I apologize that these may make no sense. I try to do them as the game is ongoing so you guys have something to read right after. That second half was the drunkest half of college football I've seen in a very long time. Nobody in the press box can ever remember a game like this.
1. I spent the entire fourth quarter trying to decide if both teams should be pissed off they weren't ahead by 21 or thrilled they weren't behind by 21. Simply put, the second half looked like a contest between two teams that had absolutely no desire to win the game. Just a complete comedy of errors. On both sides.
2. The third quarter might be the worst quarter of football I've ever seen Missouri play. Like, there have been a lot of bad teams that were just bad and couldn't play well. But this team is not terrible. If there was anything it could do wrong in the third quarter, it did. It was awful. Blame the officials, blame the rain, blame whatever you want, but the simple fact is, Missouri got hit with adversity and it wilted.
3. The knock coming into this game was that Drew Lock didn't play well against above average defenses. I think that's still the knock. I didn't think he was bad against Georgia. I thought he was today. He was just off target...even before it stopped raining.
4. Good thing Lock had his running game to rescue him. Those cats played some football. Damarea Crockett, Larry Rountree and Tyler Badie were all averaging more than seven yards per carry well into the fourth quarter. I know Lock is the poster boy and the headliner, but it's nice to be able to have another way to try to win a game.
5. I don't know why opposing offenses ever run the ball against Missouri. The Tigers are actually pretty good as a run defense. They're absolutely awful as a pass defense. No pressure without a blitz, poor coverage, bad tackling at times. I'd legitimately go 3-1 on the pass-run ratio if I was game planning against them. Maybe 6-1.
6. Credit Tucker McCann. He missed a short one (he might not even have been able to see the goalposts) but he drilled a 44 yarder for the lead, he did a good job neutralizing Deebo Samuel in the return game and he showed some toughness. I guess the whole team did. When I wrote that special teams would make a huge difference in this game, I did not expect it to happen in the form of an onside kick that wasn't supposed to happen, two dropped punt snaps and a blocked punt, but that's what happened. Oh, by the way, I typed all that before he hit a 57 yarder to give Mizzou the lead that would have been good from 65. Unfortunately for him the Mizzou defense made it worthless.
Bonus: Replay is stupid. Still.
I'll have many more thoughts later. They will not be kind. However angry you are right now, you should be that angry. That was awful.
1. I spent the entire fourth quarter trying to decide if both teams should be pissed off they weren't ahead by 21 or thrilled they weren't behind by 21. Simply put, the second half looked like a contest between two teams that had absolutely no desire to win the game. Just a complete comedy of errors. On both sides.
2. The third quarter might be the worst quarter of football I've ever seen Missouri play. Like, there have been a lot of bad teams that were just bad and couldn't play well. But this team is not terrible. If there was anything it could do wrong in the third quarter, it did. It was awful. Blame the officials, blame the rain, blame whatever you want, but the simple fact is, Missouri got hit with adversity and it wilted.
3. The knock coming into this game was that Drew Lock didn't play well against above average defenses. I think that's still the knock. I didn't think he was bad against Georgia. I thought he was today. He was just off target...even before it stopped raining.
4. Good thing Lock had his running game to rescue him. Those cats played some football. Damarea Crockett, Larry Rountree and Tyler Badie were all averaging more than seven yards per carry well into the fourth quarter. I know Lock is the poster boy and the headliner, but it's nice to be able to have another way to try to win a game.
5. I don't know why opposing offenses ever run the ball against Missouri. The Tigers are actually pretty good as a run defense. They're absolutely awful as a pass defense. No pressure without a blitz, poor coverage, bad tackling at times. I'd legitimately go 3-1 on the pass-run ratio if I was game planning against them. Maybe 6-1.
6. Credit Tucker McCann. He missed a short one (he might not even have been able to see the goalposts) but he drilled a 44 yarder for the lead, he did a good job neutralizing Deebo Samuel in the return game and he showed some toughness. I guess the whole team did. When I wrote that special teams would make a huge difference in this game, I did not expect it to happen in the form of an onside kick that wasn't supposed to happen, two dropped punt snaps and a blocked punt, but that's what happened. Oh, by the way, I typed all that before he hit a 57 yarder to give Mizzou the lead that would have been good from 65. Unfortunately for him the Mizzou defense made it worthless.
Bonus: Replay is stupid. Still.
I'll have many more thoughts later. They will not be kind. However angry you are right now, you should be that angry. That was awful.
