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Two big plays helped Missouri avoid one, bad loss.

SEC teams just don't lose to a team from Conference USA, after all.

Hey, if Arkansas doesn't get its act together, we're going to kick them to the curb.

The Hogs are making us all look bad.

In the Tigers' 21-16 win over the Central Florida Knights on Saturday --- as we enjoyed breakfast at Orlando --- a few players stood out for Missouri.

One was not James Franklin, as it's becoming increasingly obvious that the string of MU quarterbacks going to the NFL --- Brad Smith to Chase Daniel to Blaine Gabbert --- is coming to an end.

The Tigers won in spite of Franklin, not because of him. These days, the dual threat QB isn't much of a threat at all.

He rushed for minus-18 yards. He held the ball too long and was sacked five times. He was limited to mostly short passes that you could complete to your kid in the back yard.

One of Franklin's few shots downfield was intercepted Saturday to thwart one of Missouri's few good drives on the day. Another medium-range pass was turned into a touchdown by Dorial Green-Beckham.

Yes, we've had a DGB sighting. Our freshman superman caught a slant pass from Franklin, shedded a would-be tackler, and took it 80 yards for a touchdown with 12:39 left in the first half for his first college 6-pointer.

That was Big Play No. 1.

Then there was Marcus Murphy, as he returned a third-quarter punt 66 yards for a touchdown --- he wasn't touched on the play. It was Murphy's third punt return for a score this season, a school record.

That was Big Play No. 2 and gave Missouri an improbable 14-10 lead.

Why was it improbable?

In the first half, the Knights (2-2) had 21 first downs, the Tigers (3-2) had six. The Knights had 269 total yards on 51 plays, the Tigers had 154 yards on 20 plays --- 74 yards on 19 plays if you take away DGB's gem.

The Knights rushed for 113 yards, which was 118 more than the Tigers. Yes, you can do the math --- they had rushed for minus-5 yards.

But two big plays had given the Tigers the lead.

Most of the game, the Missouri offense had all the rhythm of an uncoordinated drummer with an inner-ear infection.

Kendial Lawrence helped changed that in the second half, as he rushed for 104 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown.

"You just saw a player taking over a game and making something happen," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "He made plays when there was nothing there."

Defensively, the play-maker was Sheldon Richardson, as he totaled nine tackles, one sack and two quarterback hurries. The junior defensive tackle also recovered the game-clinching fumble --- a fumble forced by E.J. Gaines --- with 2:29 left and the Knights out of timeouts.

Whew.

"A lot of things can happen in games and you have battle through and keep competing," Pinkel said. "We did that.

"Like I've always said, winning's not easy."

But it shouldn't be this difficult.

This was not a good win, even though the Tigers were considered 2-point underdogs. But it certainly would have been a bad loss.