Missouri has needed a good showing this year. The Tigers delivered one against No. 2 Georgia over the weekend. The Tigers didn’t get the win, but coming within a single score against a top team is the type of effort which can certainly build confidence.
By Matt Zemek
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That said, it’s not enough to have played well in one game, one time, against an elite opponent. That performance against Georgia has to translate into consistently solid games over the next two months. College football involves plenty of instances in which a mediocre team treats one game as its Super Bowl and empties the emotional fuel tank, only to then fall flat the next several weeks, especially after a tough loss. Missouri needs to carry that level of play into this weekend’s coming game versus Florida. The Georgia game showed that Missouri’s ceiling might be higher than previously thought, but the real key for Mizzou is to raise its floor, its baseline level of performance, from week to week. Let’s see what this Florida game can achieve:
Stop the run game
Florida might not be off to the prolific start its fans may have been hoping for, but first-year head coach BIlly Napier is just getting started, and he has some talent to work with. Florida has a stout offensive line and the ability to punish opponents, as we saw in Week 1 against Utah. The Gators have the nation’s 23rd-best rushing attack. It will be a central task for the Tigers’ 46th-ranked rushing defense to limit what Florida does on the ground.
Brady Cook can’t be mediocre
When the best thing a coach can say about his quarterback’s performance is that he “didn’t put the ball in jeopardy,” it means the quarterback has to deliver something more than just ball security and mistake avoidance. Avoiding bad plays is important, but making good plays is just as vital to an offense which has acute limitations. Unless Cook takes that next step and offers Mizzou something beyond taking care of the ball, the Tigers will find it hard to close out games against better teams. That’s exactly what happened at the end of the Georgia game.
Contain Anthony Richardson
Part of what makes Florida’s rushing game so important to deal with is that quarterback Anthony Richardson isn’t afraid to use his legs. He had a big statistical day against the Tennessee Volunteers, coming a lot closer to the level of play he displayed against Utah in Week 1, and rising above his horrible level of play against Kentucky and South Florida. Richardson is a lethal weapon when he is on his game, and a disaster when he gets the throwing yips. The good version showed up against the Vols. He can beat opponents both ways. He’s a legitimate dual-threat QB who must be accounted for. If the Tigers can’t rein him in, especially as a scrambler, it will be a long and tiring day for the Mizzou defense.
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