Look…I’m not asking for much.
From the moment I saw Beau Pribula face down in the Vanderbilt turf, any fleeting thought of Playoffs, conference championships, and 30 wins in 3 years went right out of my
mental window. No college team can do that sort of thing with a 3rd-string freshman quarterback and I went ahead and did Eli Drinkwitz and the 2025 Missouri Tiger football team a favor and lowered my expectations for them dramatically.
In return, however – in this hypothetical handshake deal that definitely didn’t happen but WORK WITH ME HERE – this football team needed to show me that they could season a freshman quarterback with a smart game plan that kept him safe, confident, and yet also pushed him slightly to develop under live fire.
That was it. That was the deal.
No win totals. No bowl destinations. None of that.
Show me a freshman quarterback who gets better thanks to an offensive coordinator who is smart in his play calling and game management.
And yet I ended the Texas A&M game furious at this team.
Why? Certainly not because they lost, that’s not a blemish in my book.
It’s because the offensive game plan was – to put it generously – CURIOUS to my untrained eye.
Hey! You have a freshman quarterback who is starting his first game in two years. Should you, maybe, skew your play calling tendencies a bit to keep the defense off balance?
NO! CALL MOST OF YOUR RUNS ON 1ST DOWN AND THEN PASS IT IF ITS 2ND OR 3RD AND LONG AND THE DEFENSE IS EXPECTING IT.
Oh. Ok. Well, if you’re going to make him pass, should you do some of those easy behind-the-line bump passes or easy screens?
NO! WE TRIED EACH OF THOSE ONCE AND IT WENT FOR A COMBINED -3 YARDS SO CLEARLY THOSE PLAYS ARE CURSED AND WE’RE NEVER EVER DOING THEM AGAIN.
Hmm. So when you do have your quarterback pass the ball, surely you’re coaching him to quickly read 2 guys – both of whom are quick passes to the sideline – and then duff it in the ground or scoot to try and get some yards?
NO! MAKE ONE READ AND THEN THROW IT 20+ YARDS IN THE AIR AND HOPE FOR A PASS INTERFERENCE CALL.
Why? Why was this the plan the offensive staff worked on for two weeks? Against one of the most ferocious pass rushes in the country when your offensive line isn’t the best at that aspect and you have two excellent running backs?
My issue with Kirby Moore this year and last year is the game situation in which he attempts to do things. I understand that I’m the guy that was throwing dirt by the fist full at Eli Drinkwitz’s five-play-call offense and a lack of killer instinct at the end of the second half but Kirby is SO intent on balance that he will out think a situation and call passes when not necessary (think the play before we lost Beau Pribula for the season) or abandon the run too early.
Hardy and Roberts get their carries. They always do. Often, however, it is in situations where it’s no longer effective.
There’s no fix for this issue this year but it’s been a problem for two years now and I don’t know what to do about it. If Matt Zollers is the future – which Eli Drinkwitz has happily admitted to in front of a microphone several times – then I’d like that future to be handled by a guy who can do the quarterback favors and script a game plan that doesn’t play to tendencies and doesn’t adhere to classic football adages. Moore has not shown an ability to do that so far and now I’m concerned.
And that’s how you have me heading into a game where I was fine with a loss and end up with me #madonline about it.
Here’s the advanced box score:
Missouri had a 0% post game win expectancy. All those numbers up there can be summarized with that sentence.
When Missouri Has the Ball
Missouri had a 16.7% passing success rate throwing the ball and a 53.1% rushing success rate running the ball. They called 25 pass plays (with one scramble) and 31 running plays.
At least they were balanced.
Generate Explosive Plays
Goal: At least 11 explosive plays.
Actual: 7 explosive plays (representing 193 of Missouri’s 288 yards, or 67% of total yards in 12.5% of total plays).
Winner: Texas A&M
Convert 3rd-Downs
Goal: At least 5 3rd-downs converted, minimum 35% conversion rate.
Actual: 5-13 (38.5%)
Winner: Missouri
Finish Your Dang Drives
Goal: At least 6 scoring opportunities created and at least 5.14 points per scoring opportunity (31 points)
Actual: 5 scoring opportunities created, 3.4 points per scoring opportunity (17 points)
Winner: Texas A&M
When Texas A&M Has The Ball
I can’t decide if I dislike going up against Collin Klein the quarterback or Collin Klein the offensive coordinator more. Mizzou beat Klein when he was a rotational quarterback with Carson Coffman at K-State in 2010 then lost when he was the sole QB in 2011. Then they lost to a K-State team where he was calling the plays in 2022, beat him in ‘23, then got waxed last year when he was in his first year at A&M. He is just a pox upon Missouri football and I can’t wait for him to leave us alone (or join the coaching staff in some capacity).
HAVOC
Goal: 20% havoc rate.
Actual: 13.1% havoc rate.
Winner: Texas A&M
Turn Them Over
Goal: Force two turnovers.
Actual: Forced one turnover, -1 in turnover margin.
Winner: Texas A&M
The Little Things
A&M was better in the margins and better overall. Two tremendous starting field position drives helped raise their average but it didn’t matter: against a freshman 3rd-string quarterback they didn’t need to do much on offense to win and they exceeded that meager bar.
On the demerit front, leave it to Drink to bitch in game, on camera, about the officiating and then watch A&M rack up 9 penalties to his team’s 3 after those remarks.
Also, Mizzou had four drops, all four attributed to Matt Zollers putting his entire ass into any throw closer than 10 yards and forcing college receivers to, proverbially, hit a major league fast ball a split second before getting punched in the head. Coachable moments, people!
Extra Points
Missouri stopped throwing as much in the 3rd quarter and, would you look at that, they had their best success rates of the day! A&M, meanwhile, was steady through most of the game with a peak in the 2nd quarter. This is a further testament to the Tiger defense; A&M could move it but wasn’t finishing with points in the 1st half.
Missouri: 4.9 yards per play on 1st down, 5.7 YPP on 2nd down, 5.2 YPP on 3rd down.
Texas A&M: 5.7 yards per play on 1st down, 4.5 YPP on 2nd down, 9.2 YPP on 3rd down.
Missouri’s defense was tremendous but it couldn’t hold out forever. And that’s how A&M racks up 67% of their total yards in the 2nd half.
The ol’ “convert 20 or fewer 1st-downs and lose” axiom stays strong for Missouri this year.
Conclusion
In 2015, wee baby 4-star freshman Drew Lock was thrust into the starting quarterback position when Missouri unexpectedly lost their starter. Thanks to the greatest defense Mizzou has ever put on the field, the Tigers won two games with Lock at quarterback, and those were the only two games where he had a completion percentage over 47%.
Now, another wee baby 4-star freshman is at the helm with another elite Missouri defense and…I don’t see any further wins. MAYBE Mississippi State. But Oklahoma is A&M with a better defense (and on the road) and Arkansas is one of the three best offenses in the country that will absolutely shred Batoon’s boys.
At the beginning of the year I thought 7-8 wins would be where Mizzou ended up. If they get to 7 I think that’ll be great but 6 is looking very likely.
But that’s assuming Mizzou plays like they did against A&M! And they can absolutely improve over what we last saw! Get a better game plan, coach up your quarterback better, and hope that a 20th-straight sell-out helps them close strong on Senior Night.
