Mizzou’s defense appears to be improved from 2017. But do the numbers back that up?

From afar, it appears Missouri’s defense is improved from last season. The Tigers haven’t been blown out like they were during last year’s five-game losing streak and they even held Alabama to a season-low in points.

The Tigers have also benefited from having one defensive coordinator in Ryan Walters, rather than three in 2017 with Walters, DeMontie Cross and coach Barry Odom all sharing duties.

But a look at the numbers paints a slightly different picture. In a lot of ways Missouri’s defense has improved, but it has also regressed in some areas and stayed put at others. For example, Missouri was ranked No. 83 in total defense at the end of the 2017 season and is currently ranked No. 84 through eight weeks of the season.

While the unit isn’t anywhere close to Odom’s first Missouri defense in 2015, when he was the defensive coordinator for a unit that finished ranked No. 6 in total defense, the defense is among the best nationally in a few areas.

Missouri has already proven it can stop the run, as it held Kentucky tailback Benny Snell to 67 yards rushing on Saturday and ranks No. 29 in rushing defense. The Tigers are holding opponents to 126.5 yards per game.

Linebacker Cale Garrett credits the depth at defensive tackle, where Terry Beckner Jr., Akail Byers, Kobie Whiteside and Jordan Elliott have been effective against elite tailbacks.

“It all starts up front,” he said. “That’s how it will always be.”

Despite a defensive line that featured senior Marcell Frazier and A.J. Logan last season, Missouri ranked No. 85 nationally against the run.

Frazier’s absence is still being felt since Missouri has struggled to rush the passer and stop plays in the backfield. In 2017, Beckner and Frazier each had seven sacks on the season and combined for 26 1/2 tackles for loss. Missouri was eighth in the country last year in tackles for loss and No. 30 in sacks. Those numbers have dropped to No. 60 and 85 respectively.

“I think it’s coming,” Odom said earlier in the season. “I really do. ... We’ve got to continue to create ways to get there. And you may not get a hit on the quarterback, but man, he’s got to feel it.”

A pleasant surprise for Missouri has been its effectiveness on third and fourth down. After ranking No. 101 on opponent third-down conversions in 2017, Missouri is now ranked No. 35. On opponent fourth-down conversions, Missouri has leaped from No. 72 to sixth nationally. Teams are only converting 23 percent of the time.

Against Kentucky, Missouri’s defense had multiple fourth-down stops against Snell and the Wildcats.

Walters praised Garrett’s performance against Kentucky and said the linebacker’s ability to come up in the clutch hasn’t surprised him this season.

“I see it everyday in practice,” he said. “The plays he makes on Saturdays as just a product of what he does throughout the week.”

While Missouri’s third- and fourth-down conversions and rush defense are strengths, the Tigers’ secondary has barely improved from a poor performance in 2017.

Missouri finished last season No. 107 in passing defense and has dropped to No. 124, just six spots from rock bottom. The Tigers lost safeties Anthony Sherrils and Kaleb Prewett to graduation and dismissal, and Oregon graduate transfer Khalil Oliver has been a solid replacement but not a standout. The team lacks a shutdown corner like E.J. Gaines or Aarion Penton.

The Tigers have been helped by the return of cornerback Christian Holmes, who missed last season because of a shoulder injury, but still have a long ways to go to being respectable in the secondary.

Walters remains proud of how the unit has played and thinks its trending upward going into Saturday’s game at No. 13 Florida.

“The schedule set up to where I think we’d be playing well at this point,” he said.

Alex Schiffer

Alex Schiffer covers University of Missouri athletics for The Star.