Trajan Jeffcoat played the pass like an inbounds play in basketball. North Texas quarterback Austin Aune looked on as Jeffcoat’s leap changed the ball’s course, and the hurried bullet that connected with the redshirt junior’s fingertips turned into a lob pass that fell right into freshman Mekhi Wingo’s chest.
Aune’s next view came from the turf: A better-than-front row seat to a 280 pound “running back” reaching the end zone for a pick-six.
“Honestly, you know I seen the quarterback was about to roll out, so I was basically about to overlap and try to get him, then Trajan Jeffcoat just tipped the ball when he passed it and it was right there,” Wingo said. “I always say I'm a running back at heart, so that was my chance right there.”
Wingo’s touchdown didn’t just mark Missouri’s first score on defense this season, a play that finally made some sense of defensive coordinator Steve Wilks’ Twitter handle. It was the icing on the cake in a 48-35 win filled with unfamiliar yet necessary defensive plays for the Tigers — a potential sign of life for a group that’s been gasping for its last breath over the last several weeks.
A week removed from allowing 458 rushing yards versus Tennessee--a performance that ultimately led to the firing of defensive line coach Jethro Franklin--MU held North Texas to 186. The Mean Green was the first team to fail to run for 200 yards since Central Michigan in the first game of the season.
After building a reputation as the least successful school at containing the run in the FBS football, a change of some sort was inevitable. But coach Eli Drinkwitz credited Saturday’s defensive line performance to more of a response seen in the team’s execution rather than doing things differently.
“There was just a response,” Drinkwitz said. “I don't know if there was, you know, new calls or anything like that. There really wasn’t any new calls, it was just execution and focusing on the details, and when you’re asked to crash, you get into the B Gap and get upfield, when you’re asked to chase, you chase the puller. And Akial Byers was able to get a negative-yardage play there. I think it's just making sure that those guys understood the importance of playing for each other and with each other, and he’s done a good job, and look forward to a lot of growth again this week.”
For most of the first three quarters, the Tigers delivered more often on defensive drives than they have for most of the season. Missouri came away with three sacks, two of which came on the same drive at the end of the third quarter. On the very next drive, it forced a turnover on downs. The group finished with ten tackles for loss on the day/
Two interceptions and a recovered fumble didn’t hurt either. The scent of Kris Abrams-Draine stained the turnover robe in the win, with the sophomore defensive back coming away with both an interception and a fumble recovery. Yet it was Wingo’s catch and score that Abrams-Draine looked to as a catalyst for something greater.
“I think that was like the best thing that happened for us this season, for real, for the defense,” Abrams-Draine said. “Because it was our first defensive touchdown.”
Missouri and Wilks haven’t pitched a perfect defense this season--far from it obviously. The ship has sprung leak after leak, and one coach has already been thrown overboard. Even Saturday offered plenty of pause with a 21-point fourth quarter that provided North Texas with a hefty chunk of its 491 total yards But this week wasn't like the past few weeks. This time it was just enough.
“They were five of 15 on third down,” Drinkwitz said. “They had three turnovers. I thought there were a lot of improvements. We had how many negative-yardage plays, how many sacks? So those are all steps. It wasn’t perfect, but we didn’t think we were going to transform to the ‘85 Bears overnight. We’re working towards it. I thought we took a big step in the process.
"It’s something.”
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