PROVO — BYU went into the Missouri game on Saturday with a lot of momentum as it was riding a five-game winning streak. The Cougars left Kansas City with a bitter loss to the Tigers and plenty of regrets.

Here are five reasons this contest was particularly painful.

The Cougars made an inept offense and quarterback look awesome

Going into the game, I felt like the Y. was going to win a low-scoring affair in which both defenses dominated. I felt this way because BYU had been decent on defense and Mizzou had been flat out awful offensively all season. Prior to playing the Y., the Tigers had one of the most inept offenses in the nation and a freshman quarterback, Drew Lock, who looked very much like a freshman through the first nine games of Missouri's 2015 campaign.

If you only saw this game, however, you would have never guessed Missouri had been terrible on offense all season. Cougar defenders made Lock look like a Heisman contender and allowed the Tiger offense to gain an outrageous 13-of-20 stat on third-down conversions. BYU's defense could not get off the field for most of the game as the Tigers did basically whatever they wanted to do on offense.

The receivers played soft (again)

In BYU's ugly loss to the Michigan Wolverines, the Cougars' wide receivers looked soft and were pushed around by more physical Wolverine defenders. Coming into the Mizzou game, wide receivers coach Guy Holliday assured fans the Cougar wideouts knew how to beat man press coverage.

They sure didn't prove it against the Tigers. BYU's receivers struggled to get open and make catches against Missouri's aggressive secondary.

After the game, offensive coordinator Robert Anae said the offense played timid and soft. Whether it was lack of preparation or a void of intensity, it was disappointing to see BYU receivers play similarly to the Michigan game.

Bronco Mendenhall got out-coached in his defensive play calling

In my opinion, head coach and defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall is one of the best defensive minds in college football. His defenses are usually physical and well-prepared. It's rare to see offensive coordinators out-think Mendenhall.

It happened on Saturday. At times, it seemed like Missouri's offense was in the Y.'s huddle as they dialed up perfectly timed screens and gave Lock easy and effective throws all game. Mendenhall's unit, as already mentioned, looked especially out of position on third downs. Again, Mendenhall getting out-coached against an offense that has struggled all season is befuddling and extremely disappointing.

Stupid mistakes by Cougar players led to points for Mizzou

The Cougars were not as athletic as the Tigers. There is no shame in that as two-time defending division champion Missouri is made up of SEC-caliber athletes. Still, BYU could have easily won the contest if it weren't for stupid mistakes. There is shame in that, and it adds a reason for fans of the program to be upset.

On one of the Tigers' scoring drives, BYU's defense should have been off the field twice, but silly and unnecessary penalties allowed Mizzou to move the chains. First, Cougar cornerback Michael Davis held a Missouri receiver who had no shot at catching the ball and the subsequent pass interference negated a BYU interception. Then, linebacker Sae Tautu inexplicably hit Lock high well after the ball was out on third down. The Cougars made a rare third down stop on the play, but the penalty gave the Tigers a fresh set of downs near the goal line, and they were able to punch it in with ease. Right after this drive, on their first play on offense, the Cougars failed to pick up a blitz, which led to a sack of quarterback Tanner Mangum. The hard hit caused Mangum to fumble. Missouri scored on the ensuing drive to cap off a 14 point swing. Take these mistakes away, and the Y. likely would have left Kansas City with a win.

Numerous top 25 teams lost and fell out of the rankings

Four teams that had been ranked fell out of the top 25 after losses. BYU had been ranked 27th prior to the meeting with Missouri. A win on the road against an SEC team would have likely helped the Y. crack the Top 25. BYU offensive line coach Garett Tujague clearly stated on "Inside BYU Football" that the coaches have set the expectation for the team to be ranked every year. The Cougars now have an uphill road to get there by the end of the season as they currently are receiving no votes in major college football polls.

Dylan Cannon is a regular KSL.com contributor and can be reached at DylanCannon86@gmail.com or via twitter @DylanCannon11.

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