How Mizzou Tigers QB Bazelak remained reliable and didn’t get ‘bored’ against Kentucky
Missouri Tigers quarterback Connor Bazelak admitted he made some mistakes Saturday, but they were infrequent, scarce enough they were hardly noticed.
That’s exactly how MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz schemed up his game plan for the redshirt freshman starting quarterback. Kentucky featured zones, coverages and trickery intended to fool the opposing quarterback into take downfield shots — which Bazelak didn’t do.
Bazelak’s efforts were rewarded as the Tigers trounced Kentucky 20-10 Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The running game more than made up for any production Bazelak lacked as the Tigers kept it conservative through the air but punishing on the ground.
“I knew all week I was just going to have to take what they gave me,” Bazelak said. “Take the check-downs; let the playmakers in space. Just let them get the first down using their feet.”
While Mizzou didn’t air it out like it did against LSU, that kept Bazelak relatively free throughout the game. That was a specific challenge from Drinkwitz to Bazelak: Don’t get “bored” in the pocket, and beat Kentucky at its own game.
So Bazelak transformed from gunslinger to game manager, all by design. The Tigers didn’t need Bazelak to pick apart the complicated UK secondary, Drinkwitz said, but instead make precise throws to open targets when necessary. Then the stout MU run game, led by Larry Rountree III, would take care of the rest.
The stats reflect a mission accomplished. Bazelak finished 21 for 30 for 201 yards — not eye-popping numbers by any means, but MU finished with zero turnovers for the first time in 2020. That’s a massive win after the Tigers stressed limiting takeaways all week, Bazelak said.
“I couldn’t get bored taking five yards on checkdowns,” Bazelak said. “Just keep chipping away. We knew we were going to have long drives. We had a 20-play drive. If that’s not long enough, I don’t know what is.”
The ground game pounded Kentucky to the point of exhaustion. Rountree ran it a career-high 37 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Tyler Badie had 13 rushes for 52 yards. Bazelak himself had 10 rushes for 40 yards on a mix of scrambles, quarterback-designed runs and option looks.
This set up long drives for an MU offense that dominated time of possession. While the margin of victory was 10 points, the game stats show a greater disparity. The Tigers ran 92 plays compared to Kentucky’s 36; UK had 145 total yards to Mizzou’s 421.
Bazelak credited his offensive line and running backs for taking the lion’s share of touches Saturday. All he had to do was stay engaged and make whatever throws Mizzou needed him to, Bazelak said.
“He has incredible poise,” Drinkwitz said of Bazelak. “There were several times the pocket broke down and he kept his eyes downfield and found it. … He really doesn’t get rattled and does a nice job keeping his eyes downfield.”
There were a few plays in which Bazelak impressed with his arm and awareness. At one point, he evaded a sack, stepped up in the pocket then threw a dart to wide receiver Keke Chism for a long gain — the type of sixth sense good quarterbacks should have with incoming pressure.
Mistakes — while rare — were still there as Bazelak works through the intricacies of the quarterback position. It appeared he missed a wide open Chism on MU’s first offensive play of the game. There was a time where he came off the field shaking his head, knowing he should’ve ran for the first down instead of throwing it away.
But that’s nitpicking a fine performance as Bazelak grabs a tighter hold on Mizzou’s starting quarterback gig. The redshirt freshman didn’t do a ton, but he certainly did more than enough to ensure the Tigers’ victory.
“This is one that we really, really, really wanted,” Bazelak said. “We knew we were going to have to play our butts off. We did and we won. Me being from Ohio, Kentucky being my first offer, it was pretty special for us to beat them and do it with all the guys around me.”
Admitting mistakes
There were a few questionable coaching moments from Saturday’s win — and Drinkwitz took full blame for those instances. One was at the end of the first half, when MU had to settle for a field goal because of some subpar clock management. Drinkwitz told the SEC Network coming off the field he needed to do a better job utilizing his timeouts.
Another: Mizzou’s 21-play, 66-yard drive fizzled in a turnover on downs when Drinkwitz elected to go for it on fourth down — the third time he did so on that particular drive — and MU was stopped in the red zone. The first-year coach said he should’ve taken the points to make it a two-possession game.
No harm done to his program, though. After MU turned it over on downs, the defense promptly forced a three-and-out. Then, once the offense got the ball back six plays later, the Tigers went up 14 points anyway.
“Ultimately that was my fault, I definitely should’ve kicked the field goal and gone up two possessions,” Drinkwitz said. “Thank god that our defense held them and that our offense responded the very next drive.”