COLUMBIA, Mo. – If Mizzou's offense was living, then handing the ball off would be its oxygen. The Tigers' offense only functioned with a good run game, and that's okay. 

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz cited a quote from Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay as his logic behind Mizzou's focus. 

“Great teams don’t have to be the best at everything — they just have to be the best at what they do.”

The Missouri Tigers are one of the nation's best rushing teams. 1,714 yards on the ground is good enough for the seventh-most in the nation, and 22 rushing touchdowns ties for the second-highest mark. 

That means the Tigers need to be the best at running the football to keep racking up victories, especially against tough conference opponents on the road. 

"If you're going to win on the road, you need to be able to run the football," Drinkwitz said.

Mizzou's matchup with Auburn was its first of four road games this season, and proved to be a strong test for future matchups. Mizzou beat Auburn 23-17 in a double overtime thriller, but the ugly-offense victory isn't a quality recipe for success against opponents later on the Tigers slate.

Mizzou rushed for a season-low 91 yards on 44 carries, and its greatest strength was a near-non factor to little fault of the ball carriers. 

92 rushing yards on 43 carries seems ugly at first glance, but when given context, the rushing trio of Ahmad Hardy, Jamal Roberts and Beau Pribula made a pretty sweet lemonade from a bad batch of lemons. They combined for 92 rushing yards against Auburn, but 127 yards after contact – Missouri's offensive line couldn't generate any space.

For a group as talented as Missouri's rushing attack, the problems were rather simple. 

"I didn't think our pad level was right," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "I didn't think our footwork was very good. We were we weren't staying square, we were crossing over, and so our second step wasn't where it needed to be. Our hands weren't in the right placements."

Those skills aren't difficult to learn, especially for players who've been playing football for nearly two decades. 

But they are difficult to master. 

"We call it every damn day drills, right?" head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "You have to do those drills every damn day... we have to be more intentional about the work." 

"The only way we're going to improve in stopping the run or running football is to have a great toughness Tuesday," Drinkwitz said. "Starting an inside drill and then moving on to dirty show.

Drinkwitz also takes blame for going away from elements of the run game that were working as well. Mizzou averaged 5.8 yards per carry against Alabama, but got away from the run game with a season-low 28 attempts. 

The volume was back to normal against Auburn, but not every play was working to the same degree of success as games prior. Still, there were specific instances of play designs working that Drinkwitz only dipped into the well for once, which he acknowledged.

"I thought our counter scheme pops for us," Drinkwitz said. "For whatever reason we didn't get back to it enough. So I think it's a combination of making sure that we come back to plays that work, and it's a combination of making sure that our offensive line and tight ends are playing aggressive and they aren't overthinking it, playing with better fundamentals, and that's under our coaching staff to get corrected."

His starting right tackle, Keagen Trost, agrees. Missouri had a season-low 42.4 run blocking grade, per PFF, with all five offensive line starters holding grades below 62. 

"We just need to be better," Trost said. "We can play more physical, make sure we're all on the same page and just play better."

Mizzou's next chance to bounce back is against No. 10 Vanderbilt, who's allowed 92.4 rushing yards per game and three rushing touchdowns. Their stout defense will prove to be a hard matchup for Missouri's offense, meaning the Tigers will have to earn their stripes back.