Mizzou Football Midseason Review: Offense

We are through six weeks of the 2022 football season and the Tigers are headed towards uncharted waters territory, where it's unknown if there has truly been a progression or regression. Mizzou has had three consecutive .500 regular seasons and at this point in the season are 2-4, although one could argue it probably should be no worse than 4-2 and could even be 5-1 with a win over the No. 1 team in the country.

With 50% of the schedule in the books for Missouri, we’ll use the bye week to look at the good and bad parts of the first half and give some suggestions of what it could do in the second half of the season.

We will review the Tigers' offense first.

Record: 2-4

Record ATS: 4-2

Total offense: 374.2 (86th in the FBS)

Rushing offense: 166.5 (57th)

Passing offense: 207.7 (103rd)

Scoring offense: 25.2 (97th)

1.) Dominic Lovett is a (good) problem

Last season, Lovett recorded 26 receptions for 173 yards as a true freshman, and he struggled. This season, it's a different story. Not only is Lovett a better and more productive wide receiver, but he is also arguably one of the two best players on this team, and certainly the best player on offense (even Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz has called him the best offensive player). Lovett has 31 receptions for 499 yards and two touchdowns this season, and is second in the Southeastern Conference in receptions and receiving yards. He also led Missouri in receptions and receiving yards in each of the Tigers' first five games, and has clearly carved out his niche in the slot. Lovett needs just 77 yards to match last year's receiving leader and has a chance to be the first Tiger to top 1,000 yards since J'Mon Moore did it in 2017.

In week three versus Abilene Christian, Lovett surpassed his receiving yards and touchdown totals from 2021 with seven receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Although, Abilene Christian is an FCS school Lovett backed up the play the two weeks following that game with five receptions for 102 yards against Auburn and was having a field day against Georgia in the first half with six receptions for 84 yards in week five before a lower leg injury sidelined him for the second half of that game.

Lovett, clearly not 100% from that injury played in week six against a physical Florida team and still caught all four targets for 39 yards. Last season, the offense revolved around Tyler Badie. This season the offense revolves around Lovett, who went from struggling to record 50 receiving yards in a game (only one in 2021) to (potentially) being an All-SEC level player in one season.

2.) The run game is competent

Replacing Badie was never going to be an easy task. He led the SEC in rushing, had the school record for rushing yards in a season (1,604) and accounted for nearly 80% of the touches last season. Badie became a sixth-round draft pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens and Mizzou got Columbia native and Stanford transfer Nathaniel Peat as well as the Division II's leading rusher in 2021 in Truman State transfer Cody Schrader.

So far the results have been decent. Neither one of these two probably could do what Badie did on a consistent basis, but they don't have to. Drinkwiitz wanted to go to a running back by committee approach and it has been the most consistent position group on offense.

In three seasons at Stanford, Peat had one game of 100 rushing yards or more. This season he already has two of them and both came against SEC opponents. His first 100-yard rushing game as a Tiger ended on a sour note when he fumbled what would've been the game-winning touchdown into the end zone in week four, but he bounced back in week six with 20 rushes for 117 yards (career-high) and a touchdown against Florida.

Peat has 76 carries for 379 yards (5.0 yards per carry and 63.2 yards per game) and a pair of touchdowns. He also has nine catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.

Schrader who started the season as a walk-on (he received a scholarship on Sept. 8) has found his place in the offense as part of the 1-2 punch along with Peat.

He has 54 rushes for 280 yards and a team-high four rushing touchdowns. He's had over 55 rushing yards in three games, including 89 yards against Georgia on six carries. What's important to note is that Schrader has rushed the ball more than 10 times in a game twice (versus Louisiana Tech and versus Abilene Christian). That means Schrader is averaging nine carries a game for about 46.67 yards a game and that comes out to 5.18 yards per carry.

If your running backs are averaging five yards a carry, especially your backups, that is a good thing. Not to mention, the offensive line has been well below average (more on this later), so when you consider that, Peat and Schrader have made Mizzou's transition to a running back by committee team seamless.

1.) Slow starts and bad finishes

Missouri has yet to score a touchdown on its opening possession all season. Only one time has it scored on its opening possession (a field goal in the 40-12 loss to Kansas State in week two). Simply put Mizzou is a bad first-quarter team.

The table shows that Missouri's opponents are almost scoring twice as much as the Tigers in the first quarter. Take away the game against Abilene Christian and Mizzou is getting outscored 34-6.

The scoreboard between Missouri and its opponents heading into the second quarter:

vs. Lousiana Tech: down 3-0.

at Kansas State: down 7-3.

vs. Abilene Christian: up 14-3.

at Auburn: down 14-0

vs. Georgia: up 3-0

at Florida: down 10-0

So, Missouri has only had a comfortable lead after the first quarter once, but usually, it's trailing or hanging on to a narrow lead against Georgia (when you consider how the game started defensively for Missouri, it should've been leading by more).

But what's worse than starting slow?

Finishing poorly.

Despite slow starts, Missouri has won or had a chance to win in five of its six games. It defeated Louisiana Tech and Abilene Christian in weeks one and three, and in week four Mizzou had two chances to defeat Auburn despite trailing 14-0 after the first quarter. All-American kicker Harrison Mevis missed a 26-yard field goal attempt at the end of regulation that would've given the Tigers the win. In overtime, Peat had the aforementioned fumble at the conclusion of a 20-yard run when he lost grip of the ball trying to extend his arm over the goal line. Auburn was leading 17-14, so when they recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback the game was over.

Mizzou was up 13-3 when it hosted No. 1 Georgia at the end of the first half with the opportunity to go up 20-3, but the offense stalled after a false start and had to settle for a field goal. Mizzou at one point was up 22-12 with less than 10 minutes to go in regulation but gave up two touchdowns and stalled on its last offensive possession. Missouri would lose that game 26-22. Then the Tigers were down 24-10 at Florida in the fourth quarter before roaring back with a touchdown and an interception to get the ball back down 24-17 with a chance to tie or take the lead. Once again, the offense stalled.

2.) Poor offensive line play

The fact that Missouri enters the bye week with the 57th-best rushing attack is another reason why the Mizzou coaching staff and fans should be happy with Peat and Schrader because most of their yardage is them making something out of nothing.

Missouri is tied for 114th in penalties with 47 for 397 yards. The offensive line has accounted for 20 of the offense's 28 penalties. When the offense isn't holding itself back with penalties its allowing pressures, sacks and tackles for loss.

Mizzou is 126th in tackles for loss allowed with 47 (8.67 per game), and it ranks 75th in sacks allowed with 13 for 75 yards (2.17 sacks per game).

It seems like the offensive line has never put a complete game together this season whether it's because it can't stop the opposing defense, commits too many penalties (or untimely penalties, see Georgia game) or a combination of both.

Part of its struggles are due to things like injuries to right tackles Hyrin White (his timetable for return is unknown) and Zeke Powell (out for the season). It doesn't help that Buffalo transfer center Bence Polgar was going to be in line to likely start at center but was ruled ineligible by the NCAA before the season. Regardless, the offensive line play has held this offense back and it has to find a way to fix its issues going into the second half of the season or the Tigers won't make a bowl game.

3.) Quarterback play has been inconsistent

Calling the quarterback play inconsistent feels like an understatement.

Drinkwitz named Brady Cook the starter a week into fall camp which means he didn't think there was a need to draw out the competition. So, he believed Cook was better than any of his other options and, in hindsight, it was probably still the right choice. The problem is it appears evident that Cook can't (at least at this moment in time) or hasn't run the offense the way Drinkwitz would like it to be run.

Cook has completed 110 of 170 passes (64.7%) for 1,212 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions.

Cook is accurate when it comes to passes less than about 10 yards, but after that it's different. Part of the reason he struggles passing deep is that the wide receivers (outside of Lovett) aren't getting much separation and his offensive line hasn't played that well to protect him or at least not have him under constant duress. Most of the reason he struggles is he overthrows, underthrows or makes his reads late.

His interception numbers are a little misleading. His interception versus Louisiana tech went off of Luther Burden III's hands and his interception against Auburn was a cornerback making a great play on the ball and tipping it up in the air for his teammate to snag. The two against Kansas State were bad and the two at Florida were not completely his fault, but he also had just as much fault in those plays.

Outside of the Florida game where both interceptions led to touchdowns (a 14-point swing in favor of the Gators), Cook has played well enough that Missouri could or should be 5-1. He isn't going to put the Tigers on his back and lead them to a win, but most of the time he won't be the reason they lose. He didn't have a great day at Auburn, but he was able to get the Tigers inside Auburn's five-yard line after throwing a 39-yard pass to Lovett. That should've been enough to win that game. He went 20-of-32 for 192 yards and a touchdown versus Georgia, which should've been good enough to win them the game. Despite the interceptions against Florida, he was 22-of-30 for 220 yards and the Tigers had a chance to tie and or win that game, but they didn't.

1.) The coaching and execution have to be better, especially at the start and finish of games

Getting outscored by almost double in the first quarter and getting outscored by more than double in the fourth quarter is a recipe for -- well, a 2-4 record. Each team starts a game of about 15 plays that are specifically schemed against an opponent's defense, after that, it's just adjustments. Defensively, Missouri has no problem making adjustments which were clearly evident in the third quarter against Kansas State, the last three quarters against Auburn and the second-to-last defensive drive against Florida.

On offense, it hasn't been that way. Again in the second and third quarter is when the team feels in sync on both sides of the ball, but the game is four quarters long and the most important quarters are the first and the fourth.

The offense can't keep stalling out to start the game or after timeouts or in the clutch. The first play of a potentially game-winning drive can't be a quarterback draw up the middle and the last play of that drive on fourth and short should probably include your running back who is having a career game against a below-average run defense (against Florida). The first play coming out of a rain delay can’t be a quarterback draw on third and long (against Kansas State). There are a number of plays that have been questionable to say the least, and if the Tigers want to be bowl-eligible it’s going to have to start with better coaching, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

2.) The offensive line play is going to have to be better

The offensive line is going to have to learn to string together good play with disciplined play. It can't be one or the other. It's really as simple as that.

3.) More pass catchers have to get involved in the offense

Through six games tight ends Tyler Stephens and Kibet Chepyator have a combined seven catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. This means they are on pace for 14 receptions for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Last season, Daniel Parker, Niko Hea and Messiah Swinson accounted for 35 receptions for 288 yards and five touchdowns from the tight end position. Essentially, Stephens and Chepyator have been glorified run blockers this season. They were used a little more in weeks 4-6 with Chepyator hauling in three passes against Auburn and Stephens hauling in a touchdown pass versus Georgia and a reception for five yards against Florida. However, It won't be enough if they continue to go weeks at a time being afterthoughts. When they are not active in the passing game it only puts Mizzou at a disadvantage when teams know they won't have to worry about them.

For the wide receivers, the biggest problem (on the field) has seemed to be separation. It appears besides Lovett no one can get separation consistently and that hurts when the quarterback already doesn't have much time in the pocket.

The wide receiver room has been plagued with injuries since week one when it was announced Chance Luper would be out indefinitely. Barrett Banister didn't play in week six with an undisclosed injury and Burden went down with a lower leg injury that same week. Even with the injury, Banister is still the team's third-leading receiver with 13 receptions for 127 yards, and Burden is not that far behind with 18 receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown.

Tauskie Dove led the team in receiving a year ago and has just nine catches for 101 yards.

The wide receivers who are available must step up, not only because of injury within the position group but because it seems that the offense is predicated to run through one receiver and hope that the run game can get going on any given day.

Mid-Season Offensive Awards

Offensive MVP: Dominic Lovett

Most improved player: Dominic Lovett

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