How Mizzou hopes to repair ‘pathetic’ offense: It starts with blocking out the noise
The Missouri Tigers bottomed out in their 27-0 loss to Georgia Saturday. After a three-week stretch of trending downward — from 14 points to seven to zero — the offense was shut out in a season-worst performance.
The Tigers’ issues have been well-documented: The running game has all but disappeared, there are few explosive plays to keep the defense honest and MU’s wide receivers can’t get open or catch the ball. Worse, the Tigers’ problems at quarterback have stalled the offense, though Kelly Bryant’s healthy return should help.
When Mizzou plays host to No. 11 Florida at 11 a.m. Saturday, the Tigers’ offense will take Faurot Field under immense pressure with hopes of stringing together an early scoring drive or giving the defense some long-awaited help.
But it’s not about the external expectations, Mizzou coach Barry Odom said. Instead, he pointed to his team leaders and locker room, both of whom he’s confident will bounce back.
“As soon as you give in to negative noise, then you’ve failed and don’t give yourself a chance to go play your best,” Odom said. “The hunger is still there, we’re going to go play well. We’re going to continue to prepare and we’ll get 11 guys — offensively, defensively and kicking — ready to go play when their number is called.”
Mizzou offensive coordinator Derek Dooley takes a different approach to the outside noise: He doesn’t acknowledge it. Blissful ignorance, he explained. Instead of allowing those many voices into his head, he leaves the noise right where it is: outside.
At the same time, Dooley said, the team must assess itself internally. And that assessment must be an honest one.
“It requires a level of maturity that you have to measure yourself on the job you’re doing,” Dooley said. “You have to look in the mirror and be honest: Can I do a better job and not be judged by everyone else?
“The fact of the matter is, our results have been pathetic the last few weeks. I’m not looking in the mirror and saying, ‘Boy, we did a great job.’ I’m looking in the mirror and saying we have to get better, something’s not right.”
If the offense gets back to its strengths this weekend, it won’t be because of anything the Gators do (or don’t do) defensively, Dooley said. He pointed to two areas Mizzou needs to work on: execution and a “competitive toughness to finish.”
When the Tigers do everything correctly on offense, they play well, even against good defenses. When they struggle, they play poorly against even the bad ones.
“When you play those really good teams, the margins are this (small),” Dooley said, spreading his fingers inches apart. “From zero points to seven to 28 to 35, it’s like that. … If everybody can improve their competitive finish a little bit better, and a little better focus on our details, obviously, it’s our job to put a good plan together and put them in a position to do that.”
Those details can be minuscule, according to center Trystan Colon-Castillo. At one point, he said, his blocking last week was six inches off to the right, which meant he didn’t have the correct angle to contain the opposing nose tackle.
“If 10 guys win their one-on-one and one guy doesn’t, then the play can still be a negative play,” Colon-Castillo said. “We have to bang our heads out here every play, every snap, every rep. We’ve gotta compete and we’ve gotta finish.”
Bryan’t return Saturday against Florida should aid a Mizzou offense that desperately needs a spark. While he struggled at Vanderbilt, he played hurt in MU’s loss at Kentucky — he strained his hamstring in the first quarter. He hasn’t played at 100 percent in weeks.
If he’s feeling good Saturday, Mizzou can open up the playbook. Bryant’s ability to scramble and extend plays is a key part of the Tigers’ attack, and its importance will be amplified against Florida. The Gators, a top-10 scoring defense at 15 points allowed per game, also lead the SEC with 3.5 sacks per game.
Keeping Bryant upright will be a team effort. But that comes down to the little things — a healthy running game, lineman hitting their blocks, wide receivers coming back to life.
If the Tigers can do those things well, the offense should run smoothly again, Colon-Castillo said.
“Just gotta keep fighting,” Bryant said of the losses. “Just adversity. Pretty sure everybody’s been through that. Maybe just a little different adversity, but just gotta continue to chip away and find a way at this point. We’ve dropped a few as of late, we just gotta get back to knowing what we were doing.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 11:59 AM.