Every week through the end of Missouri's season, PowerMizzou.com will hand out a position-by-position report card from the Tigers' most recent game.
Here are the grades for No. 9 Missouri's 33-31 Week 12 win over Florida.
Quarterbacks: Brady Cook didn't have quite the same game he had versus Kansas State when he passed for over 340 yards and had three total touchdowns, but he did lead another masterful final drive to set up kicker Harrison Mevis for a 30-yard game-winning field goal with five seconds left.
There were some points when Cook threw passes in no man's land and didn't go through his progressions completely which led to him missing open receivers, but this drive alone masks a lot of things he didn't do well on Saturday. It was probably the best drive of his career. A 12-play, 62-yard drive that featured two third-down conversions and a fourth-down conversion.
He went 7-of-10 for 67 yards on that drive and finished the game having completed 20-of-34 passes for 331 yards and a touchdown.
He put the team on his back on that drive, and fourth and 17 will go down as one of the plays of the season. GRADE: B+
Running backs: Cody Schrader continues to run wild on defenses. He had his fourth straight 100-yard rushing game, making him the first Mizzou running back since Henry Josey in 2011 to do that.
He had 117 yards in the first half which makes it two straight weeks with him posting 100 rushing yards in the first half.
The grade isn't an A because Schrader managed to only get 31 second-half yards.
Nathaniel Peat also chipped in with two rushes for 18 yards in the first half. GRADE: A-
Wide receivers: The wideouts had a good day. Of the team's 331 yards, this group had 15 receptions for 288 yards (192 yards after the catch) and a touchdown.
Luther Burden III put up his first 100-yard receiving game since Week 6 versus LSU. He had nine receptions for 158 yards and caught the super crucial fourth and 17 pass to keep the team's chances of winning alive.
Theo Wease had just one reception, but he turned on the afterburners and scampered 77 yards for a touchdown.
Mekhi Miller had two receptions for 24 yards with both of his catches coming on the final drive.
Mookie Cooper had three receptions for 29 yards including the 16-yard reception to set up the 30-yard field goal attempt.
The only true problem the receivers had at times was separation. At some points, it seemed like Cook was just throwing up Hail Marys and hoping the receivers could come down with something because they weren't creating any separation. GRADE: A-
Tight ends: Brett Norfleet had three receptions for 43 yards in what was probably the best game a tight end has had in over two seasons. Seriously.
Norfleet has had a wonderful true freshman campaign and it continued on Saturday. Drinkwitz even campaigned for him to be a true freshman All-American. He was the team's second-leading receiver on a day when they really needed it. GRADE: A+
Offensive line: Over 500 yards of offense for the second week in a row, just one sack allowed, two penalties and three tackles for loss, represents one of the best games of the season for this unit. Cook had a clean pocket for the entire game and Schrader was able to make waves in the run game early and often. This wasn't a flawless game by any means, but this group played really well.
Left tackle Javon Foster's holding call inside the 10-yard line played a hand in the Tigers settling for a field goal instead of getting a touchdown and center Connor Tollison's low snap on third and one before the half cost the team a first down in the red zone and likely another touchdown. GRADE: B+
Disclaimer: Everyone has a hand in the poor tackling and poor run defense.
Defensive line: After a dominating performance versus Tennessee, it was the opposite versus the Gators for this group especially.
Florida was able to average 6.5 yards per carry and no matter if the Tigers had their normal four-man front on the field or their odd front, Florida was able to navigate it and get chunk yardage.
It didn't help that Florida running backs Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne seemed to be breaking a lot of the first tackle attempts and were able to get skinny in between narrow lanes in the trenches.
Both sacks and three of the team's 7.5 tackles for loss were recorded by this group.
Defensive end Darius Robinson led the way with five tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hit. However, he did admit in his postgame presser he allowed a 27-yard rush by backup Gators quarterback Max Brown and he got stiff-armed on one of Florida's red zone runs on the same drive he allowed Brown's big run.
Josh Landry and Johnny Walker each had four tackles and Walker also had a personal foul penalty.
Jay Jernigan had two tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss.
Kristian Williams had two tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.
Realus George also had a tackle. GRADE: C
Linebackers: It was a rough night for linebackers Triston Newson and Chuck Hicks. They got the starts in place of outside linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper and MIKE linebacker Chad Bailey, respectively.
The stats say the pair tied for the team lead in tackles with nine with Hicks having 1.5 tackles for loss also. But it doesn't tell the tale. They were getting picked on and missed a few tackles. GRADE: D
Secondary: This group gets lumped into the disclaimer because there were too many times a safety seemed to make a play in the backfield or could've stopped a ball carrier after a couple of yards and allowed a gain of five or more.
Jaylon Carlies did that a couple of times, but he did lead secondary players in tackles with seven to go along with a tackle for loss, a pass deflection and an interception.
However, the Gators only passed for 239 yards and they were able to limit speedster Eugene Wilson III to seven receptions for 23 yards, who led the team in receiving.
Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine had six tackles, a pass deflection and a (bad) holding call while cornerback Ennis Rakestraw had three tackles. The latter did trip on the second defensive play of the game which allowed Ricky Pearsall to go for a gain of 61 yards. He also was flagged for a pass interference.
Safety Joseph Charleston had four tackles while fellow safety Tre'Vez Johnson had three tackles including one of the biggest hits of the year.
Safeties Daylan Carnell and Phillip Roche each had two tackles.
Dreyden Norwood, Marvin Burks and Ja'Marion Wayne each had one tackle.
All in all, the Gators' receiving unit didn't do as much damage to the secondary. GRADE: B-
Special teams: Punter Riley WIlliams reassumed the role of starting punter and averaged 41.3 yards per punt with three landing inside Florida's 20-yard line.
Mevis wasn't just clutch at the end of the game he was clutch throughout the game. The Tigers got into the red zone five times and converted all five of those opportunities, but it was four Mevis field goals that did a bulk of work. Punctuated with the 30-yard game-winner. GRADE: A+
Coaching: It wasn't pretty at times. Missouri left a lot of meat on the bone in the red zone.
You can't be the No. 1 red zone offense in the nation and settle for four field goals. A lot of it has to do with execution, but that still falls on coaching. The defense allowed 40 carries for 261 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and 500 yards total. It also won the turnover battle 2-0 and got 10 points off of turnover and the Tigers still almost lost.
It seemed like Florida's eye candy and motion really seemed to be getting the best of Mizzou.
It was a far cry from last week's dominant performance versus the Vols.
The offense capitalized on Florida's late-game mistake, but it didn't do that enough. Mizzou should've won by two scores, yet it narrowly escaped.
However, the coaching staff should be credited for being able to get this team over the finish line. Cook and Schrader both said in their postgame interviews that this team would've lost this game. So, the fact that the Tigers consistently find ways to win these rugged one-score games (4-0) is a huge testament to the coaching staff.
Also, shout out to Eli Drinkwitz for calling that timeout before the fourth and 17 and credit to Moore for coming up with the play. They get paid to make those types of decisions and they came through. GRADE: B
Are you…
Ready to leave the corporate Rat Race for the American Dream?
Looking for a side hustle while working your current job?
Wanting to diversify, build wealth, and/or leave a legacy?
Andy can help!!!
Andy is a franchise consultant (as well as franchise owner) and helps people find franchises that fit their skill sets, financial requirements, time to commit and more…. His services are 100% free and he’s here to help if you have any questions about business ownership.
Learn more about Andy and franchise ownership through these resources:
Stay up to date on all the Mizzou news with your premium subscription
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
- 100%
- 100%
- 100%
- 100%
- PG
