THE MIZ-ZOU REVIEW

There were at least five serious problems for Mizzou in Saturday’s 41-10 whupping by Texas A&M. The relentless beatdown at Kyle Field left the visitors shocked and shaken. It was a mortifying defeat that stripped away Mizzou’s comically overrated No. 9 national ranking going into the game.

1. Coach Eli Drinkwitz and his staff did not have Mizzou ready to play a hard game of tackle football. It was pathetic. The Tigers were flat, uninspired and in a mood to surrender quickly after the Aggies attacked them through the air and on the ground. I have no idea what this coaching staff was doing for two weeks in the run-up to the trip to College Station. A team is supposed to correct its flaws, strengthen weaknesses and bolster vulnerable areas during the bye week. The pause in the schedule is supposed to give you an edge in your next game. This wasn’t the case with Drinkwitz and Missouri. Instead of being sharper and better, the Tigers got worse, cowered under pressure, and submitted to the swarming home team and its raucous crowd.

Given the stakes on the line in this important game, this was easily the worst coaching performance by Drinkwitz during his term in Columbia. And we’re seeing a clear pattern. Drinkwitz did not have his squad ready to go against Boston College and MU had to overcome an early 14-3 deficit. Then came Vanderbilt, an opponent that Missouri clearly overlooked and took for granted. Mizzou was lucky to survive with an overtime win. This was followed by a passive showing at Texas A&M. This was the first road game of the season for the Tigers. It quickly turned into – movie-reference time! – a Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

“Take heed, Missouri fans,” wrote Blake Toppmeyer, the SEC columnist for USA Today. “A silver lining emerged. No Florida administrator who watched this one should wish to hire Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz at a price of eight figures annually when the Gators search for a new coach. Drink up, Missouri. He’s all yours.”

I’m glad Toppmeyer brought that up. This local fretting and pearl clutching over the idea of Florida coming to CoMo to steal Coach Drink was ridiculous.

2. Mizzou’s collective team attitude was a joke. First of all, Drinkwitz and the staff were surprised and unprepared when Texas A&M started Conner Weigman at quarterback. He’d missed the three previous games with a right shoulder injury, and the Aggies had won three in a row with their mobile backup, Marcel Reed. Early last week, Drinkwitz essentially dismissed the idea of Texas A&M coach Mike Elko playing mind games by trying to keep Missouri guessing about the Aggie choice at quarterback. It would be Reed, Drinkwitz surmised … because Reed was 3-0. Why change quarterbacks? Coach Drink was wrong. And Weigman, more of a pocket passer, came out and lit up the Mizzou secondary.

Drinkwitz also banned a Mizzou staffer from watching practice in the days before the trip to A&M. Her name is Briah Reed. She’s the assistant director of on-campus recruiting for Mizzou. She’s also the sister of Marcel Reed, the A&M quarterback.

Great job coach. You kept the in-house spy at a safe distance, and that decision turned out to be a huge advantage for your team. It was a big reason for MU’s huge win at Texas A&M. (Oh. That’s right. A 31-point loss. Never mind.)

There was also quarterback Brady Cook brushing aside the idea that Kyle Field was a loud, hostile and intimidating setting for visiting teams. Elko got the Cook quotes and used them to turn up the dial with the fans and his players.

There was Mizzou wide receiver Theo Wease showing up on the field (pregame) with a blanket that was allegedly was left at his College Station hotel – with a note supposedly written by Texas A&M cornerback Mike Lee: “Get used to this blanket. It will be real tomorrow,” said the mystery note. Elko was adamant: his program had nothing to do with the note or the blanket or any part of this immature pranking. He instructed reporters to “go ask Eli,’’ implying that this was an inside job on the Mizzou side – and Drinkwitz was responsible for the chicanery.

Luther Burden III – who has been complaining about a lack of respect from the national media – had a tough day in Aggieland. He had a touchdown called back by a penalty. He went to the sideline and slammed a bench with his helmet. He sat in the shade, draping a towel over his head. He did not look happy. Burden caught seven passes for 82 yards but made little if any impact in the game.

Here’s a thought: can the Mizzou football men – including the head coach – adjust their focus and concentrate on getting fully aligned and prepped to play at a higher level instead of continuing to look for stuff that distracts them, reduces their effectiveness, and makes them look childish and silly? Just a thought.

3. Missouri was no match for Texas A&M in the pit. Again, the Tigers had little interest in brawling … or blocking … or tackling … or covering. The MU offensive line was mauled. The Missouri defensive line got stomped. The Aggies muscled Mizzou for 512 yards and allowed only 254. On the ground, it was 236-68 in yards rushing for the beastly home team. It was a blatant no-show by the Tigers.

4. QB Cook continues to struggle with his accuracy, and the decline in precision is alarming. I have to drop some numbers on you. I’ll do the “before” and the “after” look, comparing Cook’s 2023 performance to his current trends. In both instances I used his games against FBS opponents only. Stats courtesy of Sports Info Solutions.

On-target percentage: 72.3% last season, 61.7% this year. He was 23rd nationally in this category last season and ranks 67th among 72 quarterbacks so far this season.

Catchable-pass rate: 83.5% last season (31st) … and 76.6% this season, which ranks 63rd.

Yards per attempt: 9.0 last season (10th nationally) and 6.7 this season (61st.)

Touchdown percentage: 5.7% of his passing attempts went for six points last season (33rd) but is only 3.0% this season (59th.)

Big-play pass percentage: 26.0% last season, good for 9th in the nation. And 19.4% this season, which is 57th. (Sports Info Solution refers to these types of plays as “Boom” plays.) And Cook’s “bust” rate on passing attempts is up by three percent so far in 2024.

Here are some other notable performance trends for Cook:

Last season (all games), on passes that traveled at least 20 yards in the air, Cook completed 29 of 62 (47%) for an average of 16 yards per reception. And he had nine touchdowns and two interceptions on deep balls. Pro Football Focus gave Cook a strong grade of 92.9 on the deep throws.

This season (all games), Cook has connected on only six of 24 passing attempts that fly 20 yards or longer. He has a 25 percent completion rate and is averaging only 9.0 yards per attempt. His 2024 grade on these throws, so far, is 74.6. That’s a large drop in accuracy.

Cook’s completion percentage on medium throws – 10 to 19 yards – is only 51.4% this season. It was 58.1 percent last year.

Last season (all games), when Cook passed from a clean pocket with no pressure, he had a 72 percent completion percentage, averaged 9.6 yards per attempt, and threw for 18 touchdowns. He received a 90.3 grade from Pro Football Focus on clean-pocket deliveries. This year, Cook has completed 69 percent of his passes, and has averaged 7.5 yards per attempt. Four have gone for touchdowns. PFF gives him a 77.1 grade on clean-pocket throws this season. Why would Cook’s accuracy be down when he doesn’t have pass rushers in his face?

Cook was an impressive runner last season on both designed plays and freelance scrambles. But so far this season the impact isn’t as meaningful. Last season Cook had a “breakaway” percentage of 26.0%. This year his breakaway rate is only 12 percent. Cook had 235 yards (all games) on designed runs in 2023; this season (all games) he has 36 yards on designed runs.

5. The Mizzou defense under first-year coordinator Corey Batoon was inexplicably deferential at Kyle Field, allowing Weigman to shred them for 18 completions in 22 attempts for 276 yards and an average 12.5 yards per passing attempt. He endured one sack. A&M basically played pitch and catch on third down. Batoon never released the hounds. The absence of a pass rush was mystifying. For the game, Mizzou had five hurries including only two on third down. There were two quarterback hits, and none on third down. The Tigers were credited for only one quarterback knockdown. They had only six QB pressures in four quarters and a weak pressure rate of 22 percent. I don’t understand Batoon’s voluntary compliance. Why were the Tigers so obedient and tame? Makes no sense.

I’m not sure why people are still talking and writing about Mizzou’s chances of getting one of the 12 playoff spots in this season’s national tournament. Let me do the Jim Mora and say, “PLAYOFFS? YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT PLAYOFFS?” Pipe down. From what we’ve seen, this is not a playoff-caliber team, and the timid no-show humiliation at Texas A&M won’t be forgotten by members of the playoff selection committee. Start playing some damn good football, Mizzou. That’s the only thing that matters. The head coach and players forgot about that part, and the program became the object of scorn and ridicule after Texas A&M’s blowout. It would help if coach Drinkwitz showed a lot more maturity than his players. He’s supposed to be leading his team and setting the proper example instead of leading a clown show.

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie

A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has provided informed opinions and perspective on St. Louis sports through his columns, radio shows and podcasts since 1985.

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