiana defense on Saturday, and include tight ends Brett Norfleet and Jordon Harris in that group.

They mauled the Ragin’ Cajuns to the tune of 230 first-half rushing yards. The first offense played the first drive of the second half and bowed out after taking a 45-10 lead and having amassed 475 yards of total offense.

Hardy gave the offensive line a “shout out� in his postgame remarks and credited them for “setting the line of scrimmage� on the zone run plays.

Well, now South Carolina looms next weekend with a preseason first team all-conference selection edge rusher in Dylan Stewart. As a unit, South Carolina recorded 12 quarterback hurries and six sacks through its first two games (their third game was on Saturday night).

So the offensive line’s performance is as relevant as anything that took place on the field on Saturday.

Mizzou’s statistics and the level of domination won’t translate to next week’s game, but you’d like to think the attitude and determination to win at the point of attack can carry over every week regardless of the opponent.

Even though Louisiana didn’t pose a great threat or a big test for Mizzou, it did give the offensive line a chance to take a step forward as a group. In that regard, the game served its purpose perfectly.

It doesn’t guarantee that the performance will be stellar against South Carolina, but at least it shows Mizzou’s line has the mean streak in it that you’d expect.

“Discipline to dominate your opponent for four quarters,� Drinkwitz said of whether there’s something to take from the mentality his team showed on Saturday. “I think we’ve got guys who’ve played a lot of football. We’ve got a lot of playmakers. We’ve got to be willing to continue to lean into that. I think there’s a lot of confidence in our running game, and there should be a lot of confidence in our pass game.�