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Mizzou Report Card: Week 5 vs. Georgia

Every week PowerMizzou.com will hand out a position-by-position report card from Missouri’s most recent game. Here are the grades for Missouri from Saturday’s 26-22 loss to Georgia.

Quarterbacks: Brady Cook played a solid game in week five. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown and he didn't turn the ball over for the first time all season. He made a few throws to get the ball downfield including 27 and 37-yard completions to Dominic Lovett and a 46-yard completion to Mookie Cooper. Cook played his role, which at this point in the season signifies game manager, meaning he won't be the reason the Tigers lose games (and he hasn't been for the most part this season), but he also won't be the one to win the Tigers games.

He did have a few passes that could've put the Tigers momentum in harms way a number of times. He threw into double or triple coverage at least twice and the final offensive drive wasn't the best playcalling (more on this later) but the first two passes of the drive were uncatchable balls. The third one was technically catchable since it was in Barrett Banister's vicinity, but Banister was draped by a Georgia defender and maybe barely touched the ball at it was oversailing him. GRADE: B-

Running backs: Cody Schrader and Nathaniel Peat combined for 15 rushes for 130 yards. Schrader had six rushes for 89 of those yards (14.83 yards per carry) with a long of 63. Peat had nine carries for 41 yards (4.56 yards per carry) and a long of 28. Even if you subtract Schrader's longest rush he still averaged 5.2 yards per rush for 26 yards. This position group didn't have its number call a lot but when Schrader and Peat were called they usually made something out of it, and they didn't fumble. GRADE: A-

Wide Receivers: If Dominic Lovett was getting graded alone he would get an A. He had six receptions on seven targets for 84 yards in the first half. He got banged up and Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz decided not to let him play during the second half and he still paced the team in receptions and receiving yards for the fifth straight week. As for the other receivers, Mookie Cooper had his best game of the season with four receptions for 54 yards including a long of 46. Barrett Banister had three receptions on six targets for 18 yards, and Luther Burden III had three receptions on seven targets for 16 yards. It felt like Lovett was the only one getting opened on a somewhat consistent basis but that has been the story for this position group all season. In the second half, Cook went 6 of 14 for 63 yards. Part of that is on Cook but part of that is on the position group not finding ways to get separation from defenders. GRADE: C

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Tight Ends: After being afterthoughts for weeks two and three the tight end position had a resurgence in week three thanks to Kibet Chepyator's three receptions. This week it was Tyler Stephens making a one-handed touchdown catch. Now, the tight ends have to continue to get more involved to be considered for better grades. Stephens' touchdown was the lone target for the position, but he made it count. Not to mention, that was the Tigers' only touchdown of the game and neither Chepyator nor Stephens committed a penalty, drop or turnover. GRADE: B

Offensive line: This was probably the best game the offensive line has played all season for Missouri. Running lanes were developed that sprung up a couple of the biggest gains of the season on the ground, and Cook was only sacked twice. One of those sacks was a slow developing play that Georgia sniffed out that can't be blamed on the offensive line too much for, but Cook actually had some time to throw for the majority of the game.

The only problem is all four offensive penalties were against the offensive line and two of them could've cost them the game (to a degree). A false start on right guard Mitchell Walters on first and goal on Georgia's one-yard line, and a hands to the face penalty by Walters on a converted third and seven play. The false start hurt the Tigers because they had to settle for three points instead of seven and the hands to the face penalty cost the team a first down and set them back 15 yards effectively knocking them out of field goal range. Left tackle Javon Foster also had a holding penalty and right tackle Connor Wood had a false start. GRADE: C-

Defensive line: This position group probably had a little more motivation after the pre-game scrum between them and three Georgia defensive linemen. For the first three quarters this group helped the defense limit Georgia to just 66 rushing yards on 20 attempts in the first three quarters. Trajan Jeffcoat had the best game from this group with three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Darius Robinson had two tackles and a sack. Mizzou had nine tackles for loss in week five and the defensive line accounted for six of them and the team's only two sacks. GRADE: A

Linebackers: Ty'Ron Hopper is at worst probably the second-best player on Mizzou's entire roster. Hopper had seven tackles, one tackle for loss and a forced fumble. This marks the fifth straight game he recorded at least five tackles. Hopper also had a couple of good pass rushing reps and a good rep or two in coverage. No one knows if he will be as good as Nick Bolton, but he's certainly stepping into that role on this team as the linebacker who makes play after play. Chad Bailey was out for this game and his replacement Dameon Wilson filled in at middle linebacker calling the defense and helping players get set up with no problem. Wilson also recorded five tackles. GRADE: A

Secondary: Don't let Stetson Bennett's 312 passing yards fool you. Not only did he not have a passing touchdown, he only completed 24 of 44 passes (54%). Safety Jaylon Carlies had a game-high 13 tackles to go along with his game-high 2.5 tackles for loss. Safety Joseph Charleston had the game's second-most tackles with 10. Safety Martez Manuel had one of the tougher tasks of the day covering tight ends Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington, but he helped limit Bowers to five receptions for 66 yards (long of 33) and Washington to three receptions for 64 yards (long of 30). He also had six tackles, two pass deflections and a tackle for loss. Safety Daylan Carnell had a pair of tackles and a fumble recovery returned for six yards. Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine had two tackles and two tackles for loss, and Ennis Rakestraw had two tackles, a pass deflection and a fumble recovery. GRADE: A

Special teams: Harrison Mevis bounced back from a disastrous week four that saw him miss a kick that he had never missed before in his career. Mevis converted all five of his field goal attempts from 22, 41, 49, 52 and 56 yards out. The latter field goal tied a career-long. Punter Jack Stonehouse followed up a career day in week four with a very solid outing in week five. He had five punts for an average of 38.4 yards per punt with a long of 45 yards and two punts landing inside Georgia's 20-yard line. GRADE: A

Coaching: Drinkwitz didn't call a bad game, and neither did his defensive coordinator Blake Baker. For three and a half quarters Mizzou was always a couple of steps ahead of the Bulldogs and had earned at least a B+ had the last offensive possession for Mizzou didn't go down how it did. With four minutes and three seconds left the Tigers threw a pass intended for Burden (who was covered) out of bounds on first down, on second down they tried a pass to Dove on a smash concept that sailed over his head, and on third down they tried an in route to Banister that fail incomplete. Now, the players have to execute the plays, but not running the ball or trying to get the ball moving underneath when that was helping the Tigers get down the field for parts of the game was puzzling. GRADE: B


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