Brady Cook rushed for two touchdowns and Theo Wease Jr. had a career night as No. 9 Missouri cruised to a 38-0 victory over Buffalo in non-conference play on Saturday night at Columbia, Mo.
Luther Burden III, Nate Noel and Jamal Roberts added rushing scores while Wease established career highs of 13 receptions and 149 yards for the Tigers (2-0). Cook completed 28 of 36 passes for 228 yards and one interception and added 62 yards on five rushes.
C.J. Ogbonna was just 6-of-20 passing for 55 yards and one interception for Buffalo (1-1), while Jacqez Barksdale rushed for 67 yards on 15 rushes.
Shaun Dolac racked up a career-best 16 tackles and Charles McCartherens had an interception for Buffalo.
Safety Marvin Burks Jr. picked off a pass for the Tigers, who have opened a season with back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1935.
Burden, a preseason All-American receiver, departed the contest late in the second quarter due to illness and didn’t return. He had three catches for 15 yards and two rushes for 21 yards.
Missouri outgained Buffalo 518 to 169 and had a 29-9 edge in first downs. Noel rushed for 73 yards on 12 carries and Marcus Carroll added 62 on 12 rushes.
Buffalo was 1-for-12 on third-down conversions.
Cook had first-half scoring runs of 3 and 31 yards to help the Tigers jump out to a 24-0 lead. Wease caught 10 passes for 105 yards in the first half.
Blake Craig kicked a 51-yard field goal with 10:47 left in the first quarter to get the scoring started.
Burden scored on a 3-yard run to give Missouri a 10-0 lead with 12:13 remaining in the first half.
Cook scored his first touchdown with 6:12 left, then added the 31-yard scamper with 1:51 to go.
Missouri increased the lead to 31-0 on Noel’s 4-yard scoring run with one minute left in the third quarter.
Roberts scored on a 3-yard run with 31 seconds left in the game to finish the assault.
Wease caught just three passes for 30 yards in Missouri’s season-opening 51-0 victory over Murray State.
–Field Level Media
