Welcome to Four Down Territory.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. Georgia has reached that part in the season when it has woken up.
Yes, Week 10 has finally arrived, and Missouri will head to Athens, Georgia, to take on the No. 1 Bulldogs on Saturday.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, it’s that point in the season when Georgia takes everyone and everything personally and decides to beat teams down.
Last year, after escaping Columbia with a four-point win over Missouri in Week 5, the Bulldogs won their next eight games by double digits.
The next single-digit win was against Ohio State in the Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
This season, they beat Auburn, 27-20, in Week 5, and since then, they’ve won three games and have outscored their opponents 131-53.
It usually takes Georgia a couple of close games from opponents it should destroy for that sleeping giant inside them to wake up, and South Carolina and Auburn were the two close games.
I think @GabeD asked me on the pod a couple of weeks ago about Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, and I said I didn’t have much to say because I hadn’t seen Georgia play.
Well, I finally got to see him play a little versus Florida this past weekend (more specifically, I watched the first quarter, got busy and then watched a condensed version of the game).
My thought was he’s not being carried in the way some people think he is. Now, I think his team is certainly a big reason why he is excelling, but he can play.
He completed 19-of-28 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns.
For the season, he’s completed 73% of his passes for 2,462 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Georgia has eight players with over 100 receiving yards when you subtract the team’s leading receiver, superstar tight end Brock Bowers.
Instead, an old friend of Missouri’s, receiver Dominic Lovett leads the team in receptions and receiving yards with 35 receptions for 365 yards and a touchdown.
The thing is he may not even be the Tigers’ biggest problem next week. Fellow receiver Ladd McConkey might be.
He missed the first four games of the season with a back injury but since he’s returned has racked up 15 receptions for 242 yards and a touchdown in four games
McConkey had six receptions for 135 yards and a touchdown versus Florida.
If it's not him it's one of Beck's many available targets. There's no tool in a toolbox that Georgia head coach Kirby Smart doesn't have.
2. Here are the players I think need to have big days for Missouri.
I could name a lot of players that need a big game, but I'll limit it to just three players.
Obviously, quarterback Brady Cook is going to have to have one of his better games.
The last couple of games Kentucky and South Carolina have taken away the deep ball and have forced Cook to make shorter throws. Good on Cook for taking them and if that’s what Georgia gives he’s going to have to take them. However, that doesn’t mean Missouri can win by dinking and dunking.
It won’t be easy passing against this 15th-ranked pass defense allowing 178.5 yards per game.
Only four teams have passed for over 200 yards against Georgia this season (South Carolina, Alabama-Birmingham, Vanderbilt and Florida).
If Cook can play like he did against Vandy or Kansas State I think that will be huge for Mizzou and it will likely mean the offense as a whole is moving the ball.
Vs. Kansas State: 23-of-35 for 356 yards, 2 TDs. One rushing TD.
At Vandy: 33-of-41 for 395 yards and four TDs
The run game has to be a big factor in this game not only because it will help open up the passing game and play-action but I think time of possession may be something that helps the Tigers in this game.
Mizzou is 77th in the FBS in T.O.P. at 29 minutes per game. Now, that doesn’t mean too much, especially for a passing team like Mizzou that has shown on multiple occasions this season that it can strike fast.
However, Georgia is a balanced team and it still finds a way to be ranked fifth in T.O.P. at 33 minutes per game.
If Cody Schrader, and or any other running backs (if they play), can get the run game going efficiently then it can help control the clock.
I’m not saying that the Tigers should abandon the pass and be something they’re not, but getting the run game going at some point will help in so many ways.
Think if the Tigers could’ve got the run game going last year it may have completed the upset over Georgia.
Outside of Schrader’s 63-yard carry Mizzou was limited to 39 yards on 20 carries.
If you take out Cook’s four carries for minus 11 yards. Then the running backs rushed the ball 16 times for 50 yards.
A little more consistency in the run game can open up Missouri’s offense while slowing down Georgia’s.
Defensively, linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper is the player that needs to show up and have his best day.
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz and defensive coordinator Blake Baker have said that he’s been playing better this year than he was last year.
Mostly because he’s been asked to do a lot more things this year because it is year two in the scheme and because starting MIKE linebacker Chad Bailey has been in and out of the lineup.
That’s probably true. I’m not disputing that.
But from an eye test and numbers standpoint.
I don't agree.
However, let me preface this by saying the coaching staff has forgotten more football than I will ever know. So, if they think he’s playing better doing such and such, who am I to say they’re wrong?
I’m simply talking about what I see on game days.
Now, that we got that out of the way, again, I don’t believe Hopper is playing better this season than he was last season.
I think on any given day can he be the best defensive player on the field. Absolutely. But I’m not seeing it.
He is T-seventh in the nation in missed tackles with 16 among defenders. He has a missed tackling rate of 25%.
All of his PFF grades (total defense, tackling, run defense, pass rush, coverage) are down across the board are worse than they were a year ago.
I know PFF is flawed but for him to be down in all five stats is a little telling.
He had 47 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, four pass deflections and a forced fumble in the first eight games last season. He also had seven games with at least five tackles.
This year through eight games, he’s racked up 43 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks and three pass deflections. He’s also recorded four games with at least five tackles.
The box score numbers aren’t dramatically worse but they haven’t improved either. They’re either the same or worse.
He’s got to help limit this Georgia run game averaging 172.2 yards per game. The Bulldogs are just 45th in that category but they rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries (4.5 yards per carry) versus Florida.
It would go a long way if Hopper had his best performance of the season on Saturday. Not only would good run defense make Georgia one-dimensional. It may help with T.O.P.
I’ll get into more of what Mizzou will have to do this week to get a win over Georgia this week in other articles, but this is where I am right now.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. Georgia has reached that part in the season when it has woken up.
Yes, Week 10 has finally arrived, and Missouri will head to Athens, Georgia, to take on the No. 1 Bulldogs on Saturday.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, it’s that point in the season when Georgia takes everyone and everything personally and decides to beat teams down.
Last year, after escaping Columbia with a four-point win over Missouri in Week 5, the Bulldogs won their next eight games by double digits.
The next single-digit win was against Ohio State in the Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
This season, they beat Auburn, 27-20, in Week 5, and since then, they’ve won three games and have outscored their opponents 131-53.
It usually takes Georgia a couple of close games from opponents it should destroy for that sleeping giant inside them to wake up, and South Carolina and Auburn were the two close games.
I think @GabeD asked me on the pod a couple of weeks ago about Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, and I said I didn’t have much to say because I hadn’t seen Georgia play.
Well, I finally got to see him play a little versus Florida this past weekend (more specifically, I watched the first quarter, got busy and then watched a condensed version of the game).
My thought was he’s not being carried in the way some people think he is. Now, I think his team is certainly a big reason why he is excelling, but he can play.
He completed 19-of-28 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns.
For the season, he’s completed 73% of his passes for 2,462 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Georgia has eight players with over 100 receiving yards when you subtract the team’s leading receiver, superstar tight end Brock Bowers.
Instead, an old friend of Missouri’s, receiver Dominic Lovett leads the team in receptions and receiving yards with 35 receptions for 365 yards and a touchdown.
The thing is he may not even be the Tigers’ biggest problem next week. Fellow receiver Ladd McConkey might be.
He missed the first four games of the season with a back injury but since he’s returned has racked up 15 receptions for 242 yards and a touchdown in four games
McConkey had six receptions for 135 yards and a touchdown versus Florida.
If it's not him it's one of Beck's many available targets. There's no tool in a toolbox that Georgia head coach Kirby Smart doesn't have.
2. Here are the players I think need to have big days for Missouri.
I could name a lot of players that need a big game, but I'll limit it to just three players.
Obviously, quarterback Brady Cook is going to have to have one of his better games.
The last couple of games Kentucky and South Carolina have taken away the deep ball and have forced Cook to make shorter throws. Good on Cook for taking them and if that’s what Georgia gives he’s going to have to take them. However, that doesn’t mean Missouri can win by dinking and dunking.
It won’t be easy passing against this 15th-ranked pass defense allowing 178.5 yards per game.
Only four teams have passed for over 200 yards against Georgia this season (South Carolina, Alabama-Birmingham, Vanderbilt and Florida).
If Cook can play like he did against Vandy or Kansas State I think that will be huge for Mizzou and it will likely mean the offense as a whole is moving the ball.
Vs. Kansas State: 23-of-35 for 356 yards, 2 TDs. One rushing TD.
At Vandy: 33-of-41 for 395 yards and four TDs
The run game has to be a big factor in this game not only because it will help open up the passing game and play-action but I think time of possession may be something that helps the Tigers in this game.
Mizzou is 77th in the FBS in T.O.P. at 29 minutes per game. Now, that doesn’t mean too much, especially for a passing team like Mizzou that has shown on multiple occasions this season that it can strike fast.
However, Georgia is a balanced team and it still finds a way to be ranked fifth in T.O.P. at 33 minutes per game.
If Cody Schrader, and or any other running backs (if they play), can get the run game going efficiently then it can help control the clock.
I’m not saying that the Tigers should abandon the pass and be something they’re not, but getting the run game going at some point will help in so many ways.
Think if the Tigers could’ve got the run game going last year it may have completed the upset over Georgia.
Outside of Schrader’s 63-yard carry Mizzou was limited to 39 yards on 20 carries.
If you take out Cook’s four carries for minus 11 yards. Then the running backs rushed the ball 16 times for 50 yards.
A little more consistency in the run game can open up Missouri’s offense while slowing down Georgia’s.
Defensively, linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper is the player that needs to show up and have his best day.
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz and defensive coordinator Blake Baker have said that he’s been playing better this year than he was last year.
Mostly because he’s been asked to do a lot more things this year because it is year two in the scheme and because starting MIKE linebacker Chad Bailey has been in and out of the lineup.
That’s probably true. I’m not disputing that.
But from an eye test and numbers standpoint.
I don't agree.
However, let me preface this by saying the coaching staff has forgotten more football than I will ever know. So, if they think he’s playing better doing such and such, who am I to say they’re wrong?
I’m simply talking about what I see on game days.
Now, that we got that out of the way, again, I don’t believe Hopper is playing better this season than he was last season.
I think on any given day can he be the best defensive player on the field. Absolutely. But I’m not seeing it.
He is T-seventh in the nation in missed tackles with 16 among defenders. He has a missed tackling rate of 25%.
All of his PFF grades (total defense, tackling, run defense, pass rush, coverage) are down across the board are worse than they were a year ago.
I know PFF is flawed but for him to be down in all five stats is a little telling.
He had 47 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, four pass deflections and a forced fumble in the first eight games last season. He also had seven games with at least five tackles.
This year through eight games, he’s racked up 43 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks and three pass deflections. He’s also recorded four games with at least five tackles.
The box score numbers aren’t dramatically worse but they haven’t improved either. They’re either the same or worse.
He’s got to help limit this Georgia run game averaging 172.2 yards per game. The Bulldogs are just 45th in that category but they rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries (4.5 yards per carry) versus Florida.
It would go a long way if Hopper had his best performance of the season on Saturday. Not only would good run defense make Georgia one-dimensional. It may help with T.O.P.
I’ll get into more of what Mizzou will have to do this week to get a win over Georgia this week in other articles, but this is where I am right now.
