Lynn Worthy | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
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For the first three quarters of Mizzou’s SEC opening-win against South Carolina on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium, it looked like the Tigers defense would wear the blame for giving up a bushel of big pass plays.
Then the Mizzou defense turned into a pack of rabid animals in the fourth quarter and practically willed the Tigers to victory as they reclaimed the Mayor’s Cup and logged a 4-0 start to the season and a 1-0 start in conference play against a team that had every reason to play with desperation after it had just suffered a home loss that knocked it out of the national Top 25 polls.
Where does that leave us now in regard to the Mizzou defense? With a mixture of anger and optimism.
It leaves us wanting to be optimistic about what that unit has done, its ability to take steps forward and the potential it holds if players can just get their act together in the secondary and stop having lapses, breakdowns and head-scratching moments that cut receivers loose for big plays.
But there’s also anger. It’s tempered by the win, but it’s there. It’s why Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz was so conflicted in his postgame comments. He wanted to stay positive and upbeat, but it was also like he had the strong aroma of rotten eggs under his nose that he simply couldn’t ignore.
“When we watch the tape tomorrow, I’m going to be on some secondary coaches’ rear ends because this is getting ridiculous, how porous our pass defense is, and that’s got to get shored up in a hurry,” Drinkwitz said after the win. “Whatever we’ve got to do to fix it, we’re going to have to do. But there’s way too many holes in our zone cover. We’ve got bad eyes in the backfield.
“I’m not going to get negative. I’m not getting negative, but yeah, that crap has got to get corrected.”
Drinkwitz paused briefly as if he wanted to stop himself but then looked down at the box score from the game in front of him and continued along that line of thought.
“I mean, we gave up — total offense — 293 yards, and (302) of it was passing,” Drinkwitz continued. “Three hundred and two passing yards. It’s ridiculous.”
The man is not wrong.
South Carolina registered minus-9 rushing yards. Mizzou had eight tackles for a loss. Meanwhile, eight pass plays accounted for 231 yards and both South Carolina touchdowns.
On the first touchdown throw, a 49-yard strike from South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers to Vandrevius Jacobs, it sure looked like cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. got left on an island despite having a safety who should’ve stayed over the top to help on that route.
The second touchdown, a 24-yard pass thrown to the same side of the defense, saw a pair of defenders seemingly confused as a receiver darted past both of them and made the catch in the end zone without a defender within 5 yards.
In the third quarter, Sellers and Jacobs connected on a 43-yard pitch and catch that got South Carolina to the Mizzou 2-yard line on a play-action pass that had the safety bite so hard that he looked stuck in no man’s land when Sellers threw deep on a post route in the middle of the field.
Mizzou ultimately held them to a field goal on that drive, thanks to a Zion Young sack. Mizzou recorded five sacks that dropped South Carolina for a total loss of 46 yards.
“We’re doing a great job pressuring them and we’re doing a good job stuffing the run, but we can’t give up 300 yards passing,” Drinkwitz said. “That’s the thing that’s disappointing. You look up and our stats and our numbers and our time of possession is dominating and yet the scoreboard is not.
“It’s because we’re giving up explosive plays down the field for touchdowns. So we’ve got to get that off the tape.”
Mizzou trailed 20-18 going into the fourth quarter, and its defense held South Carolina to 19 fourth-quarter yards on 10 plays.
They forced South Carolina to go three-and-out on back-to-back possessions and didn’t allow a gain of more than 7 yards on any play in that quarter.
The defense held South Carolina in check when it mattered most and set up the Mizzou offense to take the lead back and put the game away.
“We’re never going to harp on something that happened that long,” senior defensive tackle Chris McClellan said. “It’s next-play mentality. So yeah, it happened, but we’re going to go and we’re going to strap up and we’re going to play the next play, do our job.
“We’re going to figure it out. We’ll come in and watch the tape (Sunday), Monday, and we’ll get it off the tape. We can’t harp on it. We just got to play the next play.”
The defense shown the ability to make strides. They’ve played bubble screens/tunnel screens more physical and tough than they did in the season opener.
Kansas’ Jalon Daniels had flashes of Michael Vick the way he was running around and creating plays to the tune of four completions of 20 or more yards and one 19-yard run (they held Daniels to 2.5 yards per carry on 10 carries) in the second game.
This past weekend, Mizzou contained Sellers’ scrambling ability. Sellers carried the ball 10 times and lost 28 yards. His longest gain was just 7 yards, while he averaged minus-2.8 per carry.
They were disciplined in their pass rush, and at times, they even appeared to utilize linebackers like Nick Rodriguez and Darris Smith to spy or shadow Sellers to prevent him from making big plays when he got out of the pocket.
So the Mizzou defense proved it can make progress within the season.
Now, more is needed.
If they’re going to be able to beat championship-caliber teams, more is needed. If they’re going to be able to overcome lulls from their offense or potentially momentum-swinging plays by opposing teams on defense or special teams, more is needed. If they’re going to go on the road in the SEC and win in hostile environments, more is needed.
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Lynn Worthy | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
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