Advertisement
Published Oct 3, 2022
PFF Insights: Georgia at Mizzou
Default Avatar
Jarod Hamilton  •  PowerMizzou
Staff Writer
Twitter
@jarodchamilton

Another season of college football means another season of Rivals teaming up with PFF College to do a deep dive on player analytics. After every Missouri football game, we will use PFF College's numbers to break down the Tigers' performance as a unit and as individuals. Here is a breakdown of how the team performed in week two as well as how they did individually. For those unfamiliar with how PFF calculates its grades, an explanation can be found here.

Overall grades

Pro Football Focus grades offenses based on five categories: passing, rushing, receiving, pass blocking and run blocking. It grades defenses based on four: run defense, tackling, pass rush and coverage. Here's how Missouri fared in each category Saturday.

Offense vs. Georgia
CategoryGame Grade

Total offense

65.2

Passing

62.2

Rushing

66.6

Receiving

63.8

Pass Blocking

70.9

Run Blocking

59.6

Advertisement

Takeaways: The passing game was working well in the first half when wide receiver Dominic Lovett was on the field. When he didn't return in the second half, receivers struggled to get open and Cook went 6 of 14 without Lovett on the field. Lovett had six receptions for 84 yards in the first half.

The Tigers haven't had a rushing grade below 60% this season. Cody Schrader rushed six times for 89 yards (long of 63) and Nathaniel Peat ran nine times for 41 yards (long of 28). The running backs didn't have an ample amount of runs but they made the most of its carries. Part of the reason the rushing grade may be down is because quarterback Brady Cook had four rushes for minus -11 yards and Lovett had two carries for minus -13 yards.

This was the second-best receiving grade of the season for Mizzou (behind week three 65.7 grade versus Abilene Christian).

It was the best pass-blocking grade of the season. Cook was pressured just five times, hit four times and sacked twice.

Missouri's run blocking has only had a grade of 65 or better once this season (week one versus Louisiana Tech). Week five was an improvement over week four (53.6) but still not an effective run-blocking game for Mizzou.

Defense vs. Georgia
CategoryGame Grade

Overall (offense & defense)

66.1

Total Defense

64.3

Run Defense

70.2

Tackling

61.3

Pass Rush

62.1

Coverage

58.5

Takeaways: This was the fourth time this season that the run defense finished with a grade above 70%. The Tigers held the Bulldogs to 66 rushing yards on 20 carries through the first three quarters. Georgia did gain 107 yards on 14 carries, but with not much help on offense in the fourth quarter, the defense went from playing with the lead to having to stop the Bulldogs from bleeding the clock.

The tackling grade is up 21% from last week in a game that saw Mizzou miss 17 tackles against Auburn. The team missed 12 versus Georgia.

The pass rush only forced five pressures, three quarterback hits and two sacks. Part of why Georgia didn't have an amazing offensive game was in part due to Stetson Bennett, who appeared off for three quarters.

The coverage grade is misleading due to Bennett getting 312 passing yards but Georgia wide receivers had 108 yards after the catch. Mizzou's defense had seven pass deflections with cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine and safety Martez Manuel each having two.

Top Performers

Offense Top Performers versus Georgia
Player (snaps)PositionGrade

Dominic Lovett (26)

WR

78.4

Javon Foster (57)

LT

76.4

Nathaniel Peat (31)

RB

66.9

Mookie Cooper (24)

WR

65.7

Mitchell Walters (57)

RG

64.8

Cody Schrader (20)

RB

64.6

Note: Players qualify for top performers if they record 15 or more snaps.

Other notables: Lovett paced the team in receptions and receiving yards for the fifth straight game this season despite playing just the first half.

Mookie Cooper had four receptions on five targets for 54 yards for his best game of the season.

Walters had a great game but he had two penalties and they arguably cost the Tigers up to seven points. He had a false start on first and goal from Georgia's one-yard line, and the Tigers later settled for a field goal to go up 16-6 instead of possibly 20-3 (with a touchdown and made PAT). Later in the game, he had a hands to the face penalty on a third and seven, which saw Brady Cook complete a pass to Barrett Banister for a gain of nine. The first down was nullified, the Tigers were removed from field goal range and they went from third and seven to third and 22. The Tigers punted on fourth and long on the next play.

Four offensive linemen had a pass block grade above 65 (Foster, Xavier Delgado, Walters and Connor Tollison). Foster had the best pass-blocking grade at 83.9, and also had the best run-blocking grade at 70.5

Cook went 17 of 22 on passes behind the line of scrimmage and up to 10 yards. Those are his sweet spots, but he struggled to throw the ball between 10 to 20 yards in the intermediate routes. He did connect on three deep balls, two of them to his safety blanket Lovett for gains of 27 and 36 yards. He completed his longest pass of the game to Cooper.

Cook had a clean pocket for 77.8 % of his dropbacks and he completed 18 of 28 passes for 146 yards and an offensive grade of 63.6 and a passing grade of 63.2. He was blitzed on 22.2% of dropbacks and completed 3 of 7 passes for 60 yards and his lone touchdown. He had his best offensive grade of 67.8 when blitzed and his best passing grade of 67.4. Cook, like most quarterbacks, is better when he is not pressured and the touchdown play was more of a better play design than an actual play made by Cook although he did have to make the throw.

Cook was at his best on play action with an offensive grade of 71.3 and a passing grade of 70.9. He completed 8 of 10 passes for 102 yards.

Cook's total offensive grade for the game was 61.3 which ranks eighth among players who played 15 or more snaps.

Defense Top Performers versus Georgia
Player (snaps)PositionGrade

Josh Landry (18)

DE

76.3

Joseph Charleston (77)

S

74.0

Jaylon Carlies (75)

S

69.7

Darius Robinson (34)

DT

69.0

Realus George Jr. (30)

DT

68.6

Dameon Wilson (47)

LB

66.1

Other notables: Ty'Ron Hopper was the defense's 11th best player among players who had 15 snaps or more, but Hopper was one of the best players on the field in week five. Hopper had a total defensive grade of 60.1, partially because he had a coverage grade of 45.0. He allowed three receptions on five targets for 50 yards (long of 30). This was his worst defensive coverage grade of the season. Due to being a linebacker, Hopper is going to see more "targets" in the middle of the field than most secondary players will see. Hopper had the best pass rushing grade at 74.5, and finished with seven tackles, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit and a forced fumble.

Safety Daylan Carnell has carved out a nice role in this defense and earned some more playing time in week five. He was the team's best-run defender at 77.4, and graded out as the team's seventh-best player at 67.0. Carnell had a pair of tackles.

Four defensive linemen graded out in the top 10 for total defense (Robinson, George, Kristian Williams and DJ Coleman). It is notable how well the defensive line, in particular, these four players played after that pre-game squirmish with Georgia defensive linemen in warmups.

Charleston graded out as the team's best tackler at 86.1 after recording 10 tackles. He was also the best defender in coverage with a grade of 73.7 (the only Tiger with a coverage grade above 68).


Talk about this story and more in The Tigers' Lair

Make sure you're caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video and live streaming coverage

Follow our entire staff on Twitter

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Missouri
2025Commitment List
Updated:
athlete
position
stars
Advertisement
Advertisement