COLUMBIA, Mo. — Idaho struck first, but Missouri scored 37 straight points en route to a 68-21 pasting of the Vandals on Saturday before 47,648 at Faurot Field.

After Armond Hawkins intercepted Missouri quarterback Drew Lock on the first play from scrimmage, Matt Linehan found Kaden Elliss for a seven-yard touchdown as Idaho (2-5) took a 7-0 lead. Big plays helped the Tigers (2-5) answer the score and a punt return touchdown put Missouri on top for good. The Tigers led 51-14 at halftime.

The Tigers threw for 475 yards and six touchdowns. Idaho had allowed six passing touchdowns through the first six games combined. Idaho entered the game ranked sixth nationally in pass defense, but it hadn’t played a Power 5 conference opponent until Saturday.

The Tigers rely on run-pass option plays, and Lock chose the pass option frequently in the first half. The Vandals gave Missouri receivers big cushions — seemingly conceding short passes to prevent big plays — but Lock still connected on a 45-yard pass to Emanuel Hall and a 50-yarder Johnathan Johnson in the first quarter. Idaho was repeatedly gashed down the middle of the field by Missouri’s tight ends, including Kendall Blanton’s 62-yard reception.

“They just played way better than we did,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “Offensively, they got after us. Defensively, they won one-on-one matchups. You’ve just got to give them credit.”

In a team meeting Monday, Missouri coach Barry Odom set ablaze scouting reports, game plans and other remnants of a disappointing first half of the season. Five days later, the Tigers started the second half of the season by torching Idaho’s secondary, and ended a five-game losing streak.

“I think the display in the team meeting room Monday was perfect,” Lock said. “I think we’re all buying into the whole second season. Starting off 1-0 is what we needed. I think we can keep building on that. We’ve got a lot of winnable games coming up, and we just need to believe in it.”

Lock completed 23 of 33 passes for 467 yards and six touchdowns.

Idaho’s David Ungerer recorded the first multi-touchdown game of his career. Ungerer hauled in an 8-yard score from Linehan in the first half and capped the scoring by grabbing a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth. The 10-yard strike was a pass from Mason Petrino, the first touchdown of Petrino’s career.

Elliss led the defense with nine tackles, including three for loss and a sack. He added two catches on the offensive side of the ball, including his first career receiving touchdown.

Idaho 7 7 0 7 — 21

Missouri 34 17 14 3 — 68

First Quarter

IDA—K.Elliss 7 pass from Ma.Linehan (Coffey kick), 12:57

MIZ—Okwuegbunam 19 pass from Lock (Bartolotta kick), 11:15

MIZ—Floyd 85 punt return (Bartolotta kick), 8:52

MIZ—J.Moore 15 pass from Lock (Bartolotta kick), 5:58

MIZ—Okwuegbunam 18 pass from Lock (kick failed), 3:12

MIZ—Okwuegbunam 10 pass from Lock (Bartolotta kick), 2:01

Second Quarter

MIZ—FG Bartolotta 33, 13:21

IDA—Ungerer 8 pass from Ma.Linehan (Coffey kick), 4:38

MIZ—Witter 4 run (Bartolotta kick), 3:38

MIZ—Em.Hall 20 pass from Lock (Bartolotta kick), :23

Third Quarter

MIZ—Witter 3 run (Bartolotta kick), 10:38

MIZ—Floyd 18 pass from Lock (Bartolotta kick), 1:56

Fourth Quarter

MIZ—FG Bartolotta 20, 4:24

IDA—Ungerer 10 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), :48

A—47,648.

IDA MIZ

First downs 15 29

Rushes-yards 38-81 30-183

Passing 197 475

Comp-Att-Int 22-36-0 24-34-1

Return Yards 82 151

Punts-Avg. 8-34.5 2-33.0

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-Yards 6-50 6-45

Time of Possession 35:35 24:25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Idaho, Duckworth 13-74, Saunders 9-13, Petrino 3-0, Thigpen 3-(minus 2), Ma.Linehan 10-(minus 4). Missouri, Rountree 12-97, Witter 9-41, Downing 3-30, M.Wilson 3-19, (Team) 1-(minus 2), Lock 2-(minus 2).

PASSING—Idaho, Ma.Linehan 19-32-0-139, Petrino 3-4-0-58. Missouri, Lock 23-33-1-467, M.Wilson 1-1-0-8.

RECEIVING—Idaho, Onunwor 8-89, Ungerer 4-58, Sannon 4-23, K.Elliss 2-11, Mwehla 2-7, Petrino 1-5, Duckworth 1-4. Missouri, J.Moore 11-174, Okwuegbunam 4-57, Em.Hall 3-80, Brown 2-15, Blanton 1-62, J.Johnson 1-50, Collins 1-19, Floyd 1-18.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.