1. We all fell for it. We saw Georgia lose and we saw Florida lose and we all started talking about how Missouri could win the East if it could just win one of those games. Everyone took offense when nobody was talking about this team winning the East. We all assumed 7-1. And that's fine for us to do. Because we don't play. But we all forgot these are college kids who think all the same things and who, no matter what they were told all week, looked at the other sideline and saw a 1-5 Vandy team that had been blown off this same field by UNLV last week and they thought all they had to do was show up. They were wrong. And so were we.
2. A week after responding to a challenge from Barry Odom in excellent fashion, the Missouri offensive line was pushed around by Vanderbilt. I don't really have any explanation for why it is, but a group that we thought would be one of the strongest on the team has been anything but that. There have been some good moments, but they haven't had any consistency whatsoever. Maybe we all underestimated how good Paul Adams was. I don't know. But it's been inconsistent all year and it was just bad today.
3. As bad as the line was, I thought the quarterback play was worse. This was Kelly Bryant's worst day as a Tiger and it wasn't close. Through six games, he was much better than I'd expected. Today, he was worse than I could have imagined. He was overthrowing open receivers, trying to force it to covered receivers. More than anything, his decisions on the zone read I thought really were questionable. If he'd kept it more in the first two and a half quarters he might have run for 150 yards. At some point, you've got to throw the ball and ask a guy to make a play. Bryant never gave anyone a chance. He just held the ball and held the ball. Vandy's game winning drive was extended when Riley Neal threw a ball to Jared Pinckney who wasn't open. But Pinckney made a play. Bryant never gave anyone a chance to make a play.
4. All that said, Bryant didn't get much help from his receiving corps. People have pushed back when I've said I don't see a difference maker in this receiving corps. Guys, nobody got open against Vanderbilt. Even when Bryant had time to throw, he didn't really have a place to throw. They appear allergic to throwing the ball to Albert O until they reach the 20 yard line. Kam Scott is the only guy who looks to me like he has game breaking ability. Jalen Knox has become invisible. So, along with the rest of the offense, the receivers weren't good.
5. Missouri's defense tried to overcome the offensive performance. Vandy really only made a couple plays all day long. But it was enough. The Commodores barely broke 200 yards in the first three quarters and that's with 61 coming on one play (a well executed screen timed perfectly against a jailbreak blitz). They had 315 on the day and scored 21 points. That should be enough to win a game. Jordan Elliott was dominant. Nick Bolton just continues to stand out. Missouri's defense was good enough. The only thing it didn't do was score. And it needed to score. The one thing I'll lay blame on the defense for is terribly timed penalties. Be smarter...and I'm not just talking about the targeting call. Some will blame them for the last drive. I kind of don't. They got no help all day. At some point that kills you.
5A. Let's be honest, this game turned around on a dirty hit. I don't really know how you can penalize Tyree Gillespie anymore than 15 yards and an ejection. But that play changed everything. I don't think Missouri really threatens with Mo Hasan at QB. The injury turned the whole game for a while. And it came on a play that was textbook targeting, well after the slide began and absolutely has no place in the game.
6. I told you last week I was worried about Missouri's placekicking. Sorry to have been right to worry.
7. People are gonna kill Barry Odom for this one and that's completely fair. Every time his program gets a little footing, it slips and falls back to the bottom of the hill. It's almost like he needs people wanting to fire him to get the best out of his team. That's just no way to do it. It's now almost impossible to see a finish that makes this season a step forward. I mean, I guess if you beat Georgia and Florida it still could be, although a fair rebuttal would be, how could you go 10-2 and have the losses be to Vanderbilt and Wyoming? The obvious truth is that they'll lose at least one of those games and quite possibly (likely) both. Odom has lost two games as a three-score favorite this year. Whatever you want to say about him is fair. He seems to be pretty good at getting his team to believe in bad times, but he sure doesn't seem to be able to keep them grounded in good ones.
8. Rant all you want on the board. Keep it clean and don't make it personal. But we're not gonna spend a lot of time moderating because you guys are angry and you have a right to be and go at it. Say what you want. It's mostly fair and well earned.
2. A week after responding to a challenge from Barry Odom in excellent fashion, the Missouri offensive line was pushed around by Vanderbilt. I don't really have any explanation for why it is, but a group that we thought would be one of the strongest on the team has been anything but that. There have been some good moments, but they haven't had any consistency whatsoever. Maybe we all underestimated how good Paul Adams was. I don't know. But it's been inconsistent all year and it was just bad today.
3. As bad as the line was, I thought the quarterback play was worse. This was Kelly Bryant's worst day as a Tiger and it wasn't close. Through six games, he was much better than I'd expected. Today, he was worse than I could have imagined. He was overthrowing open receivers, trying to force it to covered receivers. More than anything, his decisions on the zone read I thought really were questionable. If he'd kept it more in the first two and a half quarters he might have run for 150 yards. At some point, you've got to throw the ball and ask a guy to make a play. Bryant never gave anyone a chance. He just held the ball and held the ball. Vandy's game winning drive was extended when Riley Neal threw a ball to Jared Pinckney who wasn't open. But Pinckney made a play. Bryant never gave anyone a chance to make a play.
4. All that said, Bryant didn't get much help from his receiving corps. People have pushed back when I've said I don't see a difference maker in this receiving corps. Guys, nobody got open against Vanderbilt. Even when Bryant had time to throw, he didn't really have a place to throw. They appear allergic to throwing the ball to Albert O until they reach the 20 yard line. Kam Scott is the only guy who looks to me like he has game breaking ability. Jalen Knox has become invisible. So, along with the rest of the offense, the receivers weren't good.
5. Missouri's defense tried to overcome the offensive performance. Vandy really only made a couple plays all day long. But it was enough. The Commodores barely broke 200 yards in the first three quarters and that's with 61 coming on one play (a well executed screen timed perfectly against a jailbreak blitz). They had 315 on the day and scored 21 points. That should be enough to win a game. Jordan Elliott was dominant. Nick Bolton just continues to stand out. Missouri's defense was good enough. The only thing it didn't do was score. And it needed to score. The one thing I'll lay blame on the defense for is terribly timed penalties. Be smarter...and I'm not just talking about the targeting call. Some will blame them for the last drive. I kind of don't. They got no help all day. At some point that kills you.
5A. Let's be honest, this game turned around on a dirty hit. I don't really know how you can penalize Tyree Gillespie anymore than 15 yards and an ejection. But that play changed everything. I don't think Missouri really threatens with Mo Hasan at QB. The injury turned the whole game for a while. And it came on a play that was textbook targeting, well after the slide began and absolutely has no place in the game.
6. I told you last week I was worried about Missouri's placekicking. Sorry to have been right to worry.
7. People are gonna kill Barry Odom for this one and that's completely fair. Every time his program gets a little footing, it slips and falls back to the bottom of the hill. It's almost like he needs people wanting to fire him to get the best out of his team. That's just no way to do it. It's now almost impossible to see a finish that makes this season a step forward. I mean, I guess if you beat Georgia and Florida it still could be, although a fair rebuttal would be, how could you go 10-2 and have the losses be to Vanderbilt and Wyoming? The obvious truth is that they'll lose at least one of those games and quite possibly (likely) both. Odom has lost two games as a three-score favorite this year. Whatever you want to say about him is fair. He seems to be pretty good at getting his team to believe in bad times, but he sure doesn't seem to be able to keep them grounded in good ones.
8. Rant all you want on the board. Keep it clean and don't make it personal. But we're not gonna spend a lot of time moderating because you guys are angry and you have a right to be and go at it. Say what you want. It's mostly fair and well earned.
