It hurts just as bad as it did last night.
After a restless night’s sleep, the loss to South Carolina still feels just about as gut-wrenching as it did when Rocket Sanders rolled through would-be tacklers like a dump truck on his way to winning the game for the Gamecocks. There were many things to love (and hate) about how that game played out. From yet another first-half flop to yet another second half comeback, that game included just about everything you could want (and not want) regardless of who you were rooting for. I posted my Five Takeaways immediately following the game, but I had a few more spare thoughts to share with you as well:
10 more thoughts…
- Drake Heismeyer played pretty darn well in his first SEC start. Replacing the injured Connor Tollison at center, Heismeyer filled in admirably. He was hardly noticed all night and when you’re a center, hardly being noticed is about as good as you’re gonna get. He did have one false start in the second quarter, but that was after a long delay as the coaching staff and Brady Cook where trying to communicate on what play to call. Overall, he played well and led an excellent Mizzou rushing attack.
- It’s not a Mizzou game without a terrible coverage bust by the safeties. This actually happened more than once against South Carolina, but the worst offense was in the first quarter when Gamecock receiver Nick Harbor was left wide open for a touchdown after a Mizzou safety failed to cover him when Dreydon Norwood blitzed. We thought we were safe after no busts last week, but South Carolina has a competent offense and the Tigers bust against competent offenses.
- LaNorris Sellers looks like the spitting image of Brad Smith. Ok, he may actually outweigh Brad by a few pounds, but he has Brad’s height, athleticism and play style. He even has Brad’s number (#16). It’s uncanny. He’s only a redshirt freshman, so Mizzou may be stuck dealing with him for a while, and he’s only going to get better.
- Mizzou has had its share of end-of-first-half failures and that was the case this week as well. This one was less about time management and more about execution, but the Tigers did give up 14 points in 90 seconds to close out the half. What’s more, a killer penalty cost them a shot at a field goal to close the half.
- Corey Batoon’s soft zone coverage was back with a vengeance tonight and it flopped again. He tried it against Texas A&M and it worked similarly poorly. In the second half, Batoon switched to man coverage and the Tigers got multiple stops in a row to allow the offense to take the lead. Unfortunately the zone reappeared on a long completion on South Carolina’s first touchdown of the fourth quarter. The zone needs to get buried and not be brought out again this year.
- The running game was really cooking all game for Mizzou, but especially in the second half as the offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. It was great to have Nate Noel back and healthy as he looked as good as he has all season.
- Speaking of the running game, it was great to see Kewan Lacy getting some serious run in the third quarter. After Noel, he by far is the most explosive back Mizzou has and also has shown the ability to pick up tough yards in the red zone. Roberts and Lacey should be a really solid tandem next year if they both return.
- While this game can’t be blamed on the referees, there was some truly shambolic officiating. The whole issue with the fourth down stuff being called off for a (VERY) late review. Then the Mizzou defense got yet another 4th down stuff and the officials tried to give South Carolina a first down without even measuring. Drinkwitz insisted as is his prerogative, and the measurement came up a full foot short. Finally, the clock failed to reset to 15 minutes to start the fourth quarter. The refs didn’t realize until AFTER Mizzou snapped the ball. Nate Noel was busy waltzing into the end zone when they called the play off. The Tigers ended up with only a field goal that drive instead of what could have been seven points. Get it together, guys.
- Brady Cook finally hit not one, but TWO deep shots down field. The first time this season he’s been able to connect more than 30 yards downfield in the air. The first came on a pass to Marquise Johnson, who made an excellent catch while being interfered with that set up Mizzou inside the 10. The second was Luther’s incredible fourth down touchdown catch. Man it still hurts to think about how that could have been the winner. Ouch.
- Third downs were killer on both sides of the ball. On offense, Mizzou went 0-fer in the first half and ended up only converting one third down all game, going 1/9. South Carolina went 4/10, but two of those misses turned third and longs into fourth and shorts that the Gamecocks converted. Mizzou has been great on third downs all year, but not this game.