1. Still waiting on this explosive offense.
It’s the same team offensively. I mean I based my 20-17 prediction on what they’ve shown in games they should win or games they started off well and then finished slowly. Look at the game versus Vandy last year or the game versus Arkansas. Look at the game versus South Dakota last week.
It took them until the beginning of the fourth quarter to get 23 points.
It felt like early on it took them a bit to adjust to the blitz. When a team blitzes the quick passes and the short game is what counters that and it felt like it took a little longer than it needed to
make the adjustments.
This was just a really rough game for the offense. Mizzou can't feel happy about this one.
2. The offensive line is better than last season but still needs work.
Last week, Missouri’s offensive line had the best players outside of Luther Burden, but that was against South Dakota. They faced a more aggressive defense and MTSU got the best of them at a lot of points in the night.
MTSU had three sacks and five tackles for loss in the first half and it finished with six sacks and nine tackles for loss.
I mean, Cam'Ron Johnson had a rough day, and on that safety, he got pulverized on a bull rush that forced Brady Cook to have to roll out in the first place.
I’m interested to see what this line looks like versus Power 5 opponents.
3. Burden is everything the Tigers could want and more
Luther Burden is balling like the player Missouri needs him to be. Last week, he had seven receptions for 96 yards. This week, he had eight receptions for 117 yards. By the way, one of my bold predictions was for him to go over 100 yards. Prior to last week, he’d never had a game with more than 66 receiving yards.
I think one of the best things about Burden’s play is everything he lacks in speed (which isn’t a whole lot) he makes up in his ability to break tackles. He’s always carrying players on his back or running through them.
I don’t know why he doesn’t get the ball even more, honestly.
4. This defense has the chance to be better than the 2022 defense
The 2022 defense ranked 34th in total defense and had two defensive ends go to the NFL. So, how could they be better?
The depth in the front seven is there for starters. Chuck Hicks played well again for the second game in a row. I saw Triston Newson get a tackle for loss, I saw Josh Landry and Jay Jernigan make plays. Nyles Gaddy had two sacks on the night. Overall, four sacks and 12 tackles for loss for the Tigers.
I will say they need to work on things like their third-down defense. MTSU went 9-of-18 on third down. So, that’s something they need to fix. But I can see the potential.
It’s the same team offensively. I mean I based my 20-17 prediction on what they’ve shown in games they should win or games they started off well and then finished slowly. Look at the game versus Vandy last year or the game versus Arkansas. Look at the game versus South Dakota last week.
It took them until the beginning of the fourth quarter to get 23 points.
It felt like early on it took them a bit to adjust to the blitz. When a team blitzes the quick passes and the short game is what counters that and it felt like it took a little longer than it needed to
make the adjustments.
This was just a really rough game for the offense. Mizzou can't feel happy about this one.
2. The offensive line is better than last season but still needs work.
Last week, Missouri’s offensive line had the best players outside of Luther Burden, but that was against South Dakota. They faced a more aggressive defense and MTSU got the best of them at a lot of points in the night.
MTSU had three sacks and five tackles for loss in the first half and it finished with six sacks and nine tackles for loss.
I mean, Cam'Ron Johnson had a rough day, and on that safety, he got pulverized on a bull rush that forced Brady Cook to have to roll out in the first place.
I’m interested to see what this line looks like versus Power 5 opponents.
3. Burden is everything the Tigers could want and more
Luther Burden is balling like the player Missouri needs him to be. Last week, he had seven receptions for 96 yards. This week, he had eight receptions for 117 yards. By the way, one of my bold predictions was for him to go over 100 yards. Prior to last week, he’d never had a game with more than 66 receiving yards.
I think one of the best things about Burden’s play is everything he lacks in speed (which isn’t a whole lot) he makes up in his ability to break tackles. He’s always carrying players on his back or running through them.
I don’t know why he doesn’t get the ball even more, honestly.
4. This defense has the chance to be better than the 2022 defense
The 2022 defense ranked 34th in total defense and had two defensive ends go to the NFL. So, how could they be better?
The depth in the front seven is there for starters. Chuck Hicks played well again for the second game in a row. I saw Triston Newson get a tackle for loss, I saw Josh Landry and Jay Jernigan make plays. Nyles Gaddy had two sacks on the night. Overall, four sacks and 12 tackles for loss for the Tigers.
I will say they need to work on things like their third-down defense. MTSU went 9-of-18 on third down. So, that’s something they need to fix. But I can see the potential.
