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What Missouri must accomplish during its bye week
After the Missouri Tigers were blown out 42-7 in Baton Rouge against the LSU Tigers last weekend, many weak spots were highlighted.
Now, with no game this weekend, the Tigers are trying to regroup in order to come back strong at Florida on Oct. 15.
Mizzou is 2-3 and needs to pick up some more wins quickly if it wants to qualify for a bowl game this winter.
Here are five things the Tigers need to improve before they take the field against Florida next week:
Whatever’s wrong with the defense: First-year defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross’s unit has looked good in the Tigers’ two wins against overmatched opponents, but has looked lost against top-tier squads.
The new scheme clearly isn’t working, so Cross needs to make adjustments if Mizzou is going to get back to the strong defense it has been the past few years.
Getting more pressure on quarterbacks would be a good start. Georgia struggled in Columbia when the Tigers were pressuring QB Jacob Eason, but climbed back in the game and ended up winning when the pressure stopped.
Four quarters of making the quarterback uncomfortable will at least give the Tigers a chance to pull off an upset in The Swamp.
The running game: Graduate transfer RB Alex Ross has missed the past couple of weeks with an ankle injury, but Damarea Crockett and Ish Witter have looked good against Mizzou’s weaker opponents.
But when the competition gets tougher, the Tigers struggle to find running room. Some of that has to do with an inexperienced offensive line.
The Tigers saw first-hand what a strong running game can do last week as LSU’s Derrius Guice ran for 163 yards and three scores and Darrel Williams added 130 yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Mizzou amassed only 77 yards on 22 carries for the game. The Tigers will need to be more productive against SEC East defenses moving forward.
Kicking, kicking, kicking: SEC East contests most likely won’t be blowouts this season, so every point matters.
K Tucker McCann has missed two extra points and two field goal attempts this season. Mizzou will need the freshman to be more consistent as it gets into the meat of its division schedule.
This bye week is a good chance to spend some time working with the young kicker to rebuild his confidence.
Creating separation from press coverage: The Mizzou receivers were absolutely manhandled by the LSU secondary last weekend.
Sophomore QB Drew Lock isn’t to the point where he can consistently throw receivers open just yet, so the pass catchers need to create separation.
Getting more physical at the line of scrimmage would be a good start for J’Mon Moore, Chris Black and company.
Also, more plays that send receivers in motion before the snap would help make it more difficult for opposing defensive backs to jam the Tigers.
Mizzou isn’t going to win a game where Lock has only 167 yards passing, so creating bigger throwing lanes is essential moving forward.
Mizzou’s game at Florida on Saturday, Oct. 15, is scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. Eastern time and can be seen on the SEC Network.