Second-half woes have Missouri riding into sunset
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I can’t tell you specifically what goes on in the locker room at halftime of a Missouri football game. I’m not ruling out beer pong, but like I said, I don’t know.
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I can tell you that the postgame locker room scenes in Columbia have grown increasingly solemn as a once promising season has wasted away. Yesterday could be described as the ultimate indignity in Big 12 football, a home loss to Baylor.
There were no natural disasters to blame, no injured quarterback, no superior athletes on the other side of the ball.
Nope, there were no good excuses for Missouri’s 40-32 loss to Baylor. No good explanations. No good reasons to think this team’s problems are fixable.
The Bears won it with a freshman quarterback who began the year as a third-stringer. They won it without a running game. MU first-year defensive coordinator Dave Steckel has received some well-deserved praise for the job he’s done whipping the Tigers into shape this season, but he should have found a way to make Nick Florence more uncomfortable. Baylor gave up five sacks to one player — Nebraska’s Jared Crick — last week, but Missouri only got to him three times. He entered the game ranked 11th in the Big 12 in pass efficiency but passed for a school-record 427 yards and three touchdowns yesterday.
What Baylor’s coaches figured out early was their receivers were better than Missouri’s defensive backs when the ball was in the air. Florence delivered the ball quickly and let the receivers go get it. Twice, Missouri cornerbacks were called for pass interference while giving up receptions of 40 yards or more. Fellas, if you’re going to interfere, INTERFERE, as Baylor s Jordan Lake did when Danario Alexander was about to break into the clear on MU’s last drive.
(Editor’s note: I would like to offer a retraction of last week’s column. After the victory over Colorado, I suggested the Tigers could win the rest of their games with defense. In my defense, the air over Boulder is 25 percent marijuana smoke.)
But Missouri’s inability to stop an offense that had averaged only 8.5 points in Big 12 play was only its second-most disconcerting problem. At the top of the list is the inability to score touchdowns after halftime.
Thankfully, ESPN commentator Lee Corso wasn’t on hand yesterday or we might have had a reprisal of the 2004 feud after the Tigers lost a similar game at Troy. At that time, Corso suggested Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel didn’t make halftime adjustments, to which Pinkel responded — and I’m paraphrasing here — I got your halftime adjustments right here, Lee.
Unfortunately for Pinkel, the Tigers spent the rest of that season proving Corso’s point. They repeatedly built and squandered big leads on the way to a 5-7 record.
This season, under first-year offensive coordinator David Yost, Missouri (5-4, 1-4) has been miserable in second halves throughout Big 12 play. The last time MU scored a second-half touchdown was Sept. 25 against Nevada. So no one on the Missouri sideline was too comfortable when the Tigers led just 27-16 at halftime.
“I don’t know if we feel too good about ourselves at halftime. I don’t know,” Pinkel said. “And I know ‘I don’t know’ is not a good enough answer.”
It’s impossible to judge from the outside whether coaches are making subtle adjustments — I presume Missouri’s coaches are — but a bigger mystery to me is why the Tigers don’t just stick with what works early.
The Tigers’ best offensive player is Alexander. On the first play from scrimmage, and several times thereafter in the first half, Missouri used a play designed to get the ball to him. Blaine Gabbert faked a handoff, threw the ball to Alexander in the flat and let him run behind the tenacious blocking of wide receiver Wes Kemp. That play was mothballed in the second half. Alexander caught 11 passes for 171 yards before halftime and two passes for 43 yards afterward. Some of the blame falls on Gabbert for not finding his go-to receiver, but Yost needs to lean on plays designed to get the ball in the hands of the game-breaker.
Missouri’s running game continues to be a hit-or-miss affair, more dependent on the opposing defense’s philosophy than MU’s ability to assert its will. Pinkel said Baylor’s scheme, which uses two inside linebackers almost all the time, is a bad matchup for Missouri’s running game. The Bears (4-5, 1-4) have been a great matchup for everyone else’s running game — they entered the game ranked last in the Big 12 in rushing defense — but the Tigers finished with only 10 yards on 25 carries.
Missouri won’t win many games if Gabbert throws 50 times. There will be too many bad decisions in those 50 plays. He has great physical tools and toughness, but he also forces a lot of passes to blanketed receivers and has a tendency to scramble around after a few seconds in the pocket, even if the pass rush is nowhere near him. He is a young quarterback trying to figure out the mental part of the game and not the prodigy he appeared to be in the first few games.
The strange thing is, the deeper into the season it gets, the less we know about this team. There are three legitimate stars in Alexander, linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and defensive end Aldon Smith, and a very good kicker in Grant Ressel. Beyond that, the Tigers are a moving target from week to week.
The one constant is that whatever Missouri does in the first half, it will do worse in the second half.
Reach Joe Walljasper at 573-815-1783 or e-mail jwalljasper@columbiatribune.com.
8 reader comments
The opinions expressed below are those of the readers who submitted them and not those of the Tribune's reporters or editors. Readers are solely responsible for the content of their comments.
cliffndallas says...
I didn't see the game yesterday but it appears to be continuation of a season gone unexplicably bad. Coach Pinkel has been an asset to the university but I simply can't understand the following: Is he loyal or stubborn-we have no running game, can we not try some different plays with different runners. As good as Washington was earlier he has lost at least one step if not two. With all the other players on schloraship there must be someone faster. Can Gabbert not be taught to look off receivers? He locks on at the line, good defenses see this (Nebraska, Texas) poor ones take awhile (Colorado, Baylor). Are the rest of the defensive players so poor that Gettis et al are our only options?
Pinkel was not creative when he came to Missouri, he switched to the spread as a way to save his career. Now we are no longer creative with the spread, we have run the same 10-12 plays for years now which explains, to some extent, the drop-off last year.
November 8, 2009 at 9:22 a.m. ( link | suggest removal )
okiemizzoufan says...
Have we had enough yet?When a young team does not get better each week? When you dont make any adjustments during a game,when you go away from what is working during a game,when you waste talent,when you are the only division 1 school in a state the size of missouri,when you can outrecruit other programs like oklahoma nebraska, for players and still lose.0-11 versus the big 2 oklahoma and texas 7-23 versus ranked opponents.staying within the family instead of opening the process up for other coaches with new ideas and new schemes.I know we are young and there are going to be growing pains this year but the mark of good coaching is watching a young team improve in all phases of a game offense, defense and special teams.Hearing the excuse of not having enough 4 or 5 star recuits.Derrick strait 2 star defensive back was recuited by Oklahoma and became a NFL draft pick because he was coached and knew what to do on the field.Texas tech gets the same caliber players and actually beats oklahoma state,oklahoma, texas. Kansas State is getting the Most out what they got but they are well coached ,Baylor after watching the play back show went into halftime said they knew they could win the game because they said they took what mizzou defense gave them and they Ran same plays over and over because Mizzou never made adjustments.So we pay 2.3 million for a guy who is clearly not willing to hire some quality assistants to elevate the program.So if your tired of this call then chancellor cancel season tickets, call mike alden let the powers that be that you deserve better than this.
November 8, 2009 at 9:55 a.m. ( link | suggest removal )
jrocco says...
Okiemizzou, your rsooo right. My biggest frustration is GP's pride. He refuses to admit that better assist. coaches would improve this program. His post-game comments are always the same. "It's my fault and we have to correct the problem". 8yrs. same problems. Maybe some changes would work. He should be made to make changes. I think 2 examples appply. John Blake and Ron Zook both good recruiters @ OK and FLA. c/n coach. New coaches brought in and in 2yrs. win NC with Blake's and Zook's recruits. The same could happen @ MIzzou and GP could still remain.as HC.
November 8, 2009 at 11:27 a.m. ( link | suggest removal )
Jagtiger says...
Coach Pinkel has lost this young team’s confidence and rightfully so.
1. Gabbert's passing accuracy and mobility diminishes dramatically in second half of ball games and it does not matter if it is a result of injury or inexperience. What is important is the fact that the coaches continue to call plays that force him to do too much and cause the team to lose confidence in him. I'd be frustrated if I were our QB.
2. The coaches called 51 pass plays and only 15 run plays against Baylor (if you don't count Gabbert's 10 sacks or ”runs” for a negative 31 yards). MU handed the ball to a running back just six times in the second half and not once during the fourth quarter against Baylor. The offensive line cannot be expected to successfully pass block when the defense basically does not have to defend against the run. I'd be frustrated if I were an O-lineman.
3. Our longest drive against Baylor took just over four minutes (which by the way had four of the six second half run plays in it). Only one drive in the second half included nine or more plays and most drives were three and outs. The defense cannot be expected to stay on the field so long and not give up points. I'd be frustrated if I were a defensive player.
This is nothing new during the Pinkel era. Play calling on both sides of the ball based on repeating a static and limited number of plays, an inability to adjust to an opponent, unbalanced run/pass football, and a lack of game clock control are the cornerstones of this program.
Coach Pinkel, sticking with the old ways may feel safe based on past seasons but it won't win many games without those remarkable playmakers of old. That is not to say our current players cannot win games, they can; but only if the coaching staff can call plays and make adjustments that work for this year's team.
November 8, 2009 at 11:56 a.m. ( link | suggest removal )
jerele says...
As the coach sez " regrets I have a few BUT I did it my way". Consider the following; 33-36 Big 12 record. 0-5 against Bill Snyder. 11 points in 150 minutes of second half Big 12 action. In any legitimate BCS program these stats in the 9th year would not be acceptable. The last three games in Faurot have been embarassing. By the way those three games averaged about 68,000 in attendance. Messrs Alden and Deaton your academic integrity aside you are letting your fans down.
November 8, 2009 at 4:59 p.m. ( link | suggest removal )
philip57 says...
Very simple, put up with Gary Pinkel and losing football, or get rid of the loser.
November 8, 2009 at 5:27 p.m. ( link | suggest removal )
Comotiger says...
Pretty simple when it's all boiled down: Above average talent, huge fan support, Above average facilities, 2.3 million$ yearly salary, and 9 years to get things righted and more consistent. There are no more excuses left for Pinkel and staff, everything they needed in order to build a successful and longlasting program, has been provided. Tiger nation, and the players, deserve much better. Period.
November 8, 2009 at 5:36 p.m. ( link | suggest removal )
HinsdaleTiger says...
Recall that the "Pinkel as Motivator" obstacle for the Tigers is sadly not a recent phenomenon (let us not forget the wasting of Brad Smith's talent on second half let downs, poor play calling, etc), but was really masked by the overwhelming leadership capabilities of Chase Daniel (who single handedly made up for the leadership void within the huddle, recruiting, play calling, etc.). The coincidental decline of traditional Big XII powerhouses like Nebraska, K-State and Colorado during the Daniel era also helped blind the Tiger faithful to Pinkel’s leadership weaknesses as well – Mizzou did better on a “relative basis” which, for victory starved fans, sadly was a substitute for an “absolute” or long-term solution to the Tiger’s decades long slump.
Where to go from here – firing Pinkel is obvious – but what should we expect from the University as a replacement? God forbid we study consistent winning programs to ascertain where we’ve gone wrong on the coaching front (recruiting limitations of Missouri aside). What do Florida, USC, Texas, etc all have in common at the top job? How about coaches that are vocal, passionate, relentless in nature?
Can anyone blame today’s youth for not responding to the charisma of an undertaker, the played out stoic poise of yesteryear’s Tom Landry’s, an unwillingness to change game plans in the face of overwhelming lack of success (note – its called a Fullback. Please recruit one)…the answer is yes, because today’s top players don’t have to “settle” for the poor leadership, life development, etc. skills of Gary Pinkel et al.
We got lucky Chase Daniel came to Missouri and subsidized Pinkel’s ineptness….let’s realize that era is over and move on….and hire a modern coach.
November 9, 2009 at 3:21 p.m. ( link | suggest removal )
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