For the first two games this season, we saw one of the best quarterbacks in the country take the field, and deliver laser-like throws and have pocket poise on his way to wins over a feckless UAPB squad, and a so-so Kansas team.
Austin Simmons was 36 of 48 for 544 yards and 7 touchdowns, plus 0 interceptions. We were all riding pretty high with him.
The good news is the last category is still a zero, the bad news is we’ve seen a version of Simmons when he isn’t dialed in. The good news is it didn’t
really hurt us that badly.
Some of Troy’s game plan was to limit the time Missouri’s offense had the ball, and it worked. They ran 71 plays to the Tigers 47. They were on the field for 37 minutes and 23 seconds, Mizzou only held the ball for 22:37. Simmons only played for less than a full half against UAPB, so if you average it out he’s been in the area of 32 passing attempts for a full game the last two games. Against Troy he passed the ball 19 times, and connected on 10 of them. What’s worse is he made his first five throws, and then when 5-14 the rest of the way. And you could see it early on, he just wasn’t crisp.
With limited chances, Simmons and the offense sputtered. They were saved by a Damarion Fowkles punt return for a touchdown, and two defensive turnovers which left them at the 13 and 18 yard line on back to back possessions. The offense did their part to punch it in. Missouri went from stumbling to coasting in about 5 minutes of game time.
And then Eli Drinkwitz went galaxy brain football coach. We see this all the time in football, coaches getting into their head and really over thinkings simple things. Dave Doeren’s been mostly solid at NC State, and he managed to be the only coach in more than a thousand games who could lose a game with the ball, less than 10 seconds to play, and the lead, when he asked his quarterback to do whatever this was with 6 seconds left in the game. I’m not going to compare Drink’s late 1st half clock management to one of the worst coaching blunders of the last decade, that’s not my point. My point is coaches sometimes out think themselves.
Mizzou was up 24-10, Troy had the ball and gained 2 yards on a 1st down with 1:36 to play. They weren’t moving quickly, and seemed primed to just let the half expire and catch their breath. But Mizzou called a timeout, thinking maybe they could get the ball back and score again. Troy managed to pick up a first down, and were on their own 43 yard line now after a few plays when Mizzou called another timeout. 13 seconds on the clock and a 3rd down.
On the next play Troy hit a 55 yard touchdown pass.
Instead of letting Troy lick their wounds with a 14 point lead and receiving the football after halftime, you gave them more life going into the second half. I get the possession math on it too, but you had seized back control of the game and then gave it up to look smart.
And in the second half Troy looked revived, like a team who was ready to fight for theirs. If you hold still at the end of the 1st half, and find a touchdown to open the 2nd, you’re now up 21. It’s good night. Instead, we had to sweat it out for the better part of the second half.
All game long it looked like Missouri was expecting someone else to show up. Simmons has been so good, I think we all just expected him to make the next throw that never came.
I’m not going to freak out a whole lot because Missouri looked a lot like a distracted team for most of the night. Maybe it’s the hangover of coming off a big road win to topple your most hated rival, while looking ahead to your first conference game, this one on the road… the Tigers just weren’t up to snuff. They got the win. A win is the most important part.
Get ready, CLANGA is coming.
I hope you have ear plugs, especially if you’re planning on attending the game.
After playing Mississippi State just twice for the first 11 years Mizzou was in the SEC, the Tigers and Bulldogs are now set to face each other for the third time in three seasons. The Tigers won by 19 in Starkville two years ago, and by 22 last fall in Columbia.
It’s been a rough time in Starkville for a while now. Sine Mike Leach died, they haven’t won 6 games. They did play in a bowl last year, but as a 5-7 team.
But now they have a real, legitimate reason to be excited. And like I said last week, if you have a really good quarterback, the sky is the limit on your season. Mississippi State has a really, really good quarterback right now in Kamario Taylor.
Taylor thew just 5 passes against Missouri last season as a true freshman, but he threw for a touchdown. Ahmad Hardy did the heavy lifting, running for 300 yards, and the Tigers will be without Hardy for another game as he still works his way back.
Taylor has started as hot as any quarterback in the country. He’s carried through three games what Simmons looked like after two. He put up 251 yards and 4 touchdowns at South Carolina, 227 yards and 3 TDs against Minnesota, and 354 yards and 4 TDs in the season opener against Louisiana Monroe. And going into the weekend, South Carolina and their defense were ahead of Missouri in both defensive SP+ and the full SP+ rankings.
So Missouri better be ready. They better have ear plugs (really guys the cow bells are annoying and loud, and a major reason why I never watch a game in Starkville unless I have to). But they better have a real plan to slow down Kamario Taylor.
For now, the Tigers are 3-0. You get a win in Starkville, you can start to talk about doing some things.
Other SEC Scores:
- #1 Texas 30, UTSA 6
- #2 Georgia 45, Arkansas 17
- #8 Ole Miss 32, #7 LSU 24
- Kentucky 31, #9 Texas A&M 21
- #10 Alabama 50, Florida State 36
- #15 Tennessee 42, Kennesaw State 6
- Mississippi State 41, South Carolina 34
- Florida 44, Auburn 39
- Vanderbilt 35, NC State 31
