Mizzou Defense Needs to Follow Assignments and Trust Defensive Unit

After a defensive performance where the Tigers allowed 41 points, the Missouri defense needs to come together as a unit to improve.

Aug 17, 2024; Columbia, Missouri USA; Missouri linebacker Corey Flagg [11] lines up for drills with defensive end Sam Williams [94] and cornerback Cameron Keys [29] during practice. / Amber Winkler / MissouriOnSi /

The No. 21 Missouri Tigers struggled mightily on defense in their 41-10 defeat to Texas A&M. Some of the only positives to come from the result came afterward, with the chance to reflect and look back on the performance.

Tiger linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. was vigilant in the middle of the field and saw what went wrong for the Tiger defensive unit.

"I think it was just a lot of guys trying to make a play instead of, including myself, doing our assignment or our job as a defense," Flagg said.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Tigers had 7 missed tackles against the Aggies last Saturday, the second most of any game this season. Flagg didn't miss any himself, but two of the seven were missed by linebackers.

Staying disiplined, on any side of the ball, can be a challenge when you're getting routed like the Tigers were. Even when down that much, the Tiger defense has to continue to trust eachother and work together.

"It's a lot of runs, and that's good splitting out, but you got to understand, you still have to continue to do the job, and that's the point of being mature, and point of and trusting the defense," Flagg said. "That's what we have to get back to, the general trust in each other."

Against the Aggies specifically, the Tigers weren't able to generate any pressure on the quarterback or in the backfield in general. Part of that could be attributed to the play of the Aggie offensive line, but the Tiger defense was not in sync, not following exactly what their coaches wanted from them.

"I feel like the timing of the blitzes, we just weren't doing exactly what we were close to do based on calls that we were getting," Flagg said. "Guys supposed to shoot the gap, stuff like that. Credit to them, those guys are very good."

The lack of pressure on Aggie quarterback Conner Weigman, according to head coach Eli Drinkwitz, can also be attributed to the coaching staffs planning and schemes.

"On Saturday, it [pass rush] was obviously a lot lacking," Drinkwitz said. "I think it's a combination of getting better pass rush and creating better pass rush through schematics."

Defensive end Zion Young was the only player for Missouri to record a sack in the game and one of four to hurry the quarterback.

With a quarterback as accurate as Weigman, leaving him time to throw the ball, especially as much as he had, is not a recipe to preventing points from adding up. Switching up the pass rush attack, as well as other defensive schemes, might be a key to unlocking the true potential of the Tiger defense.

"There's a lot of different things that we can do and challenge ourselves to do in order to be better and that's what we'll do this week," Drinkwitz said.

The Tiger defensive unit will hit the field next at 11 a.m. on October 12 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium against the UMass Minutemen. The Minutemen sit at 1-5 so far this season.

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