We’ve given a lot of consideration to the offense throughout this preseason scrimmage, but to wrap up camp, I wanted to break down exactly what the first-steam defense has done, to show a hint of where they stand entering the 2015 season.
So, first, let’s go scrimmage-by-scrimmage.
SCRIMMAGE 1: The first-team defense allowed 39 yards on nine rushing attempts. Through the air, Missouri’s offense went 4-8 for 68 yards and one touchdown. The score came on a 35-yard completion from Maty Mauk to Wesley Leftwich. It was on the only series that pitted ones-against-ones for all of preseason camp.
The defense had one sack, and also had a fumble recovery on a backward pass.
SCRIMMAGE 2: The first-team defense allowed seven yards on twelve rushing attempts, including two sacks. Through the air, however, the defense gave up 165 yards and two touchdowns on 12-of-18 passing. That included three plays over 20 yards, and two over 40.
SCRIMMAGE 3: The defense had its best day of the preseason defending the rush, giving up negative-20 yards on ten carries (including four sacks). Through the air, it allowed 7-of-10 passing for 68 yards and one interception. However, one pass went for 40 yards, so the rest was 6-for-9 for 28 yards and the lone interception.
Now, let’s break this down in total for the three scrimmages. In the run game, I like to discern between running back attempts and quarterback attempts. QB attempts are usually scrambles, but even when they aren’t, there’s no contact allowed so I don’t think that’s fair indication for the defense.
Here is the breakdown on the ground for the first-team defense:
QB runs — six attempts for 29 yards
RB runs — 18 attempts for 31 yards
(Sacks were omitted.)
Even if you look at the total number, that’s impressive. But just look at the running back attempts for a second. Tyler Hunt gained 31 yards on the first rushing attempt of the first scrimmage against the first-team defense. That means that the following 17 attempts over (pretty much) three scrimmages gained zero total yards.
Now, this is a give and take. I think the run game in the preseason is the hardest to predict for the regular season because I think Missouri’s defense has the easiest job in identifying runs and stopping them in intra-team settings. But even with that in mind, it’s pretty impressive that they had one blown assignment to start camp — and then none thereafter. That’s a good sign.
However, the passing totals are a little more troublesome. Quarterbacks with the second-team offense went 23-36 for 201 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. That’s a passer rating of 132.73. It isn’t that far off the average from last season (121.01) and Missouri only allowed a passer rating over 130.00 in four games (Georgia, Texas A&M, Alabama, Minnesota). But what is more troublesome is the big plays allowed.
The defense allowed five passing plays over 20 yards (again, in 36 attempts). Four passing plays over 30. Three over 40. One over 50.
Missouri has been a bleed-but-don’t-bleed-out defense under Steckel. The last two years, they were so good because they could rush the passer, avoid big plays and then force turnovers. Certainly there has to be some concern from this camp with the fact that they didn’t force turnovers until the final scrimmage, and they also allowed a high percentage of long plays in the passing game.
So, first, let’s go scrimmage-by-scrimmage.
SCRIMMAGE 1: The first-team defense allowed 39 yards on nine rushing attempts. Through the air, Missouri’s offense went 4-8 for 68 yards and one touchdown. The score came on a 35-yard completion from Maty Mauk to Wesley Leftwich. It was on the only series that pitted ones-against-ones for all of preseason camp.
The defense had one sack, and also had a fumble recovery on a backward pass.
SCRIMMAGE 2: The first-team defense allowed seven yards on twelve rushing attempts, including two sacks. Through the air, however, the defense gave up 165 yards and two touchdowns on 12-of-18 passing. That included three plays over 20 yards, and two over 40.
SCRIMMAGE 3: The defense had its best day of the preseason defending the rush, giving up negative-20 yards on ten carries (including four sacks). Through the air, it allowed 7-of-10 passing for 68 yards and one interception. However, one pass went for 40 yards, so the rest was 6-for-9 for 28 yards and the lone interception.
Now, let’s break this down in total for the three scrimmages. In the run game, I like to discern between running back attempts and quarterback attempts. QB attempts are usually scrambles, but even when they aren’t, there’s no contact allowed so I don’t think that’s fair indication for the defense.
Here is the breakdown on the ground for the first-team defense:
QB runs — six attempts for 29 yards
RB runs — 18 attempts for 31 yards
(Sacks were omitted.)
Even if you look at the total number, that’s impressive. But just look at the running back attempts for a second. Tyler Hunt gained 31 yards on the first rushing attempt of the first scrimmage against the first-team defense. That means that the following 17 attempts over (pretty much) three scrimmages gained zero total yards.
Now, this is a give and take. I think the run game in the preseason is the hardest to predict for the regular season because I think Missouri’s defense has the easiest job in identifying runs and stopping them in intra-team settings. But even with that in mind, it’s pretty impressive that they had one blown assignment to start camp — and then none thereafter. That’s a good sign.
However, the passing totals are a little more troublesome. Quarterbacks with the second-team offense went 23-36 for 201 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. That’s a passer rating of 132.73. It isn’t that far off the average from last season (121.01) and Missouri only allowed a passer rating over 130.00 in four games (Georgia, Texas A&M, Alabama, Minnesota). But what is more troublesome is the big plays allowed.
The defense allowed five passing plays over 20 yards (again, in 36 attempts). Four passing plays over 30. Three over 40. One over 50.
Missouri has been a bleed-but-don’t-bleed-out defense under Steckel. The last two years, they were so good because they could rush the passer, avoid big plays and then force turnovers. Certainly there has to be some concern from this camp with the fact that they didn’t force turnovers until the final scrimmage, and they also allowed a high percentage of long plays in the passing game.
