Continued upward trend for Mizzou Tigers QB Bazelak begins with spring improvements
Connor Bazelak and Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz agree on a list of improvements for the Missouri quarterback as spring football commenced on Friday.
Ball security in the pocket .... more touchdowns in the red zone ... playing with aggression but not recklessness, those highlight areas of focus as the Tigers progress toward a March 20 spring game.
Here’s one that could be added: Maintain the edge that produced a solid first season as a starter.
Bazelak didn’t produce big numbers in his 10 appearances in 2020, but he helped guide the Tigers to a 5-5 record last season—Mizzou was 5-3 in games he started— and in Drinkwitz’s first season on the Missouri sideline.
In a year when SEC teams played only each other until the bowl games, only Florida and Georgia produced more victories in the East.
There’s a comfort in having definition at starting quarterback. That wasn’t the case last year when Bazelak missed spring ball recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the 2019 finale at Arkansas, and TCU transfer Shawn Robinson took the spring snaps. The position battle went into fall camp and by the third game Bazelak was the starter.
This is his team.
“When I see Connor I see a guy who has taken full control,” wide receiver Keke Chism said. “He’s a confident guy. We’re going to go as far as he carries us.”
Bazelak finished with seven touchdown passes and six interceptions. He averaged 237 passing yards per game. Pro Football Focus named him All-SEC honorable mention.
Two games stand out. Four of his touchdown passes came in the Tigers’ victory over defending national champion LSU. He passed for 406 yards with no interceptions that day.
Against Arkansas, Bazelak engineered a 60-yard drive in the final 43 seconds to put the Tigers in position for a game-winning field goal.
Becoming a more complete quarterback involves the agreed upon goals with his coach, and Bazelak would add to the list.
“The biggest thing I want to work on is my deep-ball accuracy and we have to be better on vertical passing game, throwing the ball down the field,” Bazelak said. “Get the timing with receivers down with deep balls. I think the spring is a great time to practice that.”
Assessing his 2020 season, Bazelak didn’t pat himself on the back.
“There were some ups and downs obviously,” he said. “The biggest thing I saw was just how many missed opportunities there were in the red zone and even in open field to kind of put the dagger in teams.”
The funny thing is, Bazelak may not be happy with his red-zone performance — three touchdown passes — but Missouri ranked third nationally in red-zone scoring at 94.1 percent. They scored on 32 of 34 trips that reached at least the 20. Settling for field goals — Missouri kicked 12 from the red zone — was the issue.
The bigger missed opportunity was not playing in the postseason. Missouri was headed to the Music City Bowl to face Iowa when the game was canceled three days before kickoff because of COVID-19 issues in the Tigers program.
“Any competitor is going to say they were upset we couldn’t go,” Bazelak said. “Everyone wants to compete.”
For now, the competition is with himself, working on the areas that will keep Bazelak trending in the right direction.
“It’s an opportunity for some major growth,” Drinkwitz said. “One in leadership and commanding the team, knowing it his football and team and his side of the ball.”