Missouri Football Notebook: First down struggles, stop and start run game

The Tigers (2-4) enter week eight on a three-game losing streak with all of those losses being by one score. With a week to review the tape of the first six weeks of the season, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz told the media on Tuesday that the Tigers have to get better with their efficiency on first down.

The feeling has been that Mizzou has struggled on first and 10 and Drinkwitz agreed that it has been an issue.

“First and 10 efficiency has not been good and first and 10 penalties have really been an issue for us,” Drinkwitz said. “I mean there are some scheme issues, there are some technical issues and then, obviously, there are some penalties. We have to clean up penalties. If you look at key moments and opportunity games, penalties have kept us from contributing from a loss to a win.”

The table above shows that 38 times over the Tigers’ last three games that Mizzou has had a first down that resulted in two yards or less and this is the first down efficiency.

When you take the stats from the chart you can see why Missouri is ranked as the 113th-best first-down offensive team in the FBS and the worst in the SEC East (Mizzou ranks 13th in the SEC overall).

It’s not just the offensive efficiency. Far too often, Mizzou is hurting itself with penalties.

Penalties have been one of the Tigers’ biggest struggles, especially along the offensive line. The Tigers’ offensive line has committed 23 of the Tigers’ 47 penalties. Mizzou is tied for 89th in total penalties but tied for 111th in penalties per game.

“A penalty is not accrued to one person, the entire team pays for it,” Drinkwitz said. “We lose five yards as a team or 10 yards as a team. And so as a team, we have to have some accountability for it.”

When Mizzou isn’t committing penalties offensively they are getting behind the chains. An apparent theme for the team in the run game is breaking the occasional 15-yard or more run only to get tackled for a loss on the ensuing play.

So, about 15 times a game Mizzou is getting behind the chains from negative yardage plays or penalties. Obviously, some of the penalties happen on first down and that is why they seem like they are in first and 15-plus situations more than other teams. It’s also why the Tigers aren’t getting new sets of downs often; they often have to get more than ten yards to move the sticks.

Entering the bye week, Missouri was 10 of 14 on third and less than two, which is about a 71% conversion rate. Since the zone read is becoming more prominent in college football Drinkwitz said that it’s harder to make plays with the zone read against defenses now than perhaps the team could have made a few seasons ago.

“I think you have to be cognizant that zone read has become something that defenses, especially in college football, are more and more used to and so that they have what we consider a surf technique where they are in a square position and then once they see if the quarterback handed the ball they chase and if the quarterback hands it off, they come flat down the line,” Drinkwitz said. “When you play really good defensive ends who can run, it’s not as clean of a play.”

Drinkwitz said he looked at the four unsuccessful attempts and that he has to help quarterback Brady Cook recognize better when he should hand the ball off or keep it himself.

“It’s an area that we could definitely improve on,” Drinkwitz said. “I think all four of them that we didn’t get we pointed at potentially a wrong decision in the zone.”

Cook said he got a chance to look at the errors and spent the bye week trying to evaluate how and when he can make better decisions on options plays in the future.

Repping it full speed and in the film room, I’m just really understanding the looks,” Cook said. “So, before the play happens I can expect what the defense is going to do, and at that point, it’s just muscle memory and you just go out and execute it.”

It was already announced that defensive stalwarts, cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine (probable) and starting linebacker Chad Bailey (probable) are likely returning this Saturday. Missouri also got the news that wide receiver Barrett Banister (probable) is also likely to return after missing week six against Florida.

Banister told the media on Wednesday that a hit late in the game versus Georgia is what led to him being out against Florida, but that he is 100%.

Entering week six, Banister was the team’s second-leading receiver with 13 catches for 127 yards.

Wide receiver Luther Burden III wasn’t given a specific injury designation on Tuesday by Drinkwitz after going down with a lower leg injury against Florida, but did say on the Tiger Talk radio show that he and Dominic Lovett “should be back full speed, ready to roll.”

Burden has recorded the second-most receptions on the Tigers with 18 to go along with his 114 yards and a touchdown.

Lovett leads the Tigers in receptions with 31 for a team-high 499 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“Dominic, Luther and Barrett are great receivers, and great players for this offense,” Cook said. “Obviously, they’re going to be utilized a lot as much as we can. So, I’m excited to have them back. They’re really going to help us out.”

In Burden and Lovett’s absences were Mekhi Miller and Micah Manning who were able to garner Drinkwitz’s attention.

“Mekhi Miller is continuing to practice hard and put himself in a position to be available,” Drinkwitz said. “Micah Manning is a transfer that played in the Florida game and continues to take a lot of reps and get better.”

Miller had two receptions for 38 yards with both receptions coming on third and long to convert first downs.