Quick links before you read this
My post-game commentary
Notebook from Mitchell Forde
Forde's instant impressions
Live post-game show
Some thoughts:
*The defense is still bad and it isn't getting fixed this season. The answers either aren't on the roster or aren't ready yet. There are plenty of problems. The one that I noticed more than anything else is that the defensive line (and most specifically the defensive tackles) are just getting moved wherever the offensive line wants to move them. On the 67-yard TD run, Kobie Whiteside and Akial Byers were pushed three or four yards to the right as the ball carrier went through the gap between left guard and tackle. I haven't heard Trajan Jeffcoat's name in three weeks. Missouri simply doesn't have the guys it needs up front. That's not to say the linebacker play has been great or anything. It hasn't. But there's not a scheme that can overcome the defensive line getting shoved around and Missouri's defensive line is getting shoved around.
*They're not winning one on one battles but at least Missouri also isn't tackling well at all. Four Tigers got a hand on Garwo on his 67-yard run. None brought him down. On the run that gave BC the lead at the end of regulation, Jaylon Carlies met the ballcarrier at the 2 and just got run through. That's a tough play. A lot of players don't make it. I'm not blaming the kid. But Missouri needed a big play there and didn't make it.
*That's not to say Steve Wilks isn't making adjustments. After making it 27-24, Wilks put eight defenders in the box on three consecutive BC plays and blitzed on the last two and got off the field and gave the ball back to the offense. It's not realistic to do that on every single play and if you have to put eight guys in the box every down, SEC quarterbacks and receivers are going to eat you alive, but he's going to have to do it some. He's going to have to start bringing pressure and stacking the box on a regular basis and hope the back end can hold up just long enough to make it work. That probably means sometimes you're going to get beat over the top and give up a 60-yard pass. That's almost more palatable than just watching a team know it can hand the ball off and run right at you and get six yards a play. I'm willing to live with some big plays if it means Missouri makes some itself. Watching a team just get run over play after play is one of the more frustrating experiences in football.
*As I wrote in my column, Missouri's offense isn't explosive. That doesn't mean it's bad. They've been pretty good most of the year. But there aren't a lot of big plays. Tyler Badie will make one or two a game. Tauskie Dove had two long catches today. One was on a flea flicker that should have been an easy touchdown but was underthrown by a minimum of five yards. The other one was a nice play on both ends. But for the most part, Missouri has to go down the field six to eight yards at a time. That's fine. You've got to play to your strengths. But it also gives you no margin for error. As for why the offense is more conservative than many expected, there are three potential options:
They don't think they have the quarterback to do more downfield
They don't have the receivers to do more downfield
This is the offense
I think it's mostly a combination of 1 and 2. But I think there's a little bit of 3 in there too. Drinkwitz does a lot of side to side, spread you out stuff. He uses a lot of eye candy and pre-snap motion to cause confusion. I think a lot of what you see now is what you'll still see two or three years from now. But I also think that they simply don't have the pieces they need to do everything they want to do.
*We focus on the negative because of the way it turned out, but let's not ignore the positive, especially Missouri's last drive of regulation. That was perfectly executed. I said at the beginning of the drive they'd need to go 35 yards in 25 seconds to give Harrison Mevis a chance. They went 36 and they needed every inch. If they'd gone 35, the kick might have come up short. Bazelak deserves credit for orchestrating the drive. Barrett Banister made two catches. Keke Chism made a really tough one. And Drinkwitz deserves credit for using the one timeout at the right time and also for keeping the offense on the field and trusting them to run an out pattern and get out of bounds for three extra yards. Without those three yards, Missouri doesn't make it to OT. That drive was beautiful even if it wasn't enough. And Mevis might be the best player on this team.
*I'm sure there's a lot of discussion about how Missouri should have had more time and Drinkwitz mismanaged the clock on BC's last drive. I do understand it. You might even be right. But he handled that drive exactly the way he handled the LSU drive last year. The difference is his defense didn't come up with the play it needed this time. The offensive facemask actually really hurt Missouri. You never see that called. If it's not called, BC has first and goal at the 8 with two minutes left and Missouri has two timeouts. Worst case scenario they run twice, you use two timeouts, they run again and then they score on fourth down. Absolute worst case you probably get the ball back with about 1:15 left--time to drive down for a potential game-winning TD. The penalty pushed BC back to the 25 and gave them an extra set of downs. It probably cost Mizzou about a minute on the clock. Obviously you can't decline that penalty, but Missouri would probably have been better off doing so.
*Eight wins is off the table. Don't even talk about it. Georgia and Florida are losses. Either Arkansas or A&M is almost certainly a loss and maybe both. The expectations have to be reset. 6-6 is probably likely. 7-5 is the best you can hope for. Missing a bowl game is not something I view as likely, but it's not impossible. Next week's game is now the biggest of the season. If some wind is out of the sails at 2-2, it will all be gone at 2-3. And if you don't beat Tennessee, I've got a tough time seeing how you get to six this season.
Plenty of coverage already up, we'll have more on the way all weekend.
My post-game commentary
Notebook from Mitchell Forde
Forde's instant impressions
Live post-game show
Some thoughts:
*The defense is still bad and it isn't getting fixed this season. The answers either aren't on the roster or aren't ready yet. There are plenty of problems. The one that I noticed more than anything else is that the defensive line (and most specifically the defensive tackles) are just getting moved wherever the offensive line wants to move them. On the 67-yard TD run, Kobie Whiteside and Akial Byers were pushed three or four yards to the right as the ball carrier went through the gap between left guard and tackle. I haven't heard Trajan Jeffcoat's name in three weeks. Missouri simply doesn't have the guys it needs up front. That's not to say the linebacker play has been great or anything. It hasn't. But there's not a scheme that can overcome the defensive line getting shoved around and Missouri's defensive line is getting shoved around.
*They're not winning one on one battles but at least Missouri also isn't tackling well at all. Four Tigers got a hand on Garwo on his 67-yard run. None brought him down. On the run that gave BC the lead at the end of regulation, Jaylon Carlies met the ballcarrier at the 2 and just got run through. That's a tough play. A lot of players don't make it. I'm not blaming the kid. But Missouri needed a big play there and didn't make it.
*That's not to say Steve Wilks isn't making adjustments. After making it 27-24, Wilks put eight defenders in the box on three consecutive BC plays and blitzed on the last two and got off the field and gave the ball back to the offense. It's not realistic to do that on every single play and if you have to put eight guys in the box every down, SEC quarterbacks and receivers are going to eat you alive, but he's going to have to do it some. He's going to have to start bringing pressure and stacking the box on a regular basis and hope the back end can hold up just long enough to make it work. That probably means sometimes you're going to get beat over the top and give up a 60-yard pass. That's almost more palatable than just watching a team know it can hand the ball off and run right at you and get six yards a play. I'm willing to live with some big plays if it means Missouri makes some itself. Watching a team just get run over play after play is one of the more frustrating experiences in football.
*As I wrote in my column, Missouri's offense isn't explosive. That doesn't mean it's bad. They've been pretty good most of the year. But there aren't a lot of big plays. Tyler Badie will make one or two a game. Tauskie Dove had two long catches today. One was on a flea flicker that should have been an easy touchdown but was underthrown by a minimum of five yards. The other one was a nice play on both ends. But for the most part, Missouri has to go down the field six to eight yards at a time. That's fine. You've got to play to your strengths. But it also gives you no margin for error. As for why the offense is more conservative than many expected, there are three potential options:
They don't think they have the quarterback to do more downfield
They don't have the receivers to do more downfield
This is the offense
I think it's mostly a combination of 1 and 2. But I think there's a little bit of 3 in there too. Drinkwitz does a lot of side to side, spread you out stuff. He uses a lot of eye candy and pre-snap motion to cause confusion. I think a lot of what you see now is what you'll still see two or three years from now. But I also think that they simply don't have the pieces they need to do everything they want to do.
*We focus on the negative because of the way it turned out, but let's not ignore the positive, especially Missouri's last drive of regulation. That was perfectly executed. I said at the beginning of the drive they'd need to go 35 yards in 25 seconds to give Harrison Mevis a chance. They went 36 and they needed every inch. If they'd gone 35, the kick might have come up short. Bazelak deserves credit for orchestrating the drive. Barrett Banister made two catches. Keke Chism made a really tough one. And Drinkwitz deserves credit for using the one timeout at the right time and also for keeping the offense on the field and trusting them to run an out pattern and get out of bounds for three extra yards. Without those three yards, Missouri doesn't make it to OT. That drive was beautiful even if it wasn't enough. And Mevis might be the best player on this team.
*I'm sure there's a lot of discussion about how Missouri should have had more time and Drinkwitz mismanaged the clock on BC's last drive. I do understand it. You might even be right. But he handled that drive exactly the way he handled the LSU drive last year. The difference is his defense didn't come up with the play it needed this time. The offensive facemask actually really hurt Missouri. You never see that called. If it's not called, BC has first and goal at the 8 with two minutes left and Missouri has two timeouts. Worst case scenario they run twice, you use two timeouts, they run again and then they score on fourth down. Absolute worst case you probably get the ball back with about 1:15 left--time to drive down for a potential game-winning TD. The penalty pushed BC back to the 25 and gave them an extra set of downs. It probably cost Mizzou about a minute on the clock. Obviously you can't decline that penalty, but Missouri would probably have been better off doing so.
*Eight wins is off the table. Don't even talk about it. Georgia and Florida are losses. Either Arkansas or A&M is almost certainly a loss and maybe both. The expectations have to be reset. 6-6 is probably likely. 7-5 is the best you can hope for. Missing a bowl game is not something I view as likely, but it's not impossible. Next week's game is now the biggest of the season. If some wind is out of the sails at 2-2, it will all be gone at 2-3. And if you don't beat Tennessee, I've got a tough time seeing how you get to six this season.
Plenty of coverage already up, we'll have more on the way all weekend.
