Grades from Missouri’s 29-7 loss to Kentucky and look ahead to bye week... and Georgia
By all indications, the Missouri Tigers had a solid week of practice leading up to their Saturday evening game against Kentucky.
MU coach Barry Odom mentioned it on his pregame radio show, saying he was nothing short of surprised the Tigers lost at Vanderbilt the week before. His players agreed, professing their readiness for UK after such a disappointing defeat.
Yet the result Saturday was pretty much the same: another road loss in a game in which the Tigers had been double-digit favorites.
Center Trystan Colon-Castillo had strong words late Saturday night about where he thinks the Tigers might’ve stumbled.
“To be honest, it’s the off-field stuff, I’m just going to keep it straight up” Colon-Castillo said. “On-field, everything clicks, everything feels good. Some of us aren’t taking care of our business outside the facility or outside of practice.
“That’s something where you’ve got to look in the mirror and you’ve got to look at yourself: ‘What are you doing wrong?’ Everybody’s got to stop pointing fingers, doing all this. Everybody needs to look at themselves in the mirror.”
Here are this week’s grades for the offense, defense and special teams, including a preview of what’s next for MU.
Play of the game
Kelly Bryant’s fumble: The Tigers got the ball with 44 seconds left until halftime, trailing 15-0. Odom elected to be aggressive and see if they could get any points, using his timeouts to stop the clock. But Bryant was strip-sacked on third-and-8, fumbling the ball away to Kentucky. While there were only 22 seconds left at that point, the Wildcats quickly scored, taking a 22-0 lead into halftime.
Grades
Offense: F. The offense did not do itself any favors in its attempt to bounce back from a season-worst performance against Vanderbilt. The Tigers scored just seven points, their lone touchdown coming on a 74-yard screen pass from Bryant to Tyler Badie.
The offense failed to run the ball and Bryant never looked very comfortable, though a hamstring strain he suffered in the first quarter did him no favors.
Taylor Powell eventually took over at quarterback and was able to move the ball on his first drive in a tight game. But the Tigers were never able to close the gap.
Defense: D-. While the Tigers’ defense had a couple of nice moments against Vanderbilt, they struggled mightily against Kentucky and Lynn Bowden Jr., the wide receiver forced to play quarterback by a teammate’s injury. Bowden ran all over the Tigers, totaling 204 yards with two touchdowns.
MU’s game plan was to move around on defense, especially against a Wildcats offense that Odom and Co. knew would run a lot. But the Tigers missed some gaps and Bowden and the rest of the Kentucky offense exploited those miscues. It was an uncomfortable night for the Tigers, who’d previously allowed just 16.6 points per game.
Special teams: D. Tucker McCann missed another field goal, this time from 45 yards when the Tigers could’ve really used the points. That means he’s missed his last three field goals stretching back to the Vanderbilt game, where he went 0 for 2. McCann did OK on punts, including a 56-yarder, and averaged 43.7 yards.
On the bright side, Richaud Floyd made his return at punt returner, though he made one fair catch and that was it.
Next up
The Tigers now embark on their second and final bye week. After that, they face their toughest test of the season: traveling to powerhouse Georgia Saturday.
Bye week struggles no more? Barry Odom won his first FBS game following a bye week when MU defeated Troy 42-10 earlier this month. Before that, he was 0-7 when having more than a week to prepare, including two bowl games. Odom also has changed the way he uses bye weeks; perhaps such adjustments will work for the second time this season.
Rest before massive game: The Tigers now have some time to dwell on their two-game losing streak. Undoubtedly, their next game, against Georgia, will be a massive challenge. It’s on the road — where Mizzou is 0-3 — but the narrative around this season would change in a hurry if MU were able to beat the Bulldogs.
This story was originally published October 27, 2019 at 1:47 PM.