Pourover: When your Quarterback is almost there
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Maybe it was the subsequent games, but my mood cooled significantly following that ugly loss. Watching Georgia lose, and Texas. Alabama looked awful against Tennessee, while Miami needed 2 overtimes and a miracle to hold off Florida State. Then BYU took down Notre Dame, Oklahoma lost again… Kentucky is like 6-1!
“Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mast hysteria!” – Venkman.
College football is having a season, man. Things are chaotic.
Missouri is part of the chaos.
There have been moments where this team has looked the part, climbing to 13th in the rankings while winning their last two games at home. There have been plenty of other moments where they’ve looked a bit fraudulent. They’re the same team who struggled with Troy, fell flat against Mississippi State, and smoked Florida. They walked all over Texas A&M, but the Aggies haven’t exactly proven they’re of high quality this year.
Meanwhile Austin Simmons has both looked like a top 10 NFL Draft pick, and as the guy who easily lost his job to Trinidad Chambliss a season ago. Yesterday, Chambliss showed the difference at this stage between the two quarterbacks. Even on a day where he seemed a little off at times, Chambliss still threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns.
While Simmons threw for more yardage, he failed to get the Tigers into the end zone. All day long it looked like he was just a bit off on his throws. The same throws he’s made this year went wide left, wide right, just past the finger tips of an open receiver, or, for the first time into the hands of the defense. The two former teammates each had a completion percentage in the mid 50s, Ole Miss converted 9 of 14 third downs, including six through the air. Missouri faced 17 third downs, they converted 6, all through the air.
The defense did its job, for the most part. The Ole Miss offense is elite, and Chambliss is a heisman candidate. They forced 4 punts, forced a turnover. They gave up a lot of yards. The Mizzou Defense gave the offense a chance, at least.
But every chance the offense had they fell short. 11 drives, one three and out.
After rushing for 247 yards against Texas A&M and 220 against Florida, the Mizzou offense could only muster 39 yards on 26 carries. Jamal Roberts had 39 yards, Xai’Shun Edwards had 8. Meanwhile Ole Miss averaged 6.8 yards per rush. But of those 467 yards in the previous two games, 211 came on just three carries. The remaining 256 came on 55 carries. Still 4.65 per rush, but almost half of what the total looks like with those runs. Explosives are great, but you can’t rely on them. And the Mizzou offense was overly reliant on explosives.
Maybe it just wasn’t anyone’s day on the offensive side of the ball, maybe except for Donovan Olugbode.
The SEC is a wild league this year. Mizzou has been competitive, but they don’t look like they’re close to turning into the class of the league. That still belongs to Ole Miss, probably Georgia still, and I guess Kentucky?
The bye week is badly needed. This is a beat up football team. They’re in desperate need of a week off. The injury report is far too long. Take the week. Go kick the crap out of Arkansas, and let’s get this thing rolling again.
Other SEC Scores:
- Auburn 27, 1. Georgia 24
- 14. Tennessee 26, 6. Alabama 10
- Florida 27, 7. Texas 24
- 15. Kentucky 21, Oklahoma 13
- 22. LSU 31, 16. Mississippi State 0
- Arkansas 31, Vanderbilt 21
- Texas A&M 41, The Citadel 0
Off: South Carolina
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