Josh Heupel pointed no fingers Monday.

Heupel, Missouri’s second-year offensive coordinator, told reporters during a conference call Monday that no specific person was to blame for the unit’s struggles in last week’s 35-3 loss to Purdue. Instead, everyone must take responsibility.

“It was everybody on offense,” Heupel said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Offensive football, you’ve heard me say it all the time, it’s 11 guys operating as one. Everybody kind of took their turn the other day. When you do that you’re not going to be very successful. That’s why we didn’t move the football and have any rhythm or consistency on offense.”

After a season-opening victory over in-state FCS foe Missouri State in which Missouri scored 72 points, offense has been hard to come by for the Tigers. Missouri scored 13 points in a Sept. 9 home loss to South Carolina. Then last week, in another home defeat, the Tigers’ only points came on a last-second field goal to close out the first half.

So what can the offense do to start to turn things around?

Heupel responded at length.

“Running the football since the middle part of last year is something we’ve been pretty consistent at,” he said. “Obviously we weren’t consistent, successful this past week. We didn’t win some of the matchups inside on a consistent basis. That’s one of the reasons we were in a bunch of third-and-longs. For us, at the end of the day, we have to be able to run the football. We are an offense that needs and strives for balance. We can’t sit back and throw and catch it all day long. Running the football is going to have to be something we have to lean on. Five guys up front, running backs and tight ends being physical. That’s something we have to hang our hat on. Obviously our passing game consistency has to come up.”

Heupel also admitted, in another candid, verbose response, that confidence could be an issue for the unit.

“This group of guys for the most part, excluding a couple of the linemen who are playing and Albert (Okwuegbunam) at tight end, those guys had to battle and weather through things last year while we found an identity,” Heupel said. “Obviously we’re not playing where we’re capable of after last week. Could confidence be an issue? Yeah, it can be. I don’t think it should be with this group. We can play at a high level. We can do it against quality opponents. We have to do it at a higher level. We have to compete at a higher level. We have to do the normal everyday things at a higher level. That’s the disappointing thing but also what can take you through to the other side of this. Nobody’s got to do anything extraordinary. They just have to do the ordinary at a higher level. We’re capable of doing that.”

But Heupel said he believes things will start to turn around soon enough, beginning with Saturday’s home affair against No. 15 Auburn. This season, Heupel said, is far different than last, in that in 2016, the offense was still “looking for an identity.”

Now, Heupel said the Tigers know who they are.

They simply have to execute.

“A week ago we moved the football,” Heupel said. “We didn’t have any three and outs against South Carolina. We were in the red zone and just didn’t execute in the red zone. A year ago those things couldn’t be said. I think our kids will respond in a great way. We’re going to go out and compete this week and that’s what we’ll lean on.”

Read Heupel’s full conference call Q&A by clicking here.