By: Andy Humphrey
Woof.
Not all all the result that Mizzou wanted. And injury was added to the insult with the Tigers’ starting quarterback exiting in the first half with a different injury that he came into the game with. It all ended with Mizzou’s second loss in a 34-0 rout in Tuscaloosa.
Let’s not dwell on it much longer and just get to the Knee-Jerk Reactions:
I feel bad for Brady Cook
Mizzou as a whole didn’t play the way they needed to in order to win this game. But I couldn’t see a scenario of Mizzou winning it without Cook on the field. Cook and the training staff put in extra hours this week to make sure he could recover enough from the ankle injury he suffered against Auburn, and at least be able to operate enough to drive Mizzou’s offense on Saturday. It looked like the plan to get him ready to play was followed as well as it could be. He gradually got upgraded from “doubtful,” to “questionable,” to “game time decision,” to starting. And then, once he starts playing against Alabama, he gets his hand hurt. Brutal.
No matter how this game went, Cook had earned the chance to end it on his own terms. If he was good enough to beat Alabama on that day, great. If not, that’s alright too. As long as he was the one putting it all out there as the literal heartbeat of this team. You could tell that heartbeat was gone once he walked back to the locker room toward the end of the first half. It probably didn’t matter; Mizzou’s offense didn’t seem like a unit fit to hang with this Alabama team. But I felt bad that Cook poured everything into getting ready to play, and likely prepared himself to have to deal with pain in that ankle all game. And then it all goes to waste because of a completely different injury.
Here’s hoping Cook’s hand isn’t a long-term thing. They’re clearly going to need him if they want to win any more games down the stretch.
I didn’t understand the offensive gameplan
Kirby Moore was going to need his best week of game-planning ever to have Mizzou pull this off. And he had to do it with a hobbled quarterback, his leader rusher and a starting wide receiver out for the game. Not easy. But that said, I still had a lot of questions about Mizzou’s play selection when the game was still in the balance during the first half.
The questions started with Mizzou running a flea flicker on the second play of the game, which resulted in a sack. Why? You have a quarterback who might not be moving well, and you leave him in the backfield with the ball for as long as possible? Get the ball out of his hands immediately. I get being aggressive, but that seemed like the wrong spot for it.
The rest of the first half consisted of more rollouts to the short side of the field and vertical routes on second and third down, most of which didn’t work. Mizzou had 17 pass attempts and 16 rushes in the first half. I really think they needed to make it at least 60 percent run plays to have a chance. Vanderbilt ran it 54 times to beat Alabama earlier this season. They only averaged three yards per carry, but it still worked because they stayed in manageable conversion situations all game. Mizzou ended up averaging 4.3 yards per carry in this game, and 3.7 per carry in the first half. That clip could’ve been enough to stay in this game longer. Instead, Mizzou abandoned the run and punted on their first five possessions. I usually don’t critique play-calling, but Mizzou’s game plan looked like the wrong one on offense.
Mizzou’s defense came to play
When it comes to game-planning, I thought Corey Batoon had a much better week than Kirby Moore. The defense kept Mizzou in the game by holding the Tide to a field goal on their first possession and then forcing three straight punts. Johnny Walker Jr. got two early sacks. Nic DeLoach had some good coverage moments. Zion Young, Triston Newson and Daylan Carnell all got in the backfield for tackles. The game was within a score for most of the first half, but once the turnovers started happening, they lost their edge.
The overall numbers didn’t look great. Mizzou gave up 486 total yards of offense, with 271 yards on the ground and 7.3 yards per rush for Alabama. But two of the four touchdowns came directly off of turnovers and the last one came in the fourth quarter when the game was basically decided anyway. We can nitpick and say that they could’ve tackled better against Alabama’s running backs and Jalen Milroe. I’m not saying they played perfect. But they were the reason this game was at least competitive for a half.
What did this team see in Drew Pyne?
Once Brady Cook came out with injury, it became Drew Pyne’s game officially. And once Pyne started throwing, it reminded me of Jack Abraham vs. Kansas State two years ago. Pyne didn’t quite make it to Abraham’s interception rate from that awful game, but he did throw three picks on 12 attempts and only passed for 42 yards in relief duty.
What was most concerning was how the interceptions happened. On the first one, it seemed that Pyne was actually targeting the Alabama DB instead of any of his receivers. The second pick, while underthrown, was ultimately created by Pyne staring down Luther Burden the whole way and not looking off the safety over the top. The third one was just a straight-up misfire, which I didn’t think was possible on a five-yard out to Brett Norfleet.
Pyne has certainly played high-level football before, but it just seemed the mistakes he made were more becoming of a true freshman. Eventually, Drinkwitz put in JR Blood at quarterback to try and convert a third- and fourth-down, which both came up short. I understand why Mizzou needed to go out and get Pyne in the portal, but they seemingly also expect him to factor into next year’s starting quarterback battle too. It’s safe to have concerns about his ability to handle that going forward.
I have no idea what to expect for the final four games
What I can expect is no more playoff talk. Mizzou needed this win for its resume. Even with a win at Alabama, they probably still need to go 11-1 to make it into the 12-team field. Now, Mizzou’s path to 10-2 will not be very impressive at all. The Tigers will probably fall out of the rankings this week heading into their bye, and wins against Oklahoma, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Arkansas won’t move the needle much to get them back in.
So what now? I have no idea. I suppose it’ll be easier to get up for rivalry games against Oklahoma and Arkansas at home. You can still try to accomplish a 10-win season, which has only happened seven times in Mizzou’s history. That means something. But it might also mean just another bowl game at the end of the season. I think it’ll be tough for Eli Drinkwitz to motivate this group toward the end knowing that the playoff is likely out of their reach, especially if Cook’s injury is more long-term. Either way, there is still a lot to figure out heading into this bye week.
(Photo credit: LG Patterson)
