1. Even though the result was the same, there’s a lot less to feel good about coming out of this game. Missouri didn’t really look like it belonged on the field with a Tennessee team that is solid, but nowhere near Alabama level of talent. The Tigers started terribly, got down early and could never recover. To me, the clear number one concern coming out of this one is the defense, particularly the defensive line. With eight seniors on the defensive line and Nick Bolton playing behind them, the front six was supposed to be the strength of the team. Instead, Tennessee rushed for 232 yards on 51 carries. If you take away the lost yardage from sacks and kneel-downs, the Vols averaged 5.3 yards per carry. That’s not going to get it done. Missouri never made Jarrett Guarantano beat them, because just about every time he threw it was off play action to receivers in single coverage. This team is not built to come from behind or win in shootouts, so the defense needs to get fixed in a hurry if it’s going to have a chance in any games moving forward.
2. On the offensive side of the ball, obviously the big takeaway is the quarterback change. Drinkwitz was clearly right to stick with Connor Bazelak after he came in and injected a bit of life into the offense that looked woeful for its first two drives. Bazelak had several good moments — he looked poised in the face of pressure (and a couple bad snaps) and showed accuracy on most of his downfield throws. He did throw one pick, but that was really his only bad pass of the game. My question now is how do you handle the QB situation? Do Bazelak and Robinson flip roles, with Robinson getting a series or two every game? The problem with that is, if Bazelak has a game like this where he struggles for two or three possessions and the offense doesn’t get going, do you flip back to Robinson? I really feel like at a certain point it’s best to pick a starting QB and stick with him, and now might be that time. You can still give Robinson a series or two per game, but name Bazelak the starter on the depth char and make it clear he’s the guy. I’ll be very curious to see how Drinkwitz handles that.
3. The biggest offensive issue was the dropped passes. Jalen Knox could have had two first downs, including one inside the five-yard line, if he doesn’t drop a pair of passes. Dominic Gicinto’s drop was worse. It would have been, at worst, a 50-yard gain and at best an 84-yard touchdown on a great play design and good throw from Bazelak. Keke Chism could have caught one that would have been a first down in the second half. There might have been another drop I’m forgetting. The point is, this offense will never have the margin for error to miss opportunities with drops, and especially when its defense is playing like this. I don’t know how you go about fixing drops, exactly, but Mizzou needs to address that moving forward, because they’ve been an issue two weeks in a row.
4. Another reason why Mizzou can’t afford to get into an early hole like it did today is because the offense needs to run through Larry Rountree III, but that’s hard to do if you’re trailing by multiple scores in the second half. Rountree ran well again today, gaining 84 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. That’s the second game in a row he’s been above 4.5 yards per tote, which is solid. I’m not blaming Drinkwitz for not giving him the ball enough, just pointing out that the ability to make him the focal point of the offense is lost if Missouri starts like it has the past two weeks, so that’s obviously something that needs to be corrected moving forward.
5. Looking forward, while today was a disappointing performance, it doesn’t really change my outlook on the season too much. I thought Missouri would lose to two more talented teams in the first two weeks, and that’s what happened. I still think this is a two- to four-win team on the season. It’s going to keep getting better, especially offensively, as it gets more experience with one another. But the talk of going .500 or better that popped up after last week never seemed realistic to me. Honestly, my biggest takeaway from today is probably just how much the fourth quarter last week was Alabama taking its foot off the gas versus Missouri playing well.
2. On the offensive side of the ball, obviously the big takeaway is the quarterback change. Drinkwitz was clearly right to stick with Connor Bazelak after he came in and injected a bit of life into the offense that looked woeful for its first two drives. Bazelak had several good moments — he looked poised in the face of pressure (and a couple bad snaps) and showed accuracy on most of his downfield throws. He did throw one pick, but that was really his only bad pass of the game. My question now is how do you handle the QB situation? Do Bazelak and Robinson flip roles, with Robinson getting a series or two every game? The problem with that is, if Bazelak has a game like this where he struggles for two or three possessions and the offense doesn’t get going, do you flip back to Robinson? I really feel like at a certain point it’s best to pick a starting QB and stick with him, and now might be that time. You can still give Robinson a series or two per game, but name Bazelak the starter on the depth char and make it clear he’s the guy. I’ll be very curious to see how Drinkwitz handles that.
3. The biggest offensive issue was the dropped passes. Jalen Knox could have had two first downs, including one inside the five-yard line, if he doesn’t drop a pair of passes. Dominic Gicinto’s drop was worse. It would have been, at worst, a 50-yard gain and at best an 84-yard touchdown on a great play design and good throw from Bazelak. Keke Chism could have caught one that would have been a first down in the second half. There might have been another drop I’m forgetting. The point is, this offense will never have the margin for error to miss opportunities with drops, and especially when its defense is playing like this. I don’t know how you go about fixing drops, exactly, but Mizzou needs to address that moving forward, because they’ve been an issue two weeks in a row.
4. Another reason why Mizzou can’t afford to get into an early hole like it did today is because the offense needs to run through Larry Rountree III, but that’s hard to do if you’re trailing by multiple scores in the second half. Rountree ran well again today, gaining 84 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. That’s the second game in a row he’s been above 4.5 yards per tote, which is solid. I’m not blaming Drinkwitz for not giving him the ball enough, just pointing out that the ability to make him the focal point of the offense is lost if Missouri starts like it has the past two weeks, so that’s obviously something that needs to be corrected moving forward.
5. Looking forward, while today was a disappointing performance, it doesn’t really change my outlook on the season too much. I thought Missouri would lose to two more talented teams in the first two weeks, and that’s what happened. I still think this is a two- to four-win team on the season. It’s going to keep getting better, especially offensively, as it gets more experience with one another. But the talk of going .500 or better that popped up after last week never seemed realistic to me. Honestly, my biggest takeaway from today is probably just how much the fourth quarter last week was Alabama taking its foot off the gas versus Missouri playing well.
