The anatomy of Mizzou’s goal-line stand against LSU: Breaking down the Tigers’ 4 stops
The Missouri Tigers’ defense allowed 41 points to LSU, but peeling back the layers a bit provides some impressive context for their 45-41 upset Saturday of the defending national champs.
The MU defense allowed 430 passing yards to LSU quarterback Myles Brennan, yes, far and away a season high. That includes eye-popping numbers to wide receiver Terrance Marshall, who finished with 11 catches for 235 yards and three touchdowns. Miscues from the Mizzou secondary led to chunk plays that LSU feasted on.
Consider, though, the terrible field position the MU defense was put in because of turnovers. Mizzou’s three lost fumbles gave LSU possession at MU’s 25-, 31- and 4-yard line, which directly led to 17 points. Add a failed fake punt that set up an LSU touchdown and that’s 24 points off turnovers.
But Mizzou’s defense grew stronger as the game continued. After a shootout through three quarters, MU blanked LSU in the fourth, holding the visitors to zero points. LSU scored its last touchdown of the day with 10:36 left in the third quarter.
“We just had to calm down,” MU cornerback Jarvis Ware said of the slow start. “People weren’t getting set up. Everybody just had to calm down. We controlled the game. We kind of let LSU control the game. We had to control the game on the side of the defense for us to get set up and get our play calls.”
Finally, when MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz’s Tigers needed a goal-line stand, the defense delivered. LSU needed just one measly yard — after collecting 479 to that point — and had four plays to do get it.
LSU never converted. MU’s goal line-stand was textbook perfect. And perhaps that shouldn’t have been so surprising. All afternoon, when the Mizzou defense needed to step up on crucial downs, it did so: LSU finished a combined 1 for 12 on third and fourth downs.
Drinkwitz put his entire trust in the defense on that final, pivotal LSU possession, never calling a timeout in the waning seconds.
“We were in control of the game,” Drinkwitz said. “I didn’t feel like I needed to give them any extra time to think about what they were going to do. The pressure was on them. They felt the pressure and we weren’t going to help them.”
Here’s a look at the anatomy of Mizzou’s game-saving goal-line stand.
FIRST DOWN
LSU had every reason to run the ball down Mizzou’s throat Saturday. Drinkwitz’s Tigers were without three of their top four defensive tackles because of injuries and COVID-19. And considering MU’s defense had struggled just a week ago against the Tennessee ground game, Mizzou looked primed for a long afternoon.
Then the opposite happened: LSU’s run game faltered. Ed Orgeron’s Tigers had just one rushing yard at halftime, and when LSU looked to get its ground attack going in the second half, it was ineffective.
On first-down of the home team’s game-saving goal-line stand, LSU running back Ty Davis-Price was stuffed by Martez Manuel and Devin Nicholson. Davis-Price was just inches from reaching the ball over the goal line at the end of the play, but Nicholson made a great move to stuff him back.
SECOND DOWN
LSU tried more of the same on second down, going to Davis-Price to hopefully punch it into the end zone. But Mizzou’s defense wasn’t about to let up even an inch.
Defensive tackle Markell Utsey burst through the line. Davis-Price went right to avoid him but was met by a wall of Mizzou defenders led by Manuel and linebacker Nick Bolton.
Two running plays into this possession, LSU had lost half a yard. With the clock ticking down inside a minute, it was LSU, not Mizzou, that was forced to take a timeout to re-calibrate.
THIRD DOWN
On third down, Orgeron’s squad elected to go with what had worked all afternoon: a pass.
Just one problem for LSU: Bolton read the play perfectly. Instead of rushing straight at Brennan, Bolton took a second to react, then swatted away the QB’s pass with his right hand. Bolton, who Drinkwitz said was playing at only 90% because of injury, made what appeared to be a game-saving play.
Brennan was targeting the ever-reliable Marshall, who was open in the flat. But that was partly because Joshuah Bledsoe, responsible for Marshall in coverage, was knocked down on a pick play by LSU’s Jontre Kirklin.
If Brennan’s pass had made it Marshall, it likely would’ve been a tough tackle for Ennis Rakestraw Jr. with Kirklin in the way. Luckily for Mizzou, it didn’t matter as Bolton was there to knock the ball away.
FOURTH DOWN
LSU couldn’t execute on third down, a theme throughout the game, and that set the stage for the game-deciding fourth down. With 20 seconds left, had LSU scored, Mizzou would’ve been hard-pressed to even get within field-goal range.
This was the game.
And Bledsoe made another spectacular play. LSU wanted to go back to Marshall, but Bledsoe laid out to break up Brennan’s pass — one of 10 pass breakups for the MU defense Saturday.
Then the mayhem ensued, enough for the refs to call a penalty on Mizzou. That didn’t matter, either, as MU ran the final 16 seconds off the clock to complete its thrilling upset victory.