Missouri football: Stock report after Week 10
There is no such thing as a moral victory in college football, so there is a lot of disappointment after Missouri’s loss to No. 2 Georgia on Saturday.
That being said, the Tigers were in the game almost throughout before losing, 30-21. Missouri led the game 13-10 in the third quarter and had the ball down 27-21 midway through the 4th quarter, but just couldn’t make enough plays.
Here’s a Mizzou football stock report following Week 10:
Player of the Week: RB Cody Schrader
Quarterback Brady Cook had a tough day against Georgia, as he was only 14-of-30 for 212 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. He was able to run for 39 yards, but the Tigers offense was able to stay in the game because of Schrader’s great performance.
He scored a touchdown in the 4th quarter that cut the deficit to 24-21 to help the team stay in the game. In most games, the Tigers are going to be able to throw the ball but complementing it with a strong game from Schrader makes this offense very difficult.
Freshman/Newcomer of the Week: LB Chuck Hicks
The graduate student who began his career at Wyoming had his best game of the season, as he had seven tackles against Georgia. The defense did a very good job of keeping the team in the game throughout the night, holding the Bulldogs to 3 field goals.
After getting only 3 tackles in a 3-game stretch, Hicks has been much more involved the last 3 games. He has 28 tackles on the year, and he had a sack last week against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Biggest surprise: Run Defense came to Play
When you think Georgia Bulldogs, you think tough, physical running game. Carson Beck is having a great season, but the Bulldogs are still at their best running the ball. They aren’t quite the ground team as last year, but they have still rushed for 1,509 yards as a team, and average 4.9 yards per carry.
On Saturday, the Tigers did a terrific job of stopping the run, holding the Bulldogs to only 131 yards and 33 carries, who is right at 4 yards per carry. To do that against Georgia is no easy feat, and shows how much improvement this Missouri defense has made.
Biggest concern: Brady Cook has thrown 5 picks in the last four games
Cook set an SEC record earlier in the year when he had gone 366 pass attempts without throwing an interception. However, since that streak ended in the loss to LSU, he has thrown a few more interceptions as of late.
One of the interceptions against Georgia was in desperation time, but the one before that was a big one. He had just run for a first down at mid-field in the fourth quarter, but threw an interception that put the Tigers in a very difficult spot.
He is obviously playing some very good teams that have players who are going to make plays, but it is even more imperative to take care of the ball in these types of games.
Developing trend: Too many mistakes
In the game, the Tigers had 8 penalties for 63 yards, and they were some brutal ones in key moments. There was a defensive holding call that extended a drive that ended with Kendall Milton scoring a 15-yard touchdown for Georgia.
Then, on the ensuing kickoff, Marquis Johnson didn’t have field awareness, and ended up taking the ball out and being tackled at the 5. Missouri did so many good things against Georgia, but little things like this can be the difference in a historic win, or the competitive close loss.
Key Stat: 46.7% on passing attempts for Brady Cook
Cook has been great all year, but this was a tough one on Saturday. His mark of 46.7% is by far the lowest in his career, as his worst completion percentage in a game had been at K-State last year (55.6%).
In fact, this is a trend as his worst 2 games when it comes to his accuracy have been the last 2 weeks (60% against South Carolina last week). There is still a ton to play for, and they need their quarterback to get back to being the player he has been all year.
First impression about Week 11
Another huge SEC matchup looms on Saturday as Missouri hosts Tennessee next week in Columbia. This has all the makings of being an absolutely fantastic college football game. The Volunteers are playing some really good football, and the winner of this could be in the driver’s seat for a great bowl game.
Both teams are 7-2 on the year and 3-2 in SEC play. The Volunteers are coming off a 59-3 win against UConn on Saturday.
Tennessee had 3 touchdowns in the first half of at least 50 yards, and 3 total defensive touchdowns (2 interceptions, 1 fumble). On paper, these 2 teams appear to be very even, and we could be in for a treat on Saturday.