Mizzou defense vs. dual-threat Hogs QB: Preview of regular-season football finale

No. 21 Mizzou’s quest for the program’s eighth 10-win season continues this weekend when the Tigers play host to Arkansas in the annual Battle Line Rivalry game.

The Razorbacks (6-5, 3-4 Southeastern Conference), who clinched bowl eligibility with last week’s 35-14 victory over Louisiana Tech, are more talented than their record may indicate. Earlier this season, they had a season-defining win over then-No. 4 Tennessee that showcased their upside.

Led by the arm of redshirt junior quarterback Taylen Green, Arkansas jumped ahead 3-0 at halftime against the Vols’ stingy defense.

Green, who transferred to Arkansas this past offseason after spending three years at Boise State, completed 19 of 27 passes for 266 yards before departing with an injury early in the fourth quarter.

Despite the injury to Green, redshirt freshman quarterback Malachi Singleton led a late fourth quarter touchdown drive against Tennessee that sealed an 11-point second-half comeback and a top-five win for the Razorbacks.

Most of that late offensive success would not have been possible without Green’s ability to set the tone, though. The signal-caller continues to reinvent an Arkansas offense that struggled last season with his dual-threat abilities.

The Razorbacks rank ninth in the country in total offense and 18th in yards per play this season, averaging 457.9 yards per game and 6.52 yards per play. Their offense is also 25th in passing yards per game (272.8) and No. 34 in rush yards per game (185.1).

“They really establish the run game, and the results are in the pass game,” Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “It’s complementary football.”

Arkansas’ ability to punish opposing defenses through the air or in the ground game stems directly from its quarterback’s dual-threat capabilities. Green boasts six games of at least 60 rushing yards this season, coupled with five performances with 240 or more passing yards.

In the Razorbacks’ 58-25 win over Mississippi State earlier this season, Green showcased his dual-threat talents in an emphatic way, throwing for 314 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 79 yards and another score.

On the season, Green has completed 60.9% of his passes for 2,584 yards and 13 touchdowns. His rushing totals are also impressive - 468 yards and seven TDs. Green is the SEC’s only quarterback to rank among the top four in the position group in both passing and rushing, ranking fourth among quarterbacks in both.

“It’s a really challenging football game,” Drinkwitz said. “They’ve got a really good quarterback (in Green).”

The statistics paint the picture that the Razorbacks’ offense, led by Green, is somewhat impenetrable, but there may be some holes in the scheme that Missouri’s defense can exploit in Saturday’s matchup.

For starters, Arkansas’ offense goes as Green goes, and while this is often a positive trend for the Razorbacks, it can also hurt them.

Green is tied for ninth in the country with seven fumbles lost. He has also thrown nine interceptions this season, which matches a career high. The quarterback has thrown an interception in four of his past five outings and eight of 11 overall.

As a result, Arkansas ranks 114th in the country in turnovers lost this season with 20, 16 of which Green is responsible for. The team is also 125th with 11 fumbles lost, the second-worst total in the SEC.

Throughout their 11 contests, the Razorbacks possess a minus-seven turnover margin that has plagued them. In its two one-score losses this season - a 38-31 loss to Oklahoma State and a 21-17 defeat to Texas A&M - Arkansas had a combined turnover differential of minus-five.

Missouri, on the other hand, possesses a plus-five turnover margin. The Tigers’ defense has forced 14 turnovers this season, which may not appear as an overly impressive total. However, in its past three games, the unit has forced six turnovers, scoring touchdowns on two of them.

Perhaps an even greater factor working in Missouri’s favor is its experience with dual-threat quarterbacks so far this season.

Early in the year, the Tigers faced three straight dual-threat quarterbacks in Buffalo’s C.J. Ogbonna, Boston College’s Thomas Castellanos and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia. Although it struggled with permitting big plays against the Eagles and Commodores, Missouri finished 3-0 in those contests and held the three opposing quarterbacks to an average of 200.3 total scrimmage yards per game.

Since then, the Tigers have matched up against Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and South Carolina signal-caller LaNoris Sellers, losing both matchups against the dual-threat talents. In those contests, Milroe and Sellers averaged 331.5 total yards per game against Missouri.

The mixed results, especially of late, against quarterbacks with similar styles of play to Green make the upcoming matchup an intriguing one for the Tigers’ defense, which will look to recapture the early-season success it had versus quarterbacks who could extend plays from the pocket.

For Missouri, that’ll require discipline: Defensive ends need to resist the urge to crash toward the ball on option plays while also keeping an eye on the quarterback; the linebackers cannot leave the middle of the field open for a potential scramble; and most importantly, a defense that has struggled to wrap up and tackle on the first try has to tackle efficiently.

“We need to do a good job tackling,” Drinkwitz said. “They do a really good job creating yards after the catch through some of their crossing schemes, so we’re going to have to do a really good job tackling.”

If the Tigers can limit Green, then their chances of a nine-win regular season skyrocket, as does their opportunity to earn yet another win in a Battle Line Rivalry series that they have dominated as of late.

Missouri has won eight of the 10 meetings the pair have had since matching up for the first time in SEC play in 2014, including each of the past two. Arkansas’ only victories since then have come in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the Razorbacks have never won at Memorial Stadium in program history.

Those streaks will either be replenished or replaced with new ones when the Tigers host Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The rivalry showdown will broadcast on the SEC Network.

Copyright 2024 Columbia Missourian

This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Mizzou defense vs. dual-threat Hogs QB: Preview of regular-season football finale."