Mizzou football: The Tigers keep plugging along, but are they ready for South Carolina?
The Missouri Tigers are back on track after a horrific Week 1 loss at Wyoming. I’m legitimately sorry I keep mentioning that, but it still looms large over this entire season.
Now, fresh off wins over West Virginia and Southeast Missouri State, the Tigers are gearing up for their toughest test yet — a home game against a South Carolina team that has beaten them 3 years in a row.
What did we learn about the Tigers in their 50-0 win over SEMO? And, what do they need to focus on this week in order to snap that losing streak against the Gamecocks?
Let’s take a look at some things the Tigers need to do in order to improve to 3-1 next weekend:
1. Get more out of Kelly Bryant
No, the Tigers didn’t need much out of their starting quarterback to beat SEMO. Still, his numbers were very pedestrian — 15-of-20 for 225 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
He didn’t need to do much of anything to help the Tigers win on Saturday, but when you have a new quarterback, no one is going to blame you for running up the score if you’re legitimately trying to get your guys some work and increase chemistry.
Bryant is making too many mistakes, but they’re all correctable with more reps. Sadly, the Tigers haven’t been giving him too many chances to shine the past 2 weeks.
2. Find a go-to receiver
As mentioned above, Bryant hasn’t had to do much to help the Tigers win the past 2 weeks, but that has hurt the receiving corps. In the past 2 games, Bryant has connected with nine receivers.
However, that’s not necessarily a good thing, as no receiver has had more than 3 receptions in a game the past two weeks. Finding a go-to guy is important, especially for the skill set Bryant brings to the table.
Star TE Albert Okwuegbunam has 7 catches for 138 yards, and 3 of those grabs have gone for touchdowns. The Tigers need to go to him more often.
Likewise, Jalen Knox — the only Mizzou receiver to go over 100 yards in a game this year, catching 2 passes for 104 yards against SEMO — is averaging 21.3 yards per catch. Why not try to target him more?
The offense has been incredibly conservative, and that’s really disappointing considering the fact that they added Bryant this offseason. Let the kid play!
3. Continue to play stout defense
Coming into the year, the linebacking corps was a major question mark behind Cale Garrett. Nick Bolton stepped up and snagged the other starting linebacker spot, and that duo has been incredible.
Through 3 games, Garrett and Bolton have combined for 51 tackles (5 for a loss), 1 sack, 3 interceptions (2 returned for touchdowns) and 3 pass breakups. The run defense has been much better since Week 1, thanks in large part to Garrett and Bolton.
It really does seem that this team was simply unprepared for the altitude in Wyoming, which, while unacceptable for that loss, won’t be a factor against South Carolina. If those two linebackers stay healthy and hydrated, they should have big days against the Gamecocks.
4. Control the ball
The strength of Mizzou’s offense is supposed to be ball control. They have a strong backfield with RBs Larry Rountree III and Tyler Badie, and Bryant is also a threat to run.
However, in 3 games, the Tigers are pretty much even in terms of time of possession. In total, the Tigers have had the ball for 88 minutes, 52 seconds. Opponents have controlled it for 91:08. That’s a pretty even split, yes, but this year’s offense was supposed to be faring better in this category.
The Tigers only won the possession battle against West Virginia, and that was only with 30:59 of ball control. Last year, Mizzou didn’t need to control the ball this much, because Drew Lock and Emanuel Hall could hit home run plays a couple of times a game.
Until Bryant and the 2019 Tigers show they can do the same, keeping the ball in their hands will be crucial against South Carolina.
Yes
The silliness in this series ends Saturday
Mizzou 38, SC 21
It’s should be a close game. Gamecocks played well against Alabama, and Hilinski is the real deal.
Hilinski is a great QB and will only get better. Carolina is a very physical team. Should be a fun game to watch Saturday.
You guys always know how to keep it close. I’m expecting that the game on Saturday will come down to whoever can close it out in the 4th quarter.
I sure hope it doesn’t come down to that, unfortunately Odom hasn’t shown he can escape those kinds of games with a W. Not trying to be negative, I actually think Mizzou wins the game, unless it’s close.
Lol
They looked ready to me. Yikes. 10 pt favorite I just heard.
I just don’t see Mizzou being 9.5 points better than USC.
The gamecocks getting 9.5pts versus an inadequate michael sam-less, Mizzou? Wow! Don’t expect the tigers to be able to keep up with the ‘Cocks. TigerTD where u at, btch?
Pig, very bold, we shall see. MIZinCA got it right, who ever has gas left in the tank during the 4th qtr will pull this one out.
Somebody really has a hard on for Michael Sam.
Looks like he has one for me too.
The posted odds:
Missouri 2/7
South Carolina 10/3
Step over to NC, put down 3 thou and win 10 thou. You do have 3 though, don’t you?
Sooo-EEEEEE pig pig pig pig pig!
sans the monsoon, Mizzou wins last years game, that much is obvious, I’m not sure why the 9 point line as it makes no real sense and this should be a 3 point contest if both sides play well.
We were fine playing with a backup last season, and that backup wasn’t a former 5 star prospect. Should be a good game, but I think we have the talent edge.
That some good stuff but I Tell you what. This frosh QB has already proven more to me than our supposedly really good secondary and still no threat to the pass d line. Is our secondary any good. Who knows when the QB can fix a sandwich while his receivers get open. This is going to be a huge challenge to win let alone cover.
I see 4 straight unless it’s a free for all on offense.
Oh and btw Florida just got better.too.
We’ll find out what kind of season Mizzou is going to have on Saturday.
The Gamecocks getting 9.5??? What am I missing here here? Tht’a a great bet. I think Gamecocks are better team but even if you think they are about the same, I can’t see line higher than 7 even with Missouri at home. Bet Gamecocks regardless of spread, because they are going to win this game.
Any idea what the betting line was for last year’s game? USC played a great game.
It’s usually very close. This weekend will give us more of a glimpse at what we have, really. I liked the aggressive game plan against Bama. I hope we keep it up and stay hungry. I liked our ground game against Bama too.
Mizzou needs to throw the kitchen sink at Hilinski. We’ve always played our best defense when we keep pressure on the QB. We might give up a play here and there, but we also force turnovers at a higher rate. Not to mention the impact it has on the QB when he’s taken a few hits.
The betting spread seems high, but if Mizzou plays to their potential they’ll cover it.
I disagree. Need to pressure with front 4. Maybe the occasional blitz. We’re not talented enough in man coverage to not have one or two high. Elliott is talented enough to be disruptive. Sit back and keep them covered and stop the run.
I’m not sure Mizzou can do it with just their front four.
The front 4 can’t do it with the consistency needed to effect the game. We need Hilinski forced out of the pocket and throwing under pressure. He’ll make some mistakes, and that’s how Mizzou can win the game. We struggle beating ANYONE when we sit back and play coverage. We’re just not good enough in the secondary.
USC held Bama to 76 rushing yards averaging 500 yards per game average against top rated Bama and Clemson.
I don’t get Mizzou getting 9.5. They haven’t done anything and I thought USC did a decent job vs #2 team in the country.
Not only did Alabama rack up a ton of points against South Carolina. North Carolina also beat them, then NC barely beat Miami and got beat by Wake Forest. With the exception of Alabama, those teams are not going to finish the year in the top 25. On the other hand Missouri got beat by a smart coach with smaller faster players than Missouri/South Carolina. They also lost a week of development by playing SEMO but at the same time got some players in the game that can change the outcome of the SC game by putting depth on the field. The game that the odds makers are forgetting about was the West Virginia game. West Virginia is not nearly as average as Missouri made them look. In my opinion it is the game that media and odds makers are grossly under-considering. The winner of this game has a huge head start in the East race. It’s a must win for both teams and only one can win it. Don’t bet on college football, it corrupts the outcomes, but the odds makers are going to lose a lot of people a lot of money this Saturday.
If our defense, mainly our secondary cannot stop Mizzou like Alabama went off on us and UNC in the 2nd half, we don’t win the game. Our defense is the key here, we’ll score points on offense, but I don’t know if we have the firepower to win a shootout where our defense is getting slashed all day. Both teams desperately need a win after their week 1 performances to right the ship, whoever loses’ fanbase will be very down in the dumps and probably will be questioning bowl eligibility at the end of the year, hope it’s not us with a night game vs. UK the following week we need another good atmosphere!
And I honestly think we cannot stop Mizzou (or any average to decent offense) that well, I predict we try the bend don’t break defensive mentality, don’t give up the big play for a TD and hold Mizzou to field goals. Going to be a lot of first downs converted outside of the red zone for Mizzou so SC fans buckle up for that stat.
I echo your concerns. Our defense will be key to us winning. DC Walters has a great opportunity to confuse Hilinski by disguising coverages and pressuring him with blitz packages. The jury is still out on Walters as an effective DC. I want to see an aggressive effort to stop the ball. We haven’t been tested thru the air yet and USC has a great attack. Good luck to both teams and lets hope for no major injuries.
Adam, only Barry Odom need apologize for week 1, not you, not us. As for what’s going on, figure it out. Bryant is still struggling from adjusting to Mizzou and Dooley+staff. Clearly he’s not going to be perfect, after all he was passed over at Clemson for a reason.
The typical blogosphere fanboi’s are already submitting him for the Heisman, as usual these blind idiot’s have no clue what’s happening. The claim is that Bryant was “perfect” vs SEMO, but here’s a dirty little secret between us. At least 2 of his 3 or so deep pass’s would have been broken up by any serious SEC defense. Those balls behind the receivers would have been knocked down by the athletes playing D backfield in the SEC. Don’t tell the knucklhead fanboi’s though, it will break their itty bitty idiot hearts.
If Halley can get his front 4 going and Bolton and Garrett take no playsoff the run D can be solid, that’s IF. Either way the SEC is a whole other story, or haven’t we figured that out yet?
“2. Find a go-to receiver”
“Go-to” receivers are the hopes and dreams of mediots who need a name to concentrate their story line on, ask any coach, he would rather have 10 guys catch 1 TD pass than 1 guy catch 10, makes defending a completely different reality.