The first Missouri football season of the Eli Drinkwitz era showed both plenty of reasons for optimism as well as room for improvement. The Tigers finished a 10-game, all-SEC schedule with a record of 5-5, including an upset of defending national champion LSU and at one point cracking the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 25. However, the team also dropped its final two games of the season and saw an average margin of defeat of 24 points in its five losses.
In this series, we will go position by position to break down Missouri's performance in 2020 and look ahead to spring football practices, which should start in March and kick off preparation for the 2021 season. We start, of course, with the quarterbacks.
2020 Recap
Perhaps the most surprising revelation for Missouri in 2020 was the emergence of redshirt freshman Connor Bazelak behind center. Bazelak, who started the final game of the 2019 season but left in the second quarter due to a torn ACL, actually lost the starting job during an offseason competition. TCU transfer Shawn Robinson started the first two games of the year, but he was replaced by Bazelak during the second quarter against Tennessee.
At that point, Bazelak seized the starting job and ran with it. In his first start of the season, he completed 29 of 34 passes for 406 yards and four touchdowns in Missouri's upset victory over LSU. That game showcased Bazelak's two most impressive attributes: his accuracy and his poise. Despite his relative inexperience, Bazelak never looked rattled. He led two game-winning drives in the fourth quarter on the year, one against LSU and the other in the closing seconds against Arkansas. He completed 67.3 percent of his passes on the season, 17th-best in the country. His 2,366 passing yards ranked fifth in the SEC and 22nd nationally.
If there were two knocks on Bazelak this year, they would be a lack of touchdown passes and an inconsistent deep ball. The former was likely a product of Missouri's strong running game more than Bazelak struggling — the Tigers ran for 21 touchdowns on the season (two by Bazelak). Bazelak did, however, struggle to connect on a lot of downfield passes this season. He finished the season 14-50 on passes that traveled more than 20 yards in the air, per Pro Football Focus. All things considered, however, Bazelak's future looks bright at Missouri, especially considering he has yet to participate in a full offseason with the program and will still qualify as a redshirt freshman again in 2021.
2021 Outlook
Departing: None (Although Robinson has transitioned to the defensive side of the ball, apparently for good.)
Returning: Connor Bazelak, Brady Cook
Not only will Bazelak be a freshman once again in 2021, so will Cook, who appeared in three games during his first year on campus. Cook, who came to Missouri from Chaminade high school in St. Louis, did play a few meaningful snaps after Bazelak left the Georgia game due to injury. He completed two of three passes for 10 yards in the game, but also took a sack that lost 10 yards. He saw the majority of his action in mop-up duty against Vanderbilt, where he flashed his ability, completing all four of his passes for 62 yards and a pretty touchdown that he dropped into a receiver's hands in the corner of the end zone.
Incoming: Tyler Macon
Missouri fans have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Macon since he committed to the Tigers nearly 10 months ago, and they won't have to wait much longer. Macon is set to enroll in January and participate in spring practices. The East St. Louis quarterback put together a sterling high school career despite not playing a senior season. As a junior, he threw for 4,241 yards, 39 touchdowns and seven interceptions — in 10 games. He also added 17 touchdowns as a runner. The four-star prospect gained national attention with his performance at the Elite 11 quarterback camp this summer, but he stuck with his commitment to the Tigers.
Projected Starter: Connor Bazelak
We believe Cook and Macon will be allowed a fair crack at the starting spot, but it's hard to envision the reigning SEC co-Freshman of the Year being unseated by players who have combined to attempt just seven passes in the past calendar year. As mentioned above, there's reason to believe Bazelak could make another jump forward after being healthy and able to participate in a full offseason schedule.
Spring Practice storyline to watch: How quickly can Macon make the transition to college ball? Macon has excelled on the football field since he started playing around the age of five — he told PowerMizzou a few months ago that he's only been on a losing team for two games in his whole life. But it's rare that a player doesn't encounter a steep learning curve when making the jump from high school to college. Macon will benefit from participating in spring practices, but it remains to be seen whether he can push Cook for the top backup job, or perhaps even earn a few reps with the first team in a unique package that utilizes his mobility.
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