Each Sunday, PowerMizzou.com will hand out a position-by-position grade card for Missouri from Saturday's game. Here are the marks from the Tigers’ 38-0 win over Arkansas.
Quarterback: Drew Lock’s performance fit his senior season. He didn’t put up gaudy numbers like last year’s meeting against Arkansas, but he was efficient and opportunistic. Lock completed 16 of 25 passes and never put the ball in harm’s way. He made several plays with his fee then the opportunity presented itself, rushing for two touchdowns for the first time in his college career. And he took advantage of one free play to hit Emanuel Hall for a 67-yard touchdown on a perfect pass. Lock deserved the standing ovation he received from fans in the fourth quarter. GRADE: A
Running backs: For the third year in a row, Damarea Crockett didn’t get a chance to play his home-state school. It didn’t much matter. Larry Rountree III topped 25 carries for the second game in a row and surpassed 1,000 yards for the season. He finished the game with 119 yards on 29 carries. Tyler Badie had a nice run to set up a touchdown. Simi Bakare continued to look capable in limited action. GRADE: A
Wide receivers: Like Lock, Emanuel Hall finished his regular-season career with a game that typified his senior season. Hall caught six passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns. He showed his vertical ability on the 67-yard touchdown reception, but he also made a few catches on quicker routes, such as a six-yard touchdown in the second quarter. No other Missouri receiver caught more than two passes, but that largely resulted from the fact that the Tigers didn’t throw much, and certainly didn’t look downfield too often. GRADE: A
Tight Ends: Kendall Blanton had two receptions and Daniel Parker Jr. had one. The two were asked to block more than run routes. To the best of my knowledge, they did fine in that regard. GRADE: B
Offensive line: The line kept Lock clean, which is always priority number one. He was never sacked in the game. They also paved the way for Missouri to top 180 rushing yards for the fourth game in a row. GRADE: A
Defensive line: Hello, Jordan Elliott. Missouri might not have such a tough time replacing Terry Beckner Jr. next season. Elliott lived in the Arkansas backfield, recording three sacks (the first Missouri player to do so since 2016) and an additional tackle for loss. Akial Byers also played well, and Beckner had one vicious hit, as usual. The stat that best illustrates the dominance of the Tigers’ front seven: Arkansas rushed for -21 yards in the first half, the fewest in a half of any FBS team this season. GRADE: A
Linebackers: The back half of the Tiger front seven played about as well as the defensive front. Terez Hall had a sack and his first career interception. Cale Garrett led Missouri in tackles with six, and he surpassed 100 for the season. Brandon Lee contributed four tackles and broke up a pass in his return from injury. GRADE: A
Secondary: There were a couple minor mishaps, as Khalil Oliver got beat on one play and Christian Holmes gave up a couple completions. But Missouri never needs its secondary to be perfect, just to avoid giving up huge plays in the passing game. It certainly accomplished that Friday. No defensive unit is getting less than an A after a shutout. GRADE: A
Special Teams: The punt return game was an issue yet again. Johnathon Johnson lost yardage on his only return attempt, and the Tigers also gave the ball back to Arkansas on one punt, when a short kick bounced off Jordan Ulmer’s foot. Other than that, though, Tucker McCann made all six of his kick attempts and Missouri avoided disaster on the other aspects of special teams. GRADE: C+
Coaching: The one thing that could have jeopardized Missouri’s chances Friday was a slow start caused by last week’s big win and the emotions of the pregame Senior Day celebration. The Tigers avoided that. The coaching staff was also smart not to put Lock in harm’s way with many deep dropbacks, instead relying on the defense and the running game to beat an overmatched opponent. GRADE: A
Final Overall Grade: A
