1. How in the world was Emanuel Hall not a starter until last week? I mean, the guy has torched two straight secondaries in the SEC. He has 9 catches for 270 yards and three touchdowns, and that doesn't include at least two times he was wide open deep, but Drew Lock couldn't hit him. I mean, it's fair to wonder how he wasn't in the starting lineup.
2/3. I combined these because I'm trying to decide what the biggest problem area on this team is and I can't decide between defensive end and defensive backfield. It's a combination of the two. I had the pleasure of listening to the first half on radio and Howard Richards kept harping on two things:
A. The defensive ends lost contain over and over and over on the Georgia running game. The most common name he mentioned was Jordan Harold, but he wasn't the only one
B. Missouri played soft zone for most of the game (I presume they do this because they don't have much confidence in their defensive backs). To do that, you need to have a good pass rush. Missouri does not have a good pass rush. In fact, it really has no pass rush at all. But regardless, Missouri's defensive backs are not generally close enough to receivers to be covering them. When they are close enough, they do not make plays and they miss tackles. This is not a good combination.
4. Georgia is really, really good. And so losing is not a shock. Losing lopsidedly is not really a shock. But it's still disappointing to basically just let them do absolutely anything they wanted to. Jake Fromm is going to be a very good quarterback. But the Bulldogs were averaging 158 yards passing per game. They had more than 100 yards more than that in the first half. Missouri's defense simply puts no pressure on any opposing offense in any way, shape or form. If you can hang on to the football and play catch, you're going to score 40 against Missouri. The season low in points allowed has been 31 against South Carolina. We've found out since then that has more to do with South Carolina not being any good than it does with Missouri being good in that game.
5. The passing game was the one area Missouri played well enough to win. Drew Lock wasn't perfect. I'm sure there are some that will blame him somehow for this loss, pointing probably to the second quarter interception. Look, it's incredibly difficult to take the field knowing "The first time we don't score, the game's probably over." He has put together back to back strong performances against Power Five defenses. But he got no help from his defense or his running game. Damarea Crockett is injured now, which means at long last we should get a look at Larry Rountree III next week. But on this night, Missouri was completely one-dimensional and still put up more points and yards than anyone has against Georgia.
6. The most disappointing part of this game for me was the first three minutes. Or at least that's when I knew things wouldn't be significantly different than I had expected. Mizzou gets the ball. They get a great kick return. They start at midfield. And then a false start. On the first play. THAT CAN'T HAPPEN. And then they burn a timeout 2:55 into the game. I really don't know why, but they did. Three minutes in, all the same problems had reared their heads. Later in the first half they got an unsportsmanlike penalty. They got another targeting penalty. This team has zero discipline. Still.
Conclusion: This game changed nothing for me in the big picture. I predicted a 24-point loss and got a 25-point loss. The rest of the year is simple: They have to beat Idaho and UCONN. They need to split the last four. That's my benchmark to even DISCUSS progress (and I'm not saying it will mean you've made it, but that's the benchmark to talk about it). Also, there can't be any more blowouts. You play six straight teams that are above average to terrible. They should not blow you out. If you lose, you lose, but none of these should be over at halftime.
2/3. I combined these because I'm trying to decide what the biggest problem area on this team is and I can't decide between defensive end and defensive backfield. It's a combination of the two. I had the pleasure of listening to the first half on radio and Howard Richards kept harping on two things:
A. The defensive ends lost contain over and over and over on the Georgia running game. The most common name he mentioned was Jordan Harold, but he wasn't the only one
B. Missouri played soft zone for most of the game (I presume they do this because they don't have much confidence in their defensive backs). To do that, you need to have a good pass rush. Missouri does not have a good pass rush. In fact, it really has no pass rush at all. But regardless, Missouri's defensive backs are not generally close enough to receivers to be covering them. When they are close enough, they do not make plays and they miss tackles. This is not a good combination.
4. Georgia is really, really good. And so losing is not a shock. Losing lopsidedly is not really a shock. But it's still disappointing to basically just let them do absolutely anything they wanted to. Jake Fromm is going to be a very good quarterback. But the Bulldogs were averaging 158 yards passing per game. They had more than 100 yards more than that in the first half. Missouri's defense simply puts no pressure on any opposing offense in any way, shape or form. If you can hang on to the football and play catch, you're going to score 40 against Missouri. The season low in points allowed has been 31 against South Carolina. We've found out since then that has more to do with South Carolina not being any good than it does with Missouri being good in that game.
5. The passing game was the one area Missouri played well enough to win. Drew Lock wasn't perfect. I'm sure there are some that will blame him somehow for this loss, pointing probably to the second quarter interception. Look, it's incredibly difficult to take the field knowing "The first time we don't score, the game's probably over." He has put together back to back strong performances against Power Five defenses. But he got no help from his defense or his running game. Damarea Crockett is injured now, which means at long last we should get a look at Larry Rountree III next week. But on this night, Missouri was completely one-dimensional and still put up more points and yards than anyone has against Georgia.
6. The most disappointing part of this game for me was the first three minutes. Or at least that's when I knew things wouldn't be significantly different than I had expected. Mizzou gets the ball. They get a great kick return. They start at midfield. And then a false start. On the first play. THAT CAN'T HAPPEN. And then they burn a timeout 2:55 into the game. I really don't know why, but they did. Three minutes in, all the same problems had reared their heads. Later in the first half they got an unsportsmanlike penalty. They got another targeting penalty. This team has zero discipline. Still.
Conclusion: This game changed nothing for me in the big picture. I predicted a 24-point loss and got a 25-point loss. The rest of the year is simple: They have to beat Idaho and UCONN. They need to split the last four. That's my benchmark to even DISCUSS progress (and I'm not saying it will mean you've made it, but that's the benchmark to talk about it). Also, there can't be any more blowouts. You play six straight teams that are above average to terrible. They should not blow you out. If you lose, you lose, but none of these should be over at halftime.
