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STARKVILLE, Miss. — Control beat cowbells.

Missouri dispatched Southeastern Conference basement-dweller Mississippi State on Saturday with a measured performance that included a defensive touchdown and a couple of big passing plays.

The 39-20 road victory keeps alive Mizzou’s chances at a 10-win season and is the first time this season that the Tigers (8-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) won a road conference game

Safety Daylan Carnell provided the early scoop and score, while quarterback Brady Cook continued to find success throwing deeper downfield despite a wrist injury still impacting his throwing motion.

Running back Marcus Carroll’s second three-touchdown performance of the season headlined a positive day for the MU rushing attack, which chewed up yardage and time in the second half to seal the victory. 

And wideout Luther Burden III added to his list of signature touchdown catches with a catchy snag, part of a six-reception, 86-yard outing.

Even against a Mississippi State team that is now 2-9 overall and 0-7 against SEC opponents, the Tigers didn’t quite dominate, though. Tackling issues and a missed field goal kept the Bulldogs alive into the fourth quarter.

Missouri’s defense handled the scoring duties early on. The Tigers’ offense stalled with back-to-back three-and-outs to open the game, including one that required Cook to fall forward out of his own end zone on third down to avoid a safety.

The Bulldogs grabbed a field goal on their first drive — and then Mizzou made its play. Defensive tackle Kristian Williams tripped up Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. as he tried to escape the pocket, and the freshman signal caller dropped the ball.

Daylan Carnell, MU’s hybrid safety, was in the right spot to grab the loose ball and take off down the field, beating the Bulldogs to the goal line for a 68-yard defensive touchdown off the fumble recovery. The scoop and score — Missouri’s second in its last three games — gave the visitors a 7-3 lead.

Once the Tigers’ offense had the ball back in its hands, it was rolling. Cook, on a play-action dropback, found wide receiver Marquis Johnson over the top and through double double coverage for a 45-yard pass completion.

The throw, one of Cook’s best this season, parked MU on Mississippi State’s 10-yard line. A few plays later, running back Marcus Carroll powered through a six-man offensive line for a one-yard touchdown and 14-3 Mizzou lead with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter.

A crack in the Tigers’ defensive discipline proved costly just before the end of the first quarter. Linebackers Corey Flagg Jr. and Chuck Hicks both picked up personal fouls on the same play for hitting a defenseless receiver and throwing a punch, respectively — the latter perhaps a bit lucky to not have been tossed. The combined 30 yards of penalty yards moved the Bulldogs from the MU 46-yard line all the way to the 16.

Two plays later, Van Buren found wide receiver Jordan Mosley on a slant for a touchdown, cutting the Missouri advantage to 14-10.

Another of Cook’s better passes expanded that gap. Facing third and 9 on the Mississippi State 28-yard line, the MU quarterback vacated the pocket to his right and threw, on the run, toward wideout Luther Burden III at the back of the end zone.

Burden was fairly well covered but separated at the last moment, leaning down to his left to make the catch without much space to operate. His touchdown put the Tigers up 21-10 about five minutes into the second quarter.

It was the 20th Cook-to-Burden touchdown ever, which made them one of three MU duos to cross that threshold, according to statistician Tom Orf’s tracking. Chase Daniel to tight end Chase Coffman (25) and to wideout Jeremy Maclin (22) are the others.

About five minutes later, it was 28-10: A breezy drive landed the Tigers in the red zone, where Carroll took a carry all the way through the State defense for a 19-yard rushing touchdown, his second score of the day.

At that point, with 4:32 left in the second quarter, the Mississippi State student section started emptying as fans determined that Mizzou was out of reach.

That wasn’t quite the case yet, though. The Bulldogs marched down the field, helped heavily by repeated completions on quick slants and a fourth-down conversion inside the red zone. The drive’s result, though, was merely a 26-yard field goal to bring the score to 28-13 at halftime.

Missouri began the second half perfectly content to run the ball and drain the clock. What would have been a 57-yard touchdown to tight end Brett Norfleet — complete with a hurdle near the end zone — was wiped off the board due to a block in the back, but the Tigers still drove easily on the ground.

MU settled for a 35-yard field goal to go up 31-13, but the possession’s impact was on the clock: eight minutes and 46 seconds had elapsed.

The tackling issues that plagued Mizzou last weekend at South Carolina popped back up on Mississippi State’s two-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that saw two explosive carries from Booth as he scored his second of the day to cut the lead to 31-20.

The Tigers took their time progressing back down the field for another field goal try, but kicker Blake Craig missed from 45 yards away — making him one for seven on attempts between 40-49 this season.

Mississippi State pounced on the opening. Its first play in response to the missed field goal attempt was a 49-yard deep ball along the left sideline from Van Buren to wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi.

The Bulldogs went for it on fourth down inside the red zone but their critical pass fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs to Mizzou near the start of the fourth quarter. 

Yet another eight-minute MU drive gave Carroll his third touchdown of the day, with his hat trick completed from the one-yard line. A successful two-point conversion — also by Carroll — put the Tigers up 39-20 with 5:40 left in the game.