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By: Andy Humphrey
Week 1 can present all kinds of unknowns. So I don’t think we should be too surprised that Mizzou’s first game played out the way that it did.
The cynical Mizzou fan will always try to find something incredibly wrong with winning by 10 over a Group of Five opponent at home. But all offseason long, we knew that this team was going to face some struggles early. Whether it’s handing more control of the offense over to a sophomore quarterback or executing a brand-new defensive playbook under a new coordinator, the Tigers were going to have quite a few miscues to correct. Luckily, in the end the talent won out, and Mizzou sealed off late hope of a comeback by Central Michigan on their way to a 34-24 win on opening day. No, it wasn’t pretty. But did it really need to be?
No matter what you think about that, it was at least good to see Faurot Field back to what I remember it being. It wasn’t an eye-popping attendance number by any means (it was announced at 46,327), and the bad weather and COVID-19 are among a myriad of factors that play into that. But to me, the atmosphere was familiar. You had tailgating again. You had the band back on the field. You had the student section back. It didn’t feel all the way normal, but damn near close to it. I think we can at least be happy about that.
You also had a game to analyze, scrutinize, and either celebrate or commiserate about afterward. So let’s do exactly that with the first Knee-Jerk Reactions of 2021:
Connor Bazelak was about as good as you could’ve asked for
Did he overthrow/underthrow some passes? Yes. Did it result in a few drives stalling out? Yes. But you can’t say you didn’t expect this. The amount of games that Bazelak has started in his career still don’t amount to a full season yet. Even though he clearly won the job last season and proved enough to have a chance to take that role into 2021 after a full compliment of offseason workouts, that doesn’t mean you should automatically see signs of the next Chase Daniel or Drew Lock in his sophomore season.
Granted, this offense is much more Bazelak’s responsibility than it was in 2020, but in game one, he made most of the plays that needed to be made. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns, finishing with a passer rating of 158.7. You seriously can’t complain about those numbers. Sure, the deep-pass accuracy is still lacking, save for the very first play of the game when Bazelak found Boo Smith for a 63-yard pass completion. But if Mizzou’s offense keeps getting receivers free the way they did against the CMU secondary, Bazelak will get more chances to hit that big play, and may actually up that accuracy a little more.
Tyler Badie is invaluable to this offense
To be quite honest, I didn’t think Badie would be getting a “traditional” carries workload like Larry Rountree did. But after his performance Saturday, 25 carries was befitting for the senior tailback. Badie used that workload to gain 197 rushing yards and 40 receiving, and two total touchdowns. When Mizzou’s offense began a drive, it made sure Badie got at least a few touches of the football in space. Once he got to the boundary, it was tough for CMU to catch up.
This is obviously the most promising offensive sign, but I’m interested to see what adjustments are made now that Badie has had this type of game. Every team in college football that’s worth a damn has at least one player that can break open a game like Badie can. And everyone else in the SEC now knows that part of the game plan against Missouri defensively is to make sure #1 is accounted for on every play. He’s about to become the focal point for every opposing defense he faces. The great players are able to withstand that and keep creating high-level performances. The others end up faltering under that extra attention. I’m curious to find out how Badie takes on that added pressure, and if he does start struggling, I’m curious to whom Mizzou turns to for production.
Mizzou’s pass defense kept the whole team in the game
This was the area that really lacked in 2020 for the defensive unit. Sure, it was a rough year for the secondary, and it was frustrating to see Mizzou’s DBs get gashed by some of the SEC’s top receivers. But it wasn’t all on them. A decent pass rush would’ve prevented them from having to cover for as long as they did. But Saturday, the Tigers wreaked havoc in the backfield on almost every passing play. The Tigers brought down CMU quarterback Jacob Sirmon for nine sacks (the most for one game since 2009), and made it tough on him on several other plays in between. Several players got in on the act; Trajan Jeffcoat, Devin Nicholson, and even quarterback-turned-safety Shawn Robinson. Combine that with a couple of interceptions by J.C. Carlies and Tulsa transfer Akayleb Evans, and Mizzou had a solid day at the ballpark on pass defense.
Also, it’s not an entire replacement of Nick Bolton, but Blaze Alldredge appears be be working out. The transfer linebacker from Rice gave life to the Tigers’ pass rush, especially in the second half. Alldredge finished with six tackles for loss, including 3.5 sacks, the most for a single Mizzou player in a game since 2006. As a comparison, Mizzou’s two starting linebackers last season (Bolton and Devin Nicholson) combined for 3.5 sacks *all season*. He’s ultimately going to be judged on the entire season, but Alldredge passed this first impression with flying colors.
The run defense has a lot of issues
This is certainly where Mizzou misses Nick Bolton the most. Blown assignments in run defense happen all the time, but the great players are able to erase those mistakes and keep opposing backs at bay. Now that Bolton is gone, Mizzou’s defense didn’t have much of an answer for the gaps that CMU was able to create, and that led to the Chippewas’ feature tailback Lew Nichols to average more than seven yards per carry for the game.
Maybe this is still a case of growing pains for this defense as they continue to install the new scheme under Steve Wilks. Maybe this is a huge deficiency that was exploited in said scheme that is causing Mizzou to go back to the drawing board. Either way, something has to change. Other SEC offensive coordinators now have a full game’s worth of film to use to put together a plan against the Tigers going forward. If Mizzou’s defense is going to undergo a positive transformation, it better find a way to make sure that 4.5 yards per rushing attempt number by CMU doesn’t hold up for the remainder of the season.
Mizzou’s special teams unit will be favored in every game they play
I wish I was as confident about anything in my life as Harrison Mevis is confident about making 53-yard kicks. His first half-ending bomb to put Mizzou ahead would’ve been good from 65 yards, and after the game he said he “didn’t even hit it that hard.” Safe to say, the place-kicking situation is about as good as Mizzou has ever had it, and with the modern-day woes of college kickers throughout the game, it’s a valuable thing to have one like Mevis who can be lights out in the biggest moments.
But let’s not discount the value that Grant McKinniss brings to the table, either. I genuinely think he’s the most underrated returning player for Mizzou this season. The grad transfer punter pinned all five of his kicks inside the 20, had a long of 53 yards, an average of 41.8, and had a high-spiraling kick in the middle of the third quarter that caused a bobble by the CMU returner. Sure, Mizzou’s respective advantage in the punting and kicking game is only going to have so much of an impact on who wins and who loses. But when you consider how random that aspect of the game can be at this level, Mizzou should be glad they have the McKinniss/Mevis tandem in their back pocket.
