Tigers lose Scherer and Beckner
Missouri’s defense has had its fair share of bad news this season. It got even more late Monday night. Barry Odom announced on Tuesday that starting linebacker Michael Scherer and defensive tackle Terry Beckner Jr. both suffered torn ACLs in Saturday’s loss to Middle Tennessee. Scherer also tore his MCL.
“Three or four weeks ago, I kind of put them at the front of the team as our leaders. Two of our leaders that have really shown it and they’ve done an unbelievable job. I could go on and on about both of them,” Odom said. “Both great ambassadors for the University of Missouri and our football program. I love them dearly. They’re like my sons.”
Scherer was Missouri’s leading tackler with 53 stops on the season. He had 3.5 tackles for a loss, two hurries, two pass breakups and an interception. He was a three-year starter with 266 career tackles. Scherer had recently moved from middle linebacker to the weak side position to try to help a struggling defense.
“Michael’s just crushed. We’re all crushed for him. I mean, the kid was in tears the entire rest of the game trying to egg us on and pull us on,” defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross said. “He was the guy. He was the guy and he wanted nothing more than to have a great senior year and lead this team back to a bowl game.”
“Mike is a guy that I’ve spoken about a number of times on how much I care about him,” Odom said. “It kind of rips my heart out that he’s done everything that he’s done and it ends for him with that injury.”
For Beckner, it’s the second torn ACL in two years. He tore ligaments in his other knee last year against BYU. Unlike Scherer, Odom wasn’t quite ready to say Beckner was officially done for the year on Tuesday.
“He’s walking around okay today, but would probably be wise to say that we wouldn’t expect him back anytime soon,” Odom said. “I don’t want to completely rule it out, but at this point, they’re both pretty similar injuries.”
Beckner had 24 tackles this season, eight more than any other interior lineman. He also had three quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.
“He’s our emotional charge as far as the interior player goes,” Cross said. “What do you do? It’s a long season. You always have injuries. You just don’t expect to have them like that.”
Starting cornerback John Gibson and safety Thomas Wilson also left Saturday’s game with injuries, but both practiced Tuesday and are expected to play against Kentucky this weekend. Cross called the losses of Scherer and Beckner “gut-wrenching.” He now spends the week trying to identify their replacements.
At defensive tackle, freshman Markell Utsey and senior Josh Augusta will get more reps. At linebacker, there are more options, but more questions as well. Cross said that freshman Cale Garrett and senior Donavin Newsom are starters, but the third spot is up for grabs.
“Whoever has the best week this week, there’s gonna be a number of guys that have a chance to start there at that weak side linebacker spot,” he said.
Joey Burkett started the first five games of the season at WILL before Scherer moved. Brandon Lee has seen increased playing time over the last few weeks. Cross said both of those players are also capable of backing up Garrett in the middle, along with Eric Beisel. Terez Hall could also factor in, but plays mostly on the strong side behind Newsom.
“We’ve just got a lot of guys that have been backups that we’re trying to get into the starting rotation as far as getting reps,” Cross said. “Then I think it’s gonna have to be done by committee.”
“It would take a bunch of guys to fill what Michael’s done here. He’s definitely the leader of our defense and I believe that every guy on the team would say that. It’s hard to replace a guy like that,” Lee said. “Ever since I’ve been here I’ve been hearing stay ready and keep patient. I’ve kept patient throughout, no matter how frustrating it’s been waiting my turn to play. I’m pretty anxious about it.”
The Tigers—and whoever they fill the two gaping defensive holes with—face Kentucky on Saturday at 11 a.m. looking to break a three-game losing streak and get their first SEC win.
“You simplify things and try to get them to play faster, try to be a little bit more assignment sound,” Cross said. “We can’t try to be exotic. We’ve just got to simplify and let the guys go play.”
Odom did not yet have a timetable for surgery for either player.