Missouri's line play doesn't hold up in SEC title game loss to Alabama
Missouri coach Gary Pinkel spent much of the past week calling the SEC a "line-of-scrimmage league" in which the strength of the big men up front is paramount.
No. 1 Alabama proved him right in the worst possible way over the course of a 42-13 blowout in Saturday's SEC championship game. The Crimson Tide wore down the resilient Tigers and scored the game's final 21 points to send Mizzou to an all-too-familiar fate.
Pinkel's team got outgained on the ground 223-41, with dynamic tailbacks Russell Hansbrough and Marcus Murphy combining for just 41 yards on 23 carries. Alabama's Derrick Henry finished with 141 yards on 20 carries as his defensive line bulldozed the best run defense in conference play, despite some admirable performances by the Tigers' vaunted defensive line.
But Mizzou took a huge hit early in the second quarter, when SEC sack leader Shane Ray got ejected for a clear targeting hit on quarterback Blake Sims after he threw a 58-yard touchdown to DeAndrew White. The Crimson Tide largely neutralized the Tigers' pass rush with a quick, short passing attack that netted 262 yards, the most Missouri gave up all season.
The Tigers' offense couldn't stay on the field long without any kind of running game or much protection for quarterback Maty Mauk, and Alabama eventually wore down Missouri's defense with more than 36 minutes of possession. The Crimson Tide rushed for 136 yards in the final quarter, including Henry's 26-yard touchdown and another run for 45 yards down to the Missouri 1-yard line.
It still marked considerable improvement from a year ago, when Auburn ran through, over and around the Mizzou defense for 545 yards and seven touchdowns in a 59-42 win rout to take the SEC title. Even in the Big 12, Mizzou struggled to stop the run, giving up an average of more than 200 yards and nine combined rushing touchdowns in two blowout losses to Oklahoma in back-to-back Big 12 title games.
Some outstanding skill players helped Missouri score 42 points in last year's SEC title game, and certainly some great athletes on both sides of the ball contributed to back-to-back division titles. But if the Tigers want to close the gap between themselves and the truly elite SEC teams, they'll need to find more players capable of holding their own up front.
FIRST DOWN: Starting slow
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The Tigers didn't give their doubters much reason to change their minds from the opening kickoff at the Georgia Dome.
Mizzou's defense hadn't given up a first-quarter touchdown since a 21-20 win over South Carolina in the SEC opener before Alabama's offense took the ball and marched straight down the field with little resistance to take a 7-0 lead. The Crimson Tide didn't even face a third down and picked up at least four yards on every play before they needed two runs to score from the 4-yard line.
Mauk couldn't find an answer as he underthrew Marcus Murphy in the flat on the offense's first play. Wide receiver Darius White dropped Mauk's next pass, neatly summing up the season-long struggles of Mizzou's passing game in just two plays.
The defense would give up only one first down on Alabama's next two drives, though it got some help from an illegal motion penalty and a fumbled handoff on third-and-1. Meanwhile, Mizzou's offense couldn't run the ball against a stout defensive line, and Mauk completed just two of his first nine passes for 18 yards.
SECOND DOWN: Containing Cooper, kind of
Missouri's defense knew the key to containing the nation's best receiver would be keeping him from getting behind the secondary.
The Tigers took that approach to the extreme, particularly in the first quarter. Although Alabama junior Amari Cooper never caught a pass more than 10 yards downfield, he sparked the Crimson Tide offense with seven catches for 52 yards in the game's first 15 minutes. He finished with an SEC championship game-record 12 catches for 83 yards, though he made only one catch for 17 yards in the second half.
But the secondary's focus on Cooper opened up the field for Alabama's other receivers, and Sims found them often while completing nine of 13 third downs. White led the way with four catches for 101 yards, and Cooper still picked up some big first downs while eluding Mizzou tacklers.
THIRD DOWN: Scrambling success
When Mauk spent all summer working on the scramble drill, he probably didn't think it would be easily the offense's most efficient play against a tough Alabama defense.
The deep ball has haunted Alabama's secondary all season, and it could have been even worse Saturday if Mauk hadn't missed a few open receivers on the rare opportunities he had to throw from the pocket. But four huge plays on the run proved to be the only highlights for an offense that looked out of sorts all night.
Senior Jimmie Hunt caught three of Mauk's almost desperate passes for a combined 142 yards, and each one came on third down and led to points for the Tigers. White also caught one for a 26-yard gain in the second quarter. Mauk completed just 12 of 30 passes for 130 yards without the four heaves under pressure.
FOURTH DOWN: No turnovers spells trouble
Mizzou cut the lead to 21-13 in the third quarter, but the Tigers had a chance to make things even closer.
They went 9-0 this season when forcing a turnover, and Alabama put the ball on the ground three times. But Mizzou couldn't get a recovery, and the Crimson Tide eventually came away with the game's only turnover when White fumbled after a 20-yard completion in the fourth quarter.
Sims fumbled twice on the same drive near midfield with a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but both times Mizzou missed a golden opportunity to gain momentum and possibly tie the game. Alabama survived another miscue midway through the third quarter when J.K. Scott fumbled the snap on a punt with the Tigers trailing 21-10, but two Mizzou players just missed getting their hands on the ball as Scott managed to get it out for a 33-yard kick.
Upsets often take a little bit of luck, and this team in particular had been great at taking advantage with a +9 turnover margin during the regular season, despite an ugly minus 5 game in the 34-0 loss at Georgia. Missouri always needed something a little special to knock off Alabama, and the breaks just didn't fall the Tigers' way.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
