1. The offense did exactly what you hoped/expected. Johnathon Johnson, J'Mon Moore and Dimetrios Mason were great. Drew Lock was fantastic in the first half when he needed to be and put together a few drives in the second. All told, a school record for TD passes and yards and video game numbers. Those are good things. I'm not throwing parties for the showing because this is exactly what Missouri SHOULD do in this game. But at least they did it.
2. I said all offseason the defense would be better because it couldn't be worse. After one game, that statement isn't looking very smart. It was far worse on Saturday. Worse than Middle Tennessee. Worse than Tennessee. Missouri State should not have 35 points and 300 something yards in a game...much less a half.
3. Rashad Brandon flashed on defense. Cale Garrett did some things. Other than that I'd open up every single job because I didn't see anyone I can say for sure should start against South Carolina.
4. The most noticeable poor performances on a poor day defensively came from DeMarkus Acy and the safeties. The defensive backfield was a big concern coming in. It's a big concern headed to week two. Missed tackles, blown assignments, etc.
5. It's good that Tucker McCann came back and made a whole bunch of kicks after his first one. But man that missed PAT is going to make you lose some sleep. You just can't have those. It didn't lose this game. But it will lose some others.
BONUS: I said before the game if Drew Lock was on the field in the fourth quarter it was a bad sign. I stand by that. Missouri had 58 points and 655 yards in the first three quarters...and the starters still had to play in the fourth. That's not good. Before this game I predicted seven wins. I don't predict that anymore. I don't think Missouri can score 50 seven times and I think that's what it will take. You better see an amazing amount of improvement in the next seven days or I can't forecast a bowl game for this team.
2. I said all offseason the defense would be better because it couldn't be worse. After one game, that statement isn't looking very smart. It was far worse on Saturday. Worse than Middle Tennessee. Worse than Tennessee. Missouri State should not have 35 points and 300 something yards in a game...much less a half.
3. Rashad Brandon flashed on defense. Cale Garrett did some things. Other than that I'd open up every single job because I didn't see anyone I can say for sure should start against South Carolina.
4. The most noticeable poor performances on a poor day defensively came from DeMarkus Acy and the safeties. The defensive backfield was a big concern coming in. It's a big concern headed to week two. Missed tackles, blown assignments, etc.
5. It's good that Tucker McCann came back and made a whole bunch of kicks after his first one. But man that missed PAT is going to make you lose some sleep. You just can't have those. It didn't lose this game. But it will lose some others.
BONUS: I said before the game if Drew Lock was on the field in the fourth quarter it was a bad sign. I stand by that. Missouri had 58 points and 655 yards in the first three quarters...and the starters still had to play in the fourth. That's not good. Before this game I predicted seven wins. I don't predict that anymore. I don't think Missouri can score 50 seven times and I think that's what it will take. You better see an amazing amount of improvement in the next seven days or I can't forecast a bowl game for this team.
