Season 1, Week 1: Tigers Shred FCS East 49-20

Missouri defensive back EJ Gaines picks off a pass off the deflection before the ball hits the ground in the first half of the Tigers' 49-20 opening week victory over FCS East. Photo by Danny Webster - Playstation 3.

The first game of head coach Calvin Smith's collegiate career didn't kick off well.

Once the second half started, though, he saw what he had preached to his Tigers all summer: Using that fast-paced offense to score points and watching his defense be patient against the run.

Senior quarterback James Franklin completed 85 percent of his passes, going 17-of-20 for 238 yards with four touchdown passes, and Dorial Green-Beckham reeled in 153 yards and two touchdowns as Missouri cruised in the second half to defeat Murray State (FCS East) 49-20 on opening day.

"It's all about patience with this team," Smith said. "We're not the best team out there, but when we put our minds to it, we can compete at a high level, and we did that in the second half."

In his first game as a collegiate head coach after spending the last 25 years coaching high school football in Las Vegas, Smith's philosophy of a fast tempo on offense got off to a slow start by Missouri going 3-and-out on its first two possessions.

The second possession ended on a terribly-thrown ball by Franklin that was intercepted.

"I had a feeling we were overly confident heading into the game," Smith said. "We weren't playing the way we had all spring and summer and something had to give."

That's when the connection of Franklin and Green-Beckham picked up steam, as the star sophomore receiver caught every pass on Missouri's third drive of the first quarter, capping it off with a 5-yard touchdown pass to get the Tigers on the board first.

Even though Mizzou found a rhythm in its offense, the Tigers' defense had a tough time stopping FCS East's read-option offense and Mizzou only lead by 11 at halftime, 21-10.

After FCS East booted a 24-yard field goal to cut the lead to eight halfway through the third quarter, Franklin went to work and picked apart the defense, as the Tigers scored 28 unanswered points to pull away with their first win of the season.

"I didn't play my best in that first quarter," Franklin said. "By the time I threw that first touchdown to Dorial, I finally got into a groove. It was just a matter of putting them away at that point."

Mizzou racked up 418 yards of total offense, including 157 on the ground from Tigers running back Henry Josey, who also added in a late touchdown for the Tigers, who now prepare for an early conference showdown in Baton Rouge when they take on No. 12 LSU.

LSU is coming off a 22-7 win over No. 22 TCU at Cowboys Stadium, where quarterback Zach Mettenberger didn't play an overall good game, completing only 54 percent of his passes for 242 yards. Tigers kicker James Hairston carried the scoring load for LSU with five field goals.

"We're happy we got a win, but now we use this week of rest to get ready for one of many tough tests this year," Smith said. "LSU is ranked 12th for a reason. We have to go out and work hard these next couple of weeks."