Brian Kelly's power moves on display at LSU after Bo Davis, Blake Baker hires
The Tigers are making impressive coaching changes after a historically-bad season on defense.
247sports.com
"LSU ranked in the middle of the SEC in havoc plays this season defensively and suffered its lowest scoring defensive totals at 28 points per game since 2020. Nationally, LSU ranked 108th in total defense."
Despite win, No. 20 Mizzou critical of performance against Kentucky
“If you look back at the game, we didn’t play particularly well in a lot of areas,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said.
"Missouri’s defense, however, drew plaudits for its first dominant performance of the season. Its success didn’t kick in until UK had stormed out to a 14-0 lead, but the Tigers corralled the Wildcats into just seven points from the second quarter on.
Part of the reason why was a defensive concept that Mizzou players and coaches often like to cite when talking about their system: havoc. It’s a lot like it sounds — plays that induce chaos for an offense, like pressures, pass break-ups and ball punchouts.
MU coaches set an internal goal for “havoc rate” each game, measuring how often the defense creates havoc plays. The Tigers met their havoc rate goal for just the second time this season in the Kentucky win.
“I definitely give it to Coach Baker’s schematics, just putting us in the places and then I put it on the players to actually make the plays when it’s time to make plays — so just working hand-in-hand,” said defensive end Darius Robinson, who was named the SEC’s defensive player of the week for his two-sack performance against UK."
So how does Missouri counter that? Creating havoc plays and turnovers, something Baker has emphasized all season.
“I think getting the ball back to our offense,” Baker said on the importance of havoc rate. “We have a very explosive offense. At the end of the day, it’s who scores the most points, right? So you’re taking a possession away from the opponent and then give our offense a chance to put more points on the board.” He continued. “But it’s also huge for momentum,” Baker said. “I think college football, there’s so much momentum swings throughout the game, and a lot of times that ends up determining the game.”
