Published Nov 5, 2023
PostGame Report Card presented by MyPerfectFranchise.net
Jarod Hamilton  •  Mizzou Today
Staff Writer
Twitter
@jarodchamilton

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. 12 Missouri's 30-21 Week 10 loss to No. 2 Georgia.

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Quarterbacks: Brady Cook had some good moments and he had some bad moments in Week 10.

The good moments were highlighted by a couple of nicely placed jump balls for receivers Luther Burden III and Theo Wease, as well as 39 yards on the ground on 10 carries to keep Georgia's defense honest.

However, two fourth-quarter interceptions, the first of which was intercepted by a defensive lineman, when the Tigers still had a chance to tie or win the game were knockout blows.

He completed 14-of-30 passes for 212 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. GRADE: C-

Running backs: Cody Schrader was the Tigers's best offensive option on Saturday and that was made evident when he kept them in the game when they were down 24-13 with about 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter with a 12-yard touchdown run.

He finished the game with 112 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries and was the first player to run for over 100 yards against Georgia since Chris Rodriguez did it for Kentucky in 2020.

He also added three receptions for 14 yards.

Nathaniel Peat had two carries but he couldn’t gain a yard. GRADE: A

Wide receivers: Burden had a great catch for a 39-yard touchdown on the team's first offensive drive of the game, but was limited to two receptions for 14 yards the rest of the way. And ultimately finished with three receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown.

Wease led the way with five receptions for 90 yards. Mookie Cooper had two receptions for 32 yards, while Mekhi Miller had a reception for 23 yards.

The group combined for 53 yards after the catch, but a lot of that was due to Cook just throwing a lot of jump balls and back-shoulder fades to the sideline. GRADE: B-

Tight ends: There was one really good play we saw from a tight and it was Brett Norfleet providing a good block to an EDGE on a third and two run play in the second quarter that led to a first down. Outside of that, there wasn't much from this position group. GRADE: C

Offensive line: The line allowed three sacks, four tackles for loss and committed three false start penalties.

This group didn't have a terrible day. They performed pretty well considering who they were playing and where they were playing, and they gave Cook good enough pockets to allow him to take a number of deep shots, as well as enough room for Schrader to operate. GRADE: C+

Defensive line: The one thing the Tigers needed going into this game was pressure. The Georgia offensive line had only allowed 37 pressures on the season entering this game but it seemed like the defensive line was making great acquaintances with Georgia quarterback Carson Beck as much as they were in the backfield.

Also, they were instrumental in limiting the Bulldogs to 33 carries for 131 yards (four yards per carry).

This group had two of the team's three sacks and two of the five tackles for loss.

Darius Robinson led the group with four tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack.

Nyles Gaddy had two tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss.

Kristian Williams had a pair of tackles, while Joe Moore, Jay Jernigan, Johnny Walker, Realus George and Josh Landry each had one tackle. GRADE: A

Linebackers: It was a tough day for the linebackers, although Ty'Ron Hopper had a team-high 10 tackles to go along with a sack and tackle for loss.

There were a number of missed tackles from this group and some bad play in coverage.

Also, Hopper had a disconcerting penalty and a pass interference midway through the fourth quarter that was a backbreaker for Mizzou down the stretch.

Chuck Hicks, starting for the injured Chad Bailey, had seven tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass deflection.

Triston Newson and Ben Straatmann each had a tackle. GRADE: C-

Secondary: Similar to the linebackers, there was a number of missed tackles by the secondary group, with a handful of them coming from the safety group.

Beck completed 21-of-32 (66%) for 254 yards and two touchdowns. He had five passes go 18 or more yards through the air for receptions.

Ladd McConkey had a game-high seven receptions for 95 yards. Ex-Tiger Dominic Lovett had four receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown while tight end Oscar Delp also chipped in with three receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Safety Joseph Charleston had seven tackles and two pass deflections.

Safety Jaylon Carlies and cornerback Ennis Rakestraw each had four tackles.

Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine had three tackles and a pass deflection.

Daylan Carnell had three tackles and Tre'Vez Johnson had a tackle and a tackle for loss.

Dreyden Norwood had a tackle and a pass interference call on a third down play that he batted down a pass. GRADE: C-

Special teams: Kicker Harrison Mevis made both of his field goal attempts (37, 42).

Punter Luke Bauer struggled and averaged just 37.8 yards on four attempts. His long was 50 yards and he only had one punt land inside Georgia's 20-yard line.

Marquis Johnson committed something that could only be described as a freshman mistake.

He was outside the end zone on a kickoff return and decided to go into the end zone to field the kick and only got a five-yard return. It didn't help Mizzou was called for holding on that play so the Tigers started that drive on its own three-yard line.

Had he let the ball bounce into the end zone it would've been a touchback and Mizzou would've had much better field position.

However, he did have what appeared to be a touchdown-saving tackle on the kickoff after Mizzou scored its final touchdown. GRADE: C

Coaching: Eli Drinkwitz and his staff didn't do anything to outright lose the team the game.

Did his time management at the end of the first half boggle the mind a bit? Yes.

But, it was because he thought Schrader was pushed out of bounds after a four-yard gain.

Upon further review, it seems like Schrader's elbow landed in bounds before the rest of his body landed out of bounds, hence why the clock kept running.

At the time, Mizzou had two timeouts and didn't use one. So, while Drinkwitz was venting his frustrations 25 seconds burned off the clock.

Outside of that, the offense was okay. Could they have run the ball with Schrader more? Yes, but it was okay.

The turnovers came down to poor execution on Mizzou's part and great execution on Georgia's part.

Defensive coordinator Blake Baker had an alright day, he called some unique blitz packages and his defensive line caused some pressure and was frequently in the backfield.

The defense kept the team in the game along with Schrader for most of the game.

The unit wasn’t without faults, though. It allowed Georgia to go 5-of-5 in the red zone with three touchdowns and a combined 7-of-14 on third and fourth down.

Saturday felt more like the Tigers didn't execute as well as Georgia did and they got beat by the better team. GRADE: B

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