Catch your breath yet?

One of the more memorable, edge-of-your-seat contests in recent Missouri football history went down Saturday, as quarterback Brady Cook returned from the MRI machine to lead Mizzou to an unlikely 11-point, fourth-quarter comeback over Auburn on Faurot Field for a hectic homecoming affair.

Much of the post-game discussion centered around Cook’s heroics, and rightfully so.

But while he was out of the game, the defense had a stout day to keep the visitors within the quarterback’s reach.

More: Missouri football QB Brady Cook: From hospital to win over Auburn in one crazy afternoon

More: Missouri football score: Mizzou stages remarkable comeback, beats Auburn

Mizzou’s season marches on with the other half of the Iron Bowl, Alabama, on the slate Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Win, and Missouri is immediately a major player in the race for a College Football Playoff berth. Lose, and the chase is not quite over, but it’s the next best thing.

Here is what we saw from Mizzou on Saturday — non-quarterback edition — that seem noteworthy moving forward:

Missouri football defense, even banged up, has tools to compete up front

The questions were only getting louder. Defensive end Darris Smith was ruled out for the year in preseason. Joe Moore III got the same news midseason. New defensive coordinator Corey Batoon seemed less gung-ho bringing heat than his play-calling predecessor.

But you’ve gotta like what you saw, backs against the wall, from the Missouri defensive front on Saturday.

Field end Zion Young got to Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne on the first play of the game for a sack. Eddie Kelly Jr. was in the QB’s face and forced a throwaway when Auburn made a rare march down to the red zone. Johnny Walker Jr. essentially slammed the door shut with an eight-yard sack on second down on Auburn’s final series.

Jakhai Lang sacked Thorne in the third quarter. True freshman Williams Nwaneri got pressure on the QB on one of the three snaps he played, per PFF College.

We said before the game Missouri’s defensive tackles needed to have among their best games to stop running back Jarquez Hunter. They did, holding the tailback who averages more than 6.5 yards per carry to a mere 3.0 yards per handoff.

For the first time this season, it was barely a rotation as McClellan played 49 and Williams played 47 of a possible 65 defensive snaps.

Missouri’s linemen answered the bell, and that's an encouraging sign as the crucial matchups keep coming.

"They really contained the run game, which we knew was important. They hit the quarterback," Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. ... "They played really well, and (defensive coordinator Corey Batoon) had a beat on what they were doing, and I felt like he called a great game."

Linebacker rotation becomes less of a rotation. Did that have impact?

Another unit that had far less rotation than normal: Missouri’s linebackers.

Newson, who missed MU’s game at UMass with an injury and was on the midweek availability report as questionable for a couple days, played more than 80% of Saturday’s snaps at outside linebacker. Corey Flagg played 44 of the 65 possible snaps at middle linebacker, while typical starter Chuck Hicks was involved in 14 plays.

In coverage, especially, the Tigers' linebackers seemed to miss a beat. Specifically Newson, whose rotational partner at OLB, Khalil Jacobs, has been ruled out for the season.

Newson played 53 downs Saturday, which was third-most on the team and 13 more total snaps faced than he had in any other game this season. PFF tagged Newson as the target on four of Thorne’s passes, and he allowed a reception on all four for a total of 37 yards — with 48 yards coming after the catch. Those numbers exactly matched what he has allowed across the remainder of the season.

Newson is attributed with a couple of missed tackles. He had less than one per game before Saturday. As he dropped, he seemed to be a step behind where he needed to be on a couple of plays.

Mizzou is now light at the position, with true freshman Nicholas Rodriguez seemingly stepping in as the next man up. Rodriguez played 12 snaps against Auburn, which isn't exactly the even split Mizzou has been running.

At a contact-heavy position, Missouri might need to find more relief for its core members down the stretch.

How will Mizzou handle star WR Ryan Williams?

It happened again.

Missouri safety Marvin Burks Jr. got caught with his eyes downfield after corner Dreyden Norwood lost a step, and five-star Cam Coleman hauled in perhaps the lowest-stress touchdown of his rookie year to date as the ball came over the top.

The pressing problem for Mizzou: Another electric freshman wideout is on deck in Alabama rookie Ryan Williams.

Missouri’s secondary has to, at the very minimum, force receivers to beat them. There have now been five blown coverages this season that have led to touchdowns. Four of them have come on plays of 35 yards or longer.

Williams has scores from 43, 55, 75 and 84 yards this season already.

There appears to be some continued confusion about responsibilities in zone coverage, which falls squarely on the shoulders of MU’s coaching staff. The good news is, on Saturday, it was the outlier. They’ve got a week to find a fix before ’Bama.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Wrapping up what we saw from Missouri football defense vs. Auburn