Sunday grade card: Florida
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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’ 23-6 loss to No. 11 Florida.
Quarterback: Kelly Bryant was an upgrade from Taylor Powell last week. But he couldn’t do near enough to resuscitate the Missouri offense. Bryant wound up completing 25 of 39 passes for 204 yards. He did a good job of keeping plays alive with his feet, as he was under fire on a lot of dropbacks. But he looked indecisive, rarely dropping back, putting his foot in the ground and throwing to his first read. And when he did escape pressure and extend plays, he seemed to have trouble seeing the field. At least a couple times, he missed receivers standing uncovered. Plus, Bryant simply has to take more shots downfield. One of, if not the only, times Bryant threw deep, it worked for a 44-yard completion to Jalen Knox. But even afterward, he appeared scared to take a chance and give a pass-catcher an opportunity to make a play down the field. A lot of players aside from Bryant deserve blame, but when an offense is struggling as bad as Missouri’s is, you can bet quarterback play is a big factor. GRADE: D
Running backs: As has become the norm, Missouri’s running backs had little to no room to run. Larry Rountree III gained just 30 yards on seven carries. Tyler Badie and Dawson Downing fared worse, rushing for two yards on four carries and one yard on three totes, respectively. Missouri tried to get Rountree and Badie the ball in the passing game as a result, but with Florida’s defense crowding the line of scrimmage, that proved fruitless as well. The running backs generally seem like the offensive group that deserves the least blame, but it’s not like they’re making any big plays, either. GRADE: C
Wide receivers: Jonathan Nance continued his solid senior season. He found holes in Florida’s defense, made a few nice catches in traffic and even made something happen after securing the ball for a 25-yard gain. He would be a solid number two or three wideout for an SEC team. But he was the only Missouri receiver who consistently made plays Saturday, which is a problem. Knox at least made one big play on a deep ball, and I would like to see the Tigers try to get him the ball downfield more, but he had just nine yards other than that. Barrett Banister catches the ball, but he’s not much a threat to do anything afterward. And after those three, the wideouts continue to be pretty much invisible. On an offense desperate for playmakers, the receivers certainly haven’t helped over the past month. GRADE: D
Tight Ends: Missouri once again made an effort to get Albert Okwuegbunam involved in the game plan in the first half. Okwuegbunam didn’t reward them. He finished with four catches for 26 yards but also had a false start penalty, a crucial personal foul penalty and a drop. I understand why fans clamored for Okwuegbunam to get more touches a few weeks ago, and he’s clearly a unique talent, but at this point, I would consider benching the junior to try to get his head on straight. Of course, the problem there is that no other tight end has caught a pass since the loss to Vanderbilt three games ago. Daniel Parker Jr. is the latest offensive player to pull a disappearing act. GRADE: F
Offensive line: Yes, Florida’s defensive front is elite, but the Missouri offensive line continued to look like it has regressed from a season ago. The front five struggled in both the running and passing games. Bryant got sacked three times and had to escape unblocked blitzers at least another three. Additionally, space was nonexistent on the ground. Even when you adjust for sacks, the Tigers averaged just 2.8 yards per carry. The struggles on the offensive line might be the most perplexing and the most damaging issue for Missouri this season. GRADE: F
Defensive line: The one area where Missouri looked to have a distinct advantage over Florida was its defensive front over the Gators offensive line. The defensive tackles, especially, wreaked havoc in the first half. Jordan Elliott and Kobie Whiteside combined for eight tackles, three sacks and another tackle for loss. Tre Williams even chipped in a sack from the edge. As a group, the Tiger defense totaled eight tackles for loss and held Florida to 2.2 yards per rush. GRADE: A
Linebackers: The linebackers also contributed to Missouri’s success against Florida’s ground game. But they didn’t fare quite as well in the passing game. Florida used their deep stable of pass-catchers to isolate the duo in coverage several times, and on one of those, Lamical Perine beat Nick Bolton for a touchdown. Bolton also dropped a surefire pick-six that could have changed the complexion of the game. As a whole, though, the linebackers certainly weren’t the reason Missouri lost. GRADE: B-
Secondary: The Tiger secondary almost made it through the season as one of the biggest surprises in college football. Missouri entered Saturday ranked fourth nationally in passing defense, but Florida managed to expose a few weaknesses in the secondary. The Gators became the first Missouri opponent this season to eclipse 300 yards through the air. They did it largely by picking on Jarvis Ware. We will have more precise data on this tomorrow, but the sophomore cornerback had to have given up at least half of the completions in the first half. Ware’s cornerback counterpart, DeMarkus Acy, did a better job in coverage but failed to haul in a couple passes that hit his hands. The secondary deserves a bit of slack since it had to defend 36 passes and got no help from the offense, but this was clearly its worst performance of the year. Grade: C
Special Teams: If you’re looking for silver linings, perhaps placekicker Tucker McCann got back on track Saturday. McCann made his first field goal since mid October and broke a streak of four consecutive misses by going two-for-two against Florida. McCann was busy in the punting game, punting a whopping 10 times, and the results were mixed. Overall, special teams didn’t play a huge factor Saturday. GRADE: B
Coaching: Barry Odom and his staff are clearly trying to react to the team’s personal foul spree. The staff benched Markell Utsey for the remainder of last week’s game after he committed a roughing the passer penalty that resulted in a third down conversion for Georgia. Receiver Kam Scott hasn’t returned to the field after throwing a punch last week. But at some point, the continued 15-yard penalties have to reflect on the staff. Throw in some questionable play-calling — Missouri only gave its running backs 14 carries in 68 total snaps and only attempted one deep pass, even settling for check-downs on second and third and long — and it’s easy to understand the fan base’s frustration with the coaching. GRADE: F
Final Overall Grade: D