Mizzou Defense had no Response to Weigman and Aggie Offense

The worst defensive performance of the season from the Tigers was ultimately a leading factor in the blowout road loss.

Oct 5, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies running back Amari Daniels (5) runs the ball for a touchdown in the first quarter against the Missouri Tigers at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images. / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

COLLEGE STATION, Tx. - The Missouri Tigers looked bad on multiple fronts today. They didn't put any points on the board until 5:06 remaining in the third quarter and were trailing 24-0 by the end of the first half. Though the offense didn't hold up their end of the bargain, the defense played their worst 60-minutes of the season.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz took full responsibility for the Tigers 41-10 loss and the performance on both sides of the ball. Allowing that many points against a high-powered offense is not a recipe for success in a talented conference.

"We didn't do much of anything well on the defensive side of the ball today," Drinkwitz said.

Pinpointing a good area of the Tiger defense is challenging. On the ground, eight total rushers combined for 236 yards and all five touchdowns that were scored. The best of the bunch was Le'Veon Moss, who totaled 138 yards and three touchdowns. Moss had only 54 yards in the first half with a touchdown to show for it.

It was Amari Daniels who got out to a hot start, scoring the first two touchdowns of the game and breaking open a 25-yard run for the second-longest Aggie play of the quarter. He followed up his run with a 1-yard touchdown run. Daniels scored again around 10-minutes later and stayed quiet the rest of the game.

Moss was only getting started. On the first play of the second half, he broke away from any Tiger defenders in his vacinity, sprinting for a 75-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 31-0. Said long run was demoralizing for the Tigers and arguably put the nail in the coffin.

Quarterback Conner Weigman displayed his athleticism on the ground, converting on a key third down and escaping the pocket in other situations. He finished with 33 yards on five carries, finishing as the Aggies third leading rusher.

The Tiger defense wasn't any better defending the pass. Weigman passed for 276 yards, but most notably, nobody could get to him. Weigman was only hurried three times and sacked once, none of which seemed to make a major impact. He had all the time in the world to find his receivers, which he also did frequently and efficiently. Weigman's performance as a whole was hard to stop.

"He was very accurate today, did a great job scrambling and threw the football extremely well," Drinkwitz said." "We weren't ever able to make him uncomfortable.

The lack of pressure not only limited their chances to get back on offense, but potentially cost them the game. Weigman's recurring ability to convert on third down and the time he had to do so could be equally attributed to the lack of pressure, as well as a stout performance from the Aggie offensive line.

The Tiger defensive line struggled in one-on-one situations and could not win off the edge. The Aggie front five made it a nightmare to get to their quarterback, but more needed to be done by Williams and his teammates around him to generate pressure.

"We got to attack our leverages more. We got to attack and win one on ones," Williams said. "We got to utilize the different wins and stunts that we have and then fall back on our technique and fundamentals as well."

Missouri's secondary, led by cornerback Dreyden Norwood, was picked apart by the opposing quarterback. The collection of receivers did an excellent job finding holes in the Tigers' zone coverage and exploding into the open field after the catch.

Cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. was a primary target of Weigman all day, frequently throwing his way and frequently allowing the completion. Pride also dropped a wide-open interception that potentially would have halted and hurt Weigman's confidence throwing the ball. Instead, he drove them down the field and Moss punched it in for another score.

6-foot-6 receiving target Noah Thomas proved a great option after the catch, turning a short catch into a 29-yard run after-the-catch. That was a huge boost to the Aggies momentum on offense and led to three points on the board.

Open-field tackling was a glaring issue for the Tigers, struggling to take down guys like Moss and Thomas when they got to the outside of the field. Moss made safety Marvin Burks Jr. look silly on his 75-yard touchdown run as Burks completely wiffed the tackle.

The Tiger defense will need to improve for future SEC opponents. Too many big plays were allowed and clearly, too many points were added to the scoreboard.

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