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We could go one of two ways here. GIven that I got my fill of negativity here on Sunday night, how about we start with the good stuff?
1) Missouri found a way to win on Saturday night, beating Florida 33-31 on a Harrison Mevis 30-yard field goal with five seconds left. The win was Missouri's ninth of the year, the first time the Tigers have had that many in a season since 2014. It assured Mizzou will finish second in the final year of the SEC East. Cody Schrader ran for 100 yards for the fourth straight game, something no Missouri back has done since Henry Josey. Luther Burden had 158 yards receiving, putting him over 1,100 for the year, the most a Mizzou pass catcher has had since Danario Alexander in 2009. Brady Cook threw for 330 and put together the best drive of his career and one that will probably be one of the first things Mizzou fans bring up whenever he's done, converting a 4th and 17 and completing 7/10 for 67 yards to put Mizzou in position for the winning kick. Mevis made his second game-winner of the season and third of his career.
The most impressive thing about the game was simply that Mizzou won. Eli Drinkwitz admitted after the game that he was a bit concerned about how much energy Missouri had had to expend over the previous two weeks. The toughest thing about a full season is to play at maximum energy and close to your best every time out. Nobody does it. Good teams manage to win even when they aren't at their best. Missouri did it on Saturday because Missouri is a legitimately good football team. No question the Tigers made plenty of mistakes. Most of them were on defense, but the offense had multiple touchdowns called back by penalty and had to settle for field goals on four of their five trips to the red zone.
It was far from perfect, but it was a win.
2) Let's talk about some of the issues now. What does Mizzou need to fix coming out of that one?
Mostly the defense. Before we get too deep into it, Florida deserves credit. Graham Mertz has been an easy target because his time at Wisconsin didn't go very well. But the truth is, he's been very good this year. Compare these two stat lines:
Player A: 261/358 (72.9), 2903 yards, 8.1 yards per attempt, 20 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 157.79 QBR
Player B: 221/330 (67.0), 3077 yards, 9.3 yards per attempt, 18 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 159.65 QBR
The first is Mertz. The second is Cook. Their seasons have been pretty much identical. You can't say Brady Cook has had a really good year and Graham Mertz hasn't. The difference? Defense. Missouri's has given up 23.1 points per game, tied for 47th in the country. Florida has allowed 27.9, ranking 88th. It's a team game. This illustrates why analysis of quarterbacks is so flawed. Yes, it's the most important position in sports. But winning and losing is still very much about the team around them too.
Anyway, Missouri's defense struggled against the Gators. The Tigers gave up 500 total yards and 7.6 yards per play. That included 6.5 yards per rush, more than 2.5 yards per carry more than either Georgia or Tennessee averaged against Mizzou in the last two weeks. Part of that is obviously up front.
"We were just not playing good ball up front, simple as it is," Darius Robinson said. "They won more plays than we won. Instead of 3-4 yards, it was 9-10 yards.
"If it would have been a loss, we would have been saying this is why we lost."
The Tigers also desperately missed Ty'Ron Hopper. Mizzou was without both of its starting linebackers because Chad Bailey is out for the year too. But Chuck Hicks has played more snaps than Bailey this season and Missouri's defense has mostly been fine. The difference Saturday was not having Hopper.
"I'd say it was pretty evident. You miss Chad Bailey and Ty'Ron Hopper," Eli Drinkwitz said. "That's not to say Triston (Newson) and Chuck didn't play well. Chuck has played this many snaps, Triston has never played this many snaps. I think what Billy (Napier) does on offense is very difficult because they use a lot of motions, split flow and confuse our eyes. They were able to do that most of the time."
3) Up next is Arkansas, which is playing for....well, not much of anything other than spoiling Missouri's season. The Razorbacks are 4-7 so even a win isn't going to get them a minor bowl. Razorbacks AD Hunter Yurachek put out a statement on Sunday morning that Sam Pittman was returning as the Arkansas head coach in 2024. So there's no win one for the Gipper incentive or inspiration from an interim coach for the Razorbacks.
It is, on the surface, a game Missouri should be able to handle. The Tigers are a touchdown favorite. It's unlikely to be all that wild an atmosphere. KJ Jefferson is having a down year (he's still thrown for 2100 yards and leads Arkansas with 432 rushing). Raheim Sanders has played in just five games and has 209 yards rushing (103 of them in the win over Florida two weeks ago, but he's had just 10 carries for 15 yards in the two games since). Arkansas has lost seven of nine after a 2-0 start. Other than Florida, the wins are Western Carolina, Kent State and Florida International.
So, yeah, on the surface, Missouri should handle business. I think the Florida game actually helps them here. Mizzou was an 11 point favorite last week. Most assumed they'd roll. And they had a 60 minute fight on their hands and easily could have lost. It gives Drinkwitz the ability to convince his team without much trouble that it can get beat on Friday. I expect a much better effort out of Mizzou this time around.
