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I’ll admit; I’m an optimistic guy. But even I can’t find a whole lot good about Mizzou’s win over Vanderbilt.
The Tigers slogged their way to a 17-14 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday on Homecoming weekend in Columbia to ensure that they will not be held winless in SEC play in 2022. And that’s about all the good I can find.
Coming into Saturday, Vanderbilt’s losses have featured an average margin of defeat of nearly 38 points. Granted, they’ve played Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss, who are three of the four toughest teams in the SEC. But that should still illustrate what kind of team they are. Mizzou had a chance at another decisive win, and instead was forced to stop the Commodores on 4th and 1 with under two minutes to go to seal the victory. That is flatly not good enough.
So with that, let’s dive into this week’s Knee-Jerk Reactions:
There’s a lot to be fixed on offense
Let’s start with the quarterback discussion: I thought it was a typically Brady Cook performance. He didn’t play all that bad, completing 17 of 25 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown. He also mixed in an interception on a ball that probably should’ve been thrown away over the sideline. He was also sacked three times, and fumbled the ball for a Vandy touchdown right near the Tigers’ goal line. We’ve seen a lot of this from Cook this year; an overall stat line that looks solid, but some clear mistakes that held the offense back. Meanwhile, this was also reported pregame:
Greetings from the press box. Something to watch today …
Mizzou pregame update: Freshman QB Sam Horn expected to make debut https://t.co/Uo92g2q3Vt via @stltoday
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) October 22, 2022
As it turned out, we did not see Sam Horn take the field on Saturday. Maybe the situation dictated that Cook should stay in because the game stayed competitive, but still intriguing to hear this news and then not see him. Drinkwitz said after the game that he wanted to get a larger lead in the third quarter to allow for Horn to enter the game, but said he “never really felt at all comfortable” in the third quarter. He said Horn has earned the chance to play based off of what he’s done in practice, but it just didn’t happen Saturday.
So again, it’s fair to blame Mizzou’s current unit for not creating a large-enough lead to put the game out of reach. Mizzou averaged 6.8 yards per play in the first half, but only 2.5 per play in the second half. The offensive line struggled. Outside of Cody Schrader, the running game was non-existent. Schrader had 84 of the Tigers’ 97 team rushing yards. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt racked up 11 tackles for loss, the most they have had in a game this season.
The whole offensive unit wasn’t good in the second half. And I’m not sure it would’ve been much better with Horn in there, even if Drinkwitz was ready to trust him with possessions in a competitive game. Cook had to deal with a muddy pocket in the second half, and Horn would’ve had to experience the same thing. It would’ve been nice to see him get a chance, because a guy in his position deserves meaningful reps in year one. At the same time, I don’t blame Drinkwitz for ultimately deciding that the game flow didn’t provide the best chance to see Horn succeed.
All in all, quarterback is just one of the issues facing this offense. But far from the only one.
Luther Burden was Mizzou’s best offensive threat
All it took was one quarter for the five-star true freshman to make an impact on the game. Burden caught two passes on the Tigers’ opening drive, including a 35-yard touchdown reception to put Mizzou on the board first. The play was a bubble screen that featured great blocking on the edge by Mekhi Miller and Barrett Banister, but Burden also broke a few tackles on his way to the end zone. He continued his fast start with a 10-yard rushing touchdown on an end-around play, again gaining yards after contact. It’s the first time we had really seen Burden shine on offense since the Louisiana Tech game.
Burden finished with four catches for 66 yards, and was targeted five times, all in the first half. While his production was good, one does wonder why there wasn’t as much second half usage. Yes, it’s important to manage snaps for freshmen as they work in to the offense, and Burden was coming back from an ankle injury suffered against Florida. But Mizzou’s offense was clearly hampered in the second half, and I’d like to think that disparity wouldn’t be so huge if Burden is a little more involved. The Tigers’ best version of their offense should include a player like that. As long as he is healthy, he’s ready to become a focal point.
Kris Abrams-Draine needs to stay healthy
The senior cornerback returned from injury Saturday and showed how valuable he is to Blake Baker’s defense. Abrams-Draine led the team with three pass breakups, which is a number that should’ve been one higher if not for a bad pass interference call late in the fourth quarter. We don’t really have the immediate numbers on how many times KAD allowed his man to make the catch, but Vanderbilt as a team was below 50 percent on completion percentage and just 11 of 27 in the first half. Abrams-Draine had a lot to do with that.
It was good to see him, along with linebacker Chad Bailey rejoin the fold after suffering some injuries in the first half of the season. With how productive this defense has been through the first seven games, their continued success will all come down to health. Can they keep their main guys on the field for the big moments against tougher competition? One things for sure: Abrams-Draine went straight back to being Mizzou’s best defensive back after his ailment. And if he keeps it up, he’ll hear his name called next April in Kansas City.
Special teams played a key role on both sides
Wind played a factor, too. For most of the game, there was a consistent wind stream blowing toward the north end zone, tilting the kicking game from one end of the field to the other. That may have played into both place kickers missing fairly simple field goal attempts when kicking into the wind toward the south end zone. It really played into Vanderbilt’s recovered kickoff in the second half, as the ball appeared to hit a wall of wind from my vantage point in the press box.
This seemed like a flat special teams performance from Mizzou on Saturday. Typically, for a team like Vanderbilt to pull an upset like this, they need to roll the dice and come up with extra opportunities to possess the football. Sure enough, Vanderbilt ran a fake punt and converted, recovered an onside kick, punted the ball inside the Mizzou 15 yard line four times, and benefitted from a missed field goal from Harrison Mevis late in the game, to keep it a 10-point deficit. That said, they weren’t perfect, as place kicker Joseph Bulovas missed two field goals of his own. Sure, it’s hard to play the “what-if” game, but it’s clear that special teams favored Vanderbilt on Saturday, and that made it tough for Missouri to pile on.
This was a pretty ugly win
Let’s not forget the last part of that line; it’s still a win! Mizzou hasn’t had many of those in 2022, so there shouldn’t be a ton of room for complaining when they happen. The Tigers still accomplished the job of avoiding heartbreak against the worst team in the SEC and gathering its first conference victory.
But that’s all it is. A win. It’s not a win that necessarily makes you feel good about the remaining four conference games. Just 17 points against one of the worst defenses in FBS is a major disappointment. The rest of Vanderbilt’s opponents this year, except for Hawaii in Week 0, scored at least 31 points. If Mizzou was playing anyone else, they lose. The defense again played well enough, and they deserved more margin for error than they received Saturday.
That performance, translated to the rest of Missouri’s remaining schedule, means they would likely finish at 4-8, without another conference win. That’s not exactly what I predict will happen, but Mizzou will have to show me a much better offensive performance against South Carolina to make me believe bowl eligibility is attainable.
