On just the third snap of his first collegiate start, it was clear that Taylor Powell would have to throw downfield for the first time. Missouri faced a third down and nine, and bellows from the 92,000-plus fans in Sanford Stadium rained down on the Tiger offense.
Powell took a shotgun snap, dropped back, and found no one open. He ultimately checked down to running back Tyler Badie, who failed to reach the first down marker.
A lack of free receivers became a theme in Missouri’s 27-0 loss to Georgia — as did three-and-outs. Missouri continued its trend of offensive impotence, totaling its lowest yardage output (198 yards) since 2015 and failing to score for the first time since 2014. After putting up more than 30 points in 11 straight games between last season and the first six games of this year, the Tigers have scored just 21 points total in their last three games.
Powell, who started in place of the injured Kelly Bryant, was far from perfect against Georgia’s stifling defense. But responsibility for the scoreless performance extends beyond the quarterback position. No matter who has lined up behind center, perhaps the most concerning trend in Missouri’s three-game offensive nosedive has been the playmaking ability, or lack thereof, of the Tiger pass-catchers. Head coach Barry Odom noted the struggles of the receiving corps after the game.
“We didn’t win many one-on-one matchups there,” Odom said. “We had an opportunity to make catches on the ball. We didn’t make many.”
Indeed, the Missouri wideouts weren’t much of a factor against Georgia. As a group, the wide receivers finished the game with nine receptions for 92 yards. Missouri threw 34 passes on the night.
That’s not a new problem. The Tigers were without senior slot receiver Johnathon Johnson, but even with Johnson in the lineup, Missouri hasn’t gotten much production from its wideouts the past three weeks. Saturday marked the third game in a row Missouri’s entire receiving corps has failed to amass 10 receptions. And it’s not like the few catches the group has made have resulted in big plays. Only one passing play to a receiver — a 55-yard catch and run by Kam Scott against Vanderbilt — has gone for more than 20 yards over the past three weeks. No wideout has caught a touchdown since Oct. 5, when the Tigers beat Troy.
Slot receiver Barrett Banister, one of two wideouts who caught more than one pass against Georgia, said the lack of explosive plays in the passing game has allowed opposing defenses to load the box and suffocate Missouri’s rushing attack and underneath passing game.
“When you see all the great offenses in college football and professionally, they have explosive plays,” Banister said. “It backs the defense up, it opens up your run game, safeties don’t get to play down as low, they have to back up a little bit. So obviously there’s a big effect that explosive plays have, and we just have to figure out a way to get our receivers down the field, and when that opportunity comes, make that catch and make that play.”
Of course, to make an explosive play, Missouri’s receivers first have to catch the ball. The team has struggled with drops during its losing streak. Pro Football Focus credited the pass-catchers with five drops against Kentucky, which seems low. That number could easily have been six or seven. The team dropped four passes against Georgia, although one of those was by running back Dawson Downing. Missouri’s season-long receiving grade of 58.3 ranks No. 114 out of 130 FBS teams, according to PFF. During the Tigers’ five-game winning streak, the average score was 65.6. In the last three games, Missouri’s receiving score has not topped 57.1, and the average has been 50.0.
“I think the first thing we have to look at is just making contested catches,” Banister said. “There were a couple times on third downs Taylor would put the ball up, and we gotta make those plays.”
Ultimately, Missouri’s receiving struggles stem from misses on the recruiting trail. The Tigers signed six wide receivers in the classes of 2016 and 2017, Odom’s first two as head coach. Only one of those players is still on the team — and he, Christian Holmes, plays cornerback. As a result, Missouri only has two scholarship upperclassmen who have caught a pass this season. It’s not a coincidence that those two players, Johnson and graduate transfer Jonathan Nance, rank first and second among the receivers in receptions and yards.
In an effort to make up for the two empty classes, Missouri signed a whopping six receivers in 2018, and while a few of those players showed promise as true freshmen, haven’t progressed as the staff might hope. In his first nine games last season, Jalen Knox caught 24 passes for 402 yards and three touchdowns. So far this year, he has 13 catches for 224 yards and one score, and more than 100 of those yards came against Southeast Missouri. Dominic Gicinto went from nine catches last year to three so far this season. Only Scott has been more productive as a sophomore, but he dropped two passes against Kentucky and one against Georgia, plus committed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Saturday, Missouri tried to make up for the lack of production at wideout by featuring junior tight end Albert Okwuegbunam. After Okwuegbunam, a preseason first-team all-American, didn’t record a catch against Kentucky, fans called for him to receive more targets.
He received a team-high nine against Georgia. The results were mixed. Okwuegbunam made four catches for 30 yards but also failed to haul in two passes that hit both hands. Ultimately, he failed to provide the answer Missouri needed in the receiving game.
“Gave a lot of targets tonight to our tight end,” Odom said. “I thought there were opportunities there. ... But really we didn’t have anything explosive that really helped us out.”
While the long-term answers to Missouri’s issues at wideout likely lie in recruiting and development, the Tigers need a quicker fix to correct their offensive free fall this season. After the game Saturday, Odom maintained that the team has the necessary personnel to create explosive plays. It’s up to the coaching staff to figure out how to do so.
“We’ve got to get some things figured out, because we’re going to need to score some points in the last three weeks to have a chance in each one of the games,” Odom said. “We’ve got enough playmakers to go do that, and we’ve got to find answers and get it fixed.”
