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 23-10 win over No. 25 South Carolina.
Quarterbacks: Brady Cook had his best game of the season on Saturday. It was even better than his 292-yard and three-touchdown performance versus Abilene Christian. Why? Well, Cook has improved immensely from week three and made a lot of quick and decisive decisions. He made great reads when it came to the zone reads, he didn't put the ball in jeopardy (for the most part) and when he threw the ball he got the ball out quickly. When he had to throw the ball for more than 10 yards, which is something he's struggled with this season, he typically put the pass where it needed to be when it needed to be there. He completed 17 of 26 passes for 224 yards. He rushed the ball 11 times for 53 yards and a touchdown.
The only reason Cook doesn't earn an A was that he did try to give it away once. He threw a deep pass to Mookie Cooper but South Carolina was called for pass interference. Cook got bailed out there and instead the Tigers scored a touchdown and took a 14-0 lead. GRADE: A-
Running backs: Cody Schrader was deemed the featured running back earlier in the week going forward and he proved why. He wasted no time moving the ball forward. Mizzou entered the game as the third-worst team in the FBS when it came to tackles for loss allowed and that is in part to Missouri running backs not hitting the holes immediately, trying to juke defenders out or trying to bounce the ball to the outside. Schrader doesn't do too much of that and his 22 carries for 81 yards (3.7 yards per carry) and a touchdown showed that. It wasn't the prettiest stat line, but he was able to keep the drive along and get the Tigers into third and manageable situations. Hence, why the team was 8 of 16 on third downs. Also, of the four tackles for loss allowed only one was on Schrader.
Taj Butts hasn't seen the field much this season but Drinkwitz made sure to give him some praise for his blocking. Elijah Young, in his second game back from injury, had three carries for 20 yards and a reception for 11 yards. GRADE: A-
Wide Receivers: Dominic Lovett gets an A+ for how he played. The second-year wideout had 10 receptions on 10 targets for 148 yards. This is Lovett's third 100-yard receiving game this season. Lovett also did some of his damage on a future first-round defensive back in Cam Smith.
The rest of the wide receivers were largely absent from the game and that is why the position will get a B. Barrett Banister was second among receivers in receptions and receiving yards with two receptions for 28 yards. Luther Burden III had two receptions on five targets for five yards and had an uncontested drop on a quick slant. GRADE: B
Tight Ends: Once again the tight ends weren't a huge factor in the receiving game and no tight ends saw a target but there was something about Ryan Hoerstkamp being on the field that felt different. Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said that Hoerstkamp had a key block on the first touchdown of the game. Not many times is Drinkwitz calling tight ends out by name, but he did in the postgame. Tyler Stephens was also out there and helped the team rush for 143 yards. GRADE: B
Offensive line: EJ Ndoma-Ogar got the start at right guard in place of Mitchell Walters and he didn't seem out of place. This was the most complete game of the season from the line. Typically, this group commits a boatload of penalties or it commits penalties during important parts of the game or some combination of the former. That wasn't the case in week nine. Cook was the happiest he's been in a long time when talking about his offensive line postgame and it's because he was rarely touched. Just one sack allowed. The offensive line did have three penalties and that's why its grade is an A-, but none of the penalties were of too much consequence. GRADE: A-
Defensive line: The defensive line was pressuring South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler all day. Last week, the Tigers had a season-high 17 pressures, but just one sack. On Saturday, the team got a number of pressures and this time had four sacks. Three of those sacks were by Isaiah McGuire (two) and DJ Coleman (one). McGuire had five tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. Coleman finished the game with three tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. Of the 11 tackles for loss by the Tigers, six of them were by defensive linemen. GRADE: A
Linebackers: For the first time all season, Ty'Ron Hopper didn't have five tackles in a game, but he still played well. He had three tackles, two tackles for loss, a pass deflection and a quarterback hit. Chad Bailey had a pair of tackles. This group helped keep South Carolina to 32 rushing yards on 23 carries. GRADE: A
Secondary: The secondary group played well as it has all season. Safety Martez Manuel led the team in tackles with five to go along with his sack, tackle for loss and quarterback hit. Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine had five tackles and a pass deflection and helped limit Preseason All-SEC wide receiver Josh Vann to one reception for 20 yards. Cornerback Ennis Rakestraw had four tackles, one tackle for loss, a pass deflection and a forced fumble. Safety Jaylon Carlies had a pair of tackles and a forced fumble. Safety Daylan Carnell had three tackles and a fumble recovery. Safety Joseph Charleston had three tackles, one of which was another bone-jarring hit, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit. Cornerback Dreyden Norwood had a pass deflection and an interception to seal the game. GRADE: A-
Special teams: Kicker Harrison Mevis was 3 of 4 with his lone miss being from 21 yards out. Like last week, the miss didn't impact the outcome of the game, but those are points the Tigers can't keep missing out on. Especially, glorified PATs. Punter Jack Stonehouse had four punts for a 39-yard average. Burden had one punt return opportunity and it was for a loss of three yards. Again, special teams didn't tip the tide of this game either way, but there's room for improvement. GRADE: C
Coaching: Last week, it appeared Drinkwitz did enough to make sure the team didn't blow the game. This week, he put them in a position to succeed. He made a number of personnel changes that had a positive impact on the game and there were some new wrinkles in playcalling.
Burden took a couple of running back reps out of the backfield and he took those two carries for 10 yards. The offense got the ball into Lovett's hands quickly with jet sweeps and screens. A lot of the success does weigh on execution, but Drinkwitz did them a service by setting them up with some unique play calls and personnel adjustments.
Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker called another great game and that is part of the reason why the Tigers have held three conference opponents to 17 points or less. The defense held South Carolina to 203 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers. GRADE: A
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