8/9/2023 football Edit

Missouri defense trying to prove 2022 wasn't a fluke

Jarod Hamilton • PowerMizzou

Staff Writer

One season can really change a team’s fortunes.

In 2021, Mizzou’s 61st-ranked offense was the strength of the team behind running back Tyler Badie while the defense ranked 106th.

The offense averaged 413 yards per game that year while the defense allowed 434 yards per game.

It was bad.

Then, Blake Baker got hired to be the team's safeties coach and defensive coordinator and turned that side of the ball around in his first season.

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Missouri’s defense went from being a doormat to being a top 35 defense in 2022 allowing 340 yards per game and 25 points per game.

No one was expecting the Tigers to hold No. 1 Georgia, the fifth-best scoring offense in the FBS, to its second-lowest scoring (26) output of the season. Or hold No. 25 South Carolina, the 39th-best scoring offense in the nation, to 10 points on the road.

But now people know about the Tigers and what they're capable of and the next test will be proving that last season wasn't a fluke.

“I think that was one of my concerns going into the spring 一 just how would they handle success,” Baker said. “And I thought they did an outstanding job like this spring they were on fire and when I hear about the way the summer went and how hard they’ve been working I don’t think that is going to affect us.

“We’re still going to have the mindset of being the hunters and not the hunted. That’s just the style of defense we’ll play. So, I’ve had my concerns eased over the last six months.”

In some players' eyes, like defensive tackle Kristian Williams and linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper, the hard part happened in 2022 when the defense had to work to put the league on notice.

“Just going out there and proving it (is more challenging than having to back it up),” Williams said. "And our motto is 'something to prove' so, it’s just something that we always try to stand on and something we always preach. I feel like it's more challenging because when you got all odds against you a lot of people may fold but I truly believe 100% this team will live up to expectations.”

“I’d probably say it was harder last year to get teams to respect us because even though we played well we gave a lot of things up at times,” Hopper said. “So, we were trying to get their respect. This year, we’re just focusing on not letting a lot of things that happened last year happen this year.”

To players like safety Daylan Carnell, duplicating success will be harder now that teams know what to expect.

"I'd probably say just to repeat it (is harder) because teams know what you're doing now and they've seen it before," Carnell said. "They've seen it so they can plan for it a little better than they could at first."

Transfers that helped spark 2022 turnaround and the ones who will help keep the momentum going in 2023

Players like Isaiah McGuire, Darius Robinson, Chad Bailey, Kris Abrams-Draine, Ennis Rakestraw, Jaylon Carlies and Carnell deserve their fair share of credit for the turnaround that happened last season.

All of those players had massive impacts but a lot of what sparked the turnaround in 2022 was the new blood on defense.

The Tigers hit the portal hard on that side of the ball and got Clemson transfer safety Joseph Charleston, Florida transfer linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper, Oregon transfer defensive tackle Kristian Williams, Oklahoma State transfer defensive tackle Jayden Jernigan, Jacksonville State defensive end transfer DJ Coleman and Texas A&M transfer cornerback Dreyden Norwood.

Every one of those transfers played a meaningful role with Charleston, Hopper, and Williams being mainstays in the starting lineup.

Coleman was one of the first defensive ends off of the bench and usurped Trajan Jeffcoat in the starting lineup toward the end of the season.

Jernigan started a couple of games and was a fixture in the rotation while Norwood was the team's first corner off of the bench.

When so many defensive players decided to return for the 2023 campaign, including Hopper himself, they were intent on letting the new transfers know on their visits what the deal is this fall if they joined the team. And so far, there haven't been any issues.

"On their visits, we let them know what we expect and what we could do and we always remind them," Hopper said. "So, those guys are coming along pretty well."

One of those guys coming along is former Arizona State defensive end Joe Moore, who has taken a liking to the coaching staff and how they do things in Columbia.

“I don’t like coaches who are going to take it easy on me or I don’t like coaches that are going to let me through,” Moore said. “Coach Baker and Coach Drink are expecting the best out of me every day like Coach Peoples. They’re not letting me take a day off.

"They’re going to be on me even if I make a play right. … I think it’s for the better as far as being great and having them around me and pushing me. It’s more like father figures as well, they’re not just a coach, they want to see me excel on and off the field.”

Moore is the most experienced defensive end when it comes to playing against Power 5 competition. He recorded 24 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery last season.

Someone else with not only a bunch of reps against Power 5 opponents, but Southeastern Conference opponents, is former Florida safety Tre'Vez Johnson, who has meshed well with the veterans and has already developed into a leader in the safety room.

"Most of them just fit right in when they got here," Carnell said. "Like Tre'Vez and Sidney (Williams), when they got here they fit right in like a glove, especially Tre'Vez. He's become a leader in the room already. He takes a lot of reps with the ones also. In the offseason when the safeties were getting extra work he'd lead our workouts and stuff like that. So, I think it's been a flawless transition really, especially in the secondary."

Johnson recorded 26 tackles, two tackles for a loss, two pass deflections, two fumble recoveries and an interception last season. He is expected to split STAR snaps with Carnell.

If Missouri's new batch of defensive transfers can have a similar impact to the ones last year, then the Tigers are looking at something better than a top-35 defense.

Fall camp is much easier the second time around

In Eli Drinkwitz’s three-and-a-half-year tenure as head coach, he hasn’t had a year when he didn’t lose at least one defensive coach.

But he not only retained his coaching staff entering this season but he’s retained 80% of his defense which includes eight starters. So, with the same everything in place from a year ago, fall camp is slightly easier for most of the returning players this time around.

"Yeah, in a way it's easier," Carnell, who is in the midst of his third fall camp, said. "It's really not too many new guys or trying to learn people. We hit the ground running because we know everybody. We know what we're getting out of coaches and the coaches know what they're getting out of players and what to expect."

Hopper, who is in his fifth fall camp, had similar sentiments saying it's more about the X's and O's this time around.

"I mean there's always more to learn but on the defensive side of the ball it's just focusing on the formations and knowing what runs you can get out of this or what pass you can get out of this," Hopper said.

In the spring many defensive players were saying the goal is to be the best defense ever, and that'll be a mountain to climb. But they know what the expectations are, they hear the noise and they're embracing the challenge.

"We've got more chemistry with each other now," Carnell said. "We're a real tight group. We hang out outside of here. We all know what we're doing now. It's the second year in, so it's really just higher expectations and we know that we can fulfill them."