Oklahoma safety Peyton Bowen couldn’t quite believe what he saw.
Bowen, in the aftermath of the Sooners’ 17-6 manhandling of Missouri football on Saturday in Norman, blocked a pivotal Mizzou field goal midway through the second quarter. From backing off a fourth-down try on offense moments earlier to seeing the field-goal attempt swatted, i was a shoddy operation for Missouri from start to finish and it ended up swinging the tide in the game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMissouri originally had its offense on the field for a fourth-and-3, but Oklahoma took a timeout and the Tigers elected to send the special teams unit on the other side of some discussions.
MU placekicker Robert Meyer missed the 35-yard attempt, as Bowen came flying from the right side of the line to bat the kick down and harmlessly short of the sticks.
Earlier in the game, Bowen also nearly blocked a 39-yarder from Meyer. He confirmed to reporters in Norman that he did not get a hand on the kick that barely knuckled over the crossbar, which tumbled end over end because of bad contact.
But Bowen did learn something from his near-block.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“It kind of took me by surprise how, like, easy it was to be able to block it,” Bowen said. “And then he (Meyer) kicked it pretty bad. Everyone thought I did block it, but I did not touch it at all on the first one. And, so, then the second one, it was the same alignment. I was like, ‘maybe they'll block out to me.’ And they didn't. And so I took a better angle at it that time.”
That’s a tough quote to read, if you're sympathetic to the Mizzou cause. Oklahoma’s coach and players were prone to some brutal honesty about the Tigers' tape and decisions in the aftermath of the Sooners’ win Saturday.
From first glance, the edge protection from Missouri seemed to fail.
MU tight end Jordon Harris, the outermost player blocking on the line, leaned inside as the ball was snapped. At the same time, Bowen ran outside of his shoulder and toward the path of the kick. Bowen blows by Harris unobstructed. He comfortably gets in front of Meyer to make the block.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFor Drinkwitz, it’s a matter of how fast the Tigers are getting the ball up in the air.
“It’s called ‘operation time.' We had some issues in field-goal protection early in the season on internal pressure. That was fixed. Not been a problem since," Drinkwitz said. "We have had issues in edge protection. There's only so many people that you can have on the line of scrimmage, and then it becomes a matter of time. How much time does it take somebody to get from Point A to Point B?
"And our timing mechanism has just not been fast enough, and that is the responsibility of everybody involved to get that fixed."
Mizzou later replaced Meyer with Florida Memorial transfer Oliver Robbins, who converted a 21-yarder to essentially end the first half.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Tigers (7-4, 3-4 SEC) did not have another field goal attempt for the remainder of the game.
Drinkwitz wasn’t pointing fingers, but emphasized that
"We made an adjustment with a different kicker, and the timing was easily made," Drinkwitz said. "So, that's something we've got to continue to work on. It's been a point of emphasis. When you're dealing with young players in the moment and they want to make it, other things slow down, and that can't happen. It's all got to work together at the right speed in order for us to be effective.”
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA - NOVEMBER 25: Defensive back Peyton Bowen #22 of the Oklahoma Sooners blocks a 35-yard field goal attempt by kicker Robert Meyer #88 of the Missouri Tigers in the second quarter at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)Mizzou’s special teams, at large, have been widely criticized and rank among the worst units in the country. There have been issues far beyond field goal kicking, with punting and punt coverage both making costly errors at times this year.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt also did not help that the Tigers lost returning placekicker Blake Craig for the season in Week 1 and had to turn to a preferred walk-on signee in Meyer and an NAIA transfer in Robbins.
Meyer is 36-of-38 on field goals since then and 10-of-14 on field goals, with a long on the season coming from 40 yards. There have been seven different games this season in which Mizzou has missed either a field goal or a PAT. Robbins is now 2-of-3 on field goals and yet to attempt a point-after.
And whether it’s rookie mistakes or not, the protection and alignment issues are showing up on tape.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables didn’t exactly beat around the bush.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Let's face it, the blocked kick,” Venables said, “they've been leaking in their coverage; leaky and inconsistent in how they've kicked field goals. … Our coaches did a great job having — that was a very defined plan. You know, how we were going to attack them, their protection.”
Missouri special teams coordinator Erik Link’s current contract is signed through Jan. 31, 2026, which is fast approaching. That’s not exactly uncommon. At least four Mizzou assistant coaches, including Frank Broyles Award nominee and running backs coach Curtis Luper, have contracts due to expire in January.
More: Which schools have Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz on hot board?
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMore: It's too late to fix bad Missouri football offense. At least this year
But specifically with Link, the Tigers have a call to make. Outside of the Harrison Mevis kicking years in Columbia, special teams have not generally been a strength for Mizzou. Drinkwitz indicated at the start of this season that he would use more starters and rotation members on special teams to try and maximize returns from the unit.
Still, with one game remaining in the regular season, Missouri ranks No. 115 out of 136 FBS programs in ESPN’s SP+ metric for special teams. Arizona State, NC State and Stanford are the only teams in the Power-conferences with a worse rating.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: What’s wrong with Missouri football’s field goal operation? Time to kick
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