Notebook: Defensive focus shifts back to basics during bye
Every season for virtually every college football team, the bye week brings chatter about self-scouting. Coaches use the week off to review tape of the season so far and identify room for improvement.
The Missouri defensive coaching staff likely found plenty of that from the team’s first seven games. The Tigers rank last among Power Five teams in both run defense and total defense. They’ve surrendered 258.6 yards per game on the ground, including 360.7 yards per game on the ground to conference opponents.
But even though the situation has looked dire, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks told reporters Tuesday that the changes coming out of the bye won’t be drastic. Rather than trying to reinvent the defensive scheme or revamp the personnel on the field, Wilks said the focus last week was on shoring up the fundamentals.
“Yes, we did take some time to self-scout and evaluate ourselves, and when you really break it down a little bit, undisciplined, getting out of our gaps, guys just not really executing at times with their technique and fundamentals,” Wilks said. “And that was one of the things that coach (Eli Drinkwitz) really challenged us as coaches, as well as players: Let’s get back to the basics. Let’s get back to the fundamentals and technique. You know, we’re not going to out-scheme guys, we’re going to out-play them.”
The specific fundamentals that Wilks wants to see improve include tackling and gap discipline. He doesn’t believe Missouri’s struggles staying in gaps have resulted from players not understanding their responsibilities. Rather, he said the root of the issue has typically been players pressing too hard to make a tackle.
Defensive end Isaiah McGuire agreed with his coach’s assessment.
“We might get a little excited and go try to make a play instead of taking care of our responsibility and letting the other guy do his part in the defense, make the play,” McGuire said. “So we just have to do a better job of trusting the man next to us.”
If there is a change in the defensive scheme for Missouri, it will likely be a simplification. Wilks said he’s seen past teams overthink things during a bye week and players play slower as a result. He used the example of an NFL team playing on a Sunday and then again the following Thursday to show that sometimes having less time to prepare for the next opponent can actually be beneficial.
Wilks wanted to avoid bogging his players down with too much new information during the week off. He said the defense has “narrowed down our thought process” a bit over the past few weeks.
The players on the field likely won’t look drastically different, either. While Missouri declined to release a depth chart for the third game in a row, Drinkwitz pointed out that the team can’t go out and add players mid-season.
“We have who we have,” he said. “And we’ve got to improve technique and fundamentals. That's the biggest thing, like, it's technique and fundamentals driven. We've got to approve in our techniques, we’ve got to improve on our fundamentals within the scheme of what we're trying to run. And we got to look at, okay, are these the best calls? And it may draw up good, but it may not fit our players.”
Drinkwitz’s message was the same as that of his defensive coordinator. Ultimately, it matters little which players are on the field or what formations they line up in. If Missouri doesn’t improve its execution, it can’t expect to see better results.
“It’s just, more or less, we gotta get off blocks,” Wilks said. “We gotta use our hands. We gotta make sure our eyes are in the right spot. Again, it’s going back to the fundamentals of the game. And you can sit here and come up with several different schemes, but the bottom line is we gotta go out and execute.”
Drinkwitz honors injured seniors
If Missouri’s personnel does look different coming out of the bye, it will likely be the result of injuries. The team has not released a full injury report since before the loss to Texas A&M on Oct. 16, but Drinkwitz said the Tigers are “still dealing with some injuries that occurred” against the Aggies.
While Drinkwitz didn’t delve into specifics, Missouri did reveal last week that three players will miss the rest of the season due to recent injuries: offensive lineman Case Cook, defensive lineman Chris Turner and safety Mason Pack. Drinkwitz opened his press conference by praising each player.
Drinkwitz said that Turner, a fifth-year senior whose college career is over as a result of his injury, has “never had a bad day.” He called it unfair that Turner’s time at Missouri ends this way, but said Turner has “handled it with a tremendous attitude.” Turner, who recorded 16 tackles and no sacks across the past two seasons, had drawn some flack from fans for his play on the field, but Drinkwitz said the Louisiana native never let it impact his work ethic.
“It wasn't always going right, he wasn't always the starter,” Drinkwitz said. “Most people didn't know when the hurricane came through this past September, his house was flooded. And he was able to block that out and continue to show up every day, work with determination and grit. Chris Turner is going to make it in this world, and we're going to be all proud that he's Mizzou made.”
Pack’s injury, which Drinkwitz said occurred during a recent practice, will also bring his college career to an end. That could be the case for Cook as well, although that’s yet to be determined. Cook still has one season of eligibility left due to the NCAA’s decision not to count 2020 against any player. But Drinkwitz said he didn’t want Cook to rush a decision about returning.
It might not be up to him, either. Drinkwitz revealed that Cook suffered a “significant shoulder injury” during Missouri’s loss to Kentucky in Week Two. After missing two games, he tried to play through the pain, but team doctors eventually ruled him out for the year.
“They told him to shut it down after the Kentucky game,” Drinkwitz said. “He refused, did not want to go out that way. Rehabbed and rehabbed and rehabbed to come back. And just, it just wasn't getting to where he could functionally play, and the doctors had to take it out of his hands, no longer let it be his decision. But to know how hard he fought to play for our football team, to play for this university, again, just so proud of these guys, just so proud. And I know in the midst of a season there's all kinds of things and talking points and storylines, but these three guys represent what we want Mizzou made to be, and what we want our culture and our football team to be about: About it's bigger than yourself, it's bigger than you. It's about the brotherhood. It's about giving everything you've got to this football team, and when the chips are good, you're good, and when the chips are down, you're still good. And that's what these three guys are, and we're going to miss their leadership on the football field. But the great news is we're not going to miss their presence in our locker room or on our football team.”
Vanderbilt QB situation uncertain
Missouri won’t be the only team dealing with injuries when it travels to Vanderbilt this weekend. The Commodores have been without second-year starting quarterback Ken Seals for each of the past two weeks due to a finger injury he suffered during the team’s loss to Florida on Oct. 9. Redshirt freshman Mike Wright has started each of those games in his absence.
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said Tuesday that the team will “see where Ken’s at this week” before making a determination about who will start behind center on Saturday.
“He remains week to week,” Lea said of Seals. “Wasn’t able to go last week, so Mike was the starter, and that remains the same until Ken shows us he can perform. Once he does, it’s just a matter of how quickly he’s to 100 percent and when we feel like he can effectively manage and move up. … Kind of now it becomes day to day as we get near the end of his recovery.”
Both Seals and Wright have struggled as passers this season. Seals has completed 55.3 percent of his passes, throwing five touchdowns versus seven interceptions. Wright has hit on 55.7 percent of his throws, tossing two scores and three picks.
Wright does bring a bit more of a running threat. He’s rushed for 134 yards on the year. Wilks said stopping the run will be Missouri’s priority no matter who calls the signals, but the Tigers will have to account for Wright’s legs when he’s in the game.
“They create several different elements based off who’s in there at quarterback,” Wilks said. “Don’t really know who is going to start, and our priority right now is to make sure we shore up the run. I know it’s a little bit different when Wright is in there, a little bit more Q run stuff than Seals, but we’ve got to do a great job of stopping the run this week.”
Drinkwitz joked that he would have appreciated a little bit more clarity from Lea about who will start Saturday, but he also said Missouri will prepare to face both Wright and Seals.
“It doesn’t really change,” he said. “I guess you plan for Mike, but understand that Ken could play. I don’t know. I wish he’d give us a little more clarity. Coming from a guy that didn’t put out a depth chart.”
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