COLUMBIA, Mo. — Eli Drinkwitz wants the blame but not to get into specifics.
Missouri’s coach was adamant Tuesday that responsibility for the weekend’s blowout loss to Texas A&M lies with him but that the No. 21 Tigers (4-1 overall, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) will collectively share the burden of putting their first defeat of the season behind him.
The 41-10 drubbing in College Station, Texas, deepened concerns that could have previously been brushed off as overreactions, and some performances could lead to changes in playing time or starting roles.
One of the most flagrant problems from the game was Mizzou’s offensive line. Quarterback Brady Cook was under pressure on 18 of his 40 dropbacks, consistently harassed by the Aggies’ pass rush. Though a lack of rushing attempts was partly a byproduct of MU throwing to fruitlessly try to overcome a steep deficit, the O-line wasn’t getting much of a push in that area either: Running back Nate Noel picked up just 8 of his 30 yards before contact, averaging less than a yard before he was hit on each attempt.
The left side of Missouri’s offensive line was the most porous. Left tackle Marcus Bryant allowed five quarterback pressures and was penalized three times by officials. Left guard Cayden Green allowed three pressures.
Both are transfers — from Southern Methodist and Oklahoma, respectively — in their first seasons with the Tigers, so their struggles may well be growing pains. But it’s a stark difference from the stability of last season’s left-side linemen, Javon Foster and Xavier Delgado.
Bryant and Green have allowed 16 pressures through their first five games of the season, while Foster and Delgado allowed 30 through all 13 games of 2023. Bryant has given up 11 pressures, which is already closing in on Foster’s season-long mark of 13.
While both the eye and numbers test would suggest struggles on the left side of MU’s offensive line could be hampering the offense, Drinkwitz wasn’t interested in identifying that as a problem.
“We all accept responsibility for the issues of Saturday,†he said. “There was a lot of things that went bad. Our inability to get into an offensive rhythm because of our lack of execution on third downs — we were in predominantly third-and-long (situations), which allows them to get into a heavy blitz package — contributed to the issues there.
“I’m not specifically concerned with any one side of the ball or the left side or the right side,†Drinkwitz continued. “I’m concerned with, as the head football coach, making sure that our team is working to improve and making sure that our schemes put us in a better position for our players to execute. I’m not pointing the finger at any of those guys.â€
He’s not the play caller, but there’s a logical follow-up question to Drinkwitz’s non-answer: So is it the scheme, then, that’s allowing pressure?
“No,†he said. “It’s (that) when unable to get into a rhythm, we were unable to run the football, we were unable to establish a back-and-forth game because of the way that we started. ... Didn’t start very good. Third downs contributed to them continually scoring and us not being able to answer that, which then allows them to pressure the quarterback because they don’t have any fear for the run game.â€
And rhythm matters to an offensive line.
It’s about “staying on schedule,†center Connor Tollison explained, “getting 4 or 5 yards a run so it’s not third and 10, third and 12. You’re (getting) better looks offensively and maybe the defense can’t do so much as well.â€
Tuesday’s practice didn’t suggest that there will be any immediate shakeup of the offensive line, though Saturday’s upcoming game against Massachusetts seems like the right opportunity to experiment should the coaching staff want to go down that road. Spring practices saw Green take reps at left tackle with normal right guard Cam’Ron Johnson working at left guard, so a sub-and-shift look wouldn’t be foreign to the Tigers O-line.
Instead, the position that seemed like it could receive some shakeup was cornerback. After splitting snaps evenly during the loss to Texas A&M, Nicholas Deloach Jr. took practice reps as a starter over Toriano Pride Jr.
Deloach, in just his second season, had pushed the Clemson transfer late in preseason camp before settling into a backup role. His influx of snaps against the Aggies wasn’t a one-off due to injury or game plan, Drinkwitz confirmed — one of Mizzou’s starting cornerback jobs seems back up for grabs.
There could be more, too.
“I expect more competition from every position on our football team,†Drinkwitz said, “because at the end of the whole thing, (our) No. 1 core value is: always compete. If we’re not playing at the level we want to play, then everybody else has got to compete. ... Nic Deloach and Toriano have done a better job rotating and competing. I think you’re going to see that more and more because we need to compete to get the best out of our team.â€
