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STARKVILLE, Miss. 鈥� Missouri's football team was close to proving that its coach was right to worry and that his fears were correct.

And then, halfway through the first quarter of the Tigers鈥� win Saturday at Mississippi State, a scoop and score flipped the whole mood. The kind of start to a game that makes a head coach lose sleep at night yielded to a controlling performance from Mizzou (8-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference), which held the ball for nearly 42 minutes in a 39-20 victory against the struggling Bulldogs.

Much often is made of the disconnect between what鈥檚 said about a college football program outside of it and what the conversations look like inside the locker room. Outside noise. Rat poison. That sort of thing.

For once, and in a key way, the external questions were aligned with MU coach Eli Drinkwitz鈥檚 worries over the past week. After all the chaos of the win over Oklahoma and all the letdown of a last-minute loss to South Carolina, he had the same questions as those outside his team.

鈥淚 was really nervous,鈥� Drinkwitz said, 鈥渂ecause I felt like these two games have been emotionally draining on our team. And I was really nervous about how much resolve and energy we would be able to have on the road. It was kind of exactly what I was thinking, the first quarter, with the offense.鈥�

The Missouri offense started with a couple of fruitless three-and-outs that suggested even the SEC鈥檚 worst defense might be too much for a group of Tigers now playing without College Football Playoff ambitions.

But no, there was the fumble. Defensive tackle Kristian Williams jarred the ball loose from State quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr., and hybrid safety Daylan Carnell grabbed it off the ground for a 68-yard touchdown return.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know, immediately, who鈥檚 around me,鈥� Carnell said of the play. 鈥淏ut after like 10 yards, I knew it was a touchdown.鈥�

The scoop and score 鈥� a well-rehearsed maneuver that has popped up twice in MU鈥檚 last three games 鈥� gave Mizzou a 7-3 lead. The Tigers led the rest of the way.

鈥淲hen the defense made the play, man, it just kind of lifted everybody and we were rolling again,鈥� Drinkwitz said.

The ground game was especially vital to Missouri鈥檚 control of a Mississippi State team that is one more loss away from a winless season of conference play. The Tigers ran the ball 56 times for 204 yards.

鈥淲e went into it knowing that on offense, we had to control the line of scrimmage, and we did that today,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淔elt very comfortable with us being able to just continually run the football.鈥�

Primary tailback Nate Noel, looking close to fully healthy after missing time because of a foot injury, took 25 carries for 101 yards. He now has posted at least 100 rushing yards in each of the nine games in his career in which he鈥檚 earned 20 or more carries.

And his tandem partner, Marcus Carroll, scored three touchdowns to go with 61 yards. It鈥檚 Carroll鈥檚 second hat trick of the season, coming from punch-in duty close to the end zone.

鈥淚t鈥檚 awesome to be the goal-line back,鈥� Drinkwitz joked. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure Nate鈥檚 pretty ticked off that he does most of the work between the 5s and then we let Marcus finish it off.鈥�

The rushing touchdowns, of course, were instrumental in Mizzou building its lead 鈥� there was a late 2-point conversion that Carroll also scored, for good measure, too. But the terrene attack had a more abstract grasp on the game flow, too.

The Tigers led 28-13 at halftime, a solid advantage that still needed a seal. Starting the second half with the ball, they held onto it for eight minutes and 46 seconds 鈥� more than half of the third quarter 鈥� while picking up 57 yards to kick a field goal.

It was during that sequence that Carroll and Noel, trading carries, came to a shared conclusion.

鈥淲e was juiced up,鈥� Carroll said. 鈥淲e felt ourselves, like, 鈥極K, yeah, let鈥檚 go ahead and get this game.鈥欌��

Mizzou had another scoring drive of nearly nine minutes in the fourth quarter, too, leading to Carroll鈥檚 third touchdown. Those drives were long enough that on the MU sideline, with post-sundown Starkville cooling off, defensive players were getting unique instructions from trainers.

鈥淭hey was telling us, 鈥楳ake sure you go stretch out, stay by the heaters鈥� 鈥� all type of stuff, just so we ready when we get out there,鈥� Carnell said. 鈥淲hen the offense does stuff like that, it definitely takes stuff off our body.鈥�

Missouri benefitted from key moments in the passing game, too. Quarterback Brady Cook, still playing despite the lingering effects of a wrist injury, found wideout Luther Burden III in the back of the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown connection in the second quarter. A better description of the play, though, might be that Burden improvised a way to shed his defender and sag downward for the catch 鈥� one of the more impressive connections between the duo.

Cook also landed a deep post through double coverage to wide receiver Marquis Johnson for a 45-yard gain shortly after Carnell鈥檚 defensive touchdown.

鈥淭he deep throw to Marquis was a huge play to let them know that we would go over the top,鈥� Drinkwitz said.

But overall, the result 鈥� MU鈥檚 first SEC road win this season 鈥� was a testament to what Mizzou can do when running the ball is its priority, especially against a team ill-equipped to stop it.

鈥淲e just felt like with the way we鈥檙e able to run the football, and going into the game that was kind of their weakness, we wanted to be diligent in exploiting that,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淥nce we got a lead, (we were) able to lean into it.鈥�