The numbers might not be as satisfying as a rivalry win itself, but Missouri's Pro Football Focus grades and advanced stats still look pretty nice after beating Kansas Saturday in the Border War.
Among the highlights of a competitive game that gives a far better statistical snapshot of where this Mizzou team stands:
- Quarterback Beau Pribula's (positive) national standing as a passer
- Running back Ahmad Hardy's inability/unwillingness to be tackled
- Some defensive personnel trends clearing up
All of that, plus snap counts and PFF grades, is below.Â
If you're new to this regular in-season piece or just need a reminder: PFF is not perfect in its grades, as you'll notice soon enough. They're just a convenient, simple way to quantify player performances — and nothing more. Rest assured nobody on the MU coaching staff is making decisions based on PFF grades.Â
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The site bases all of its grades, including college ones, on an "NFL standard": 90-100 is elite, 85-89 is Pro Bowl caliber, 70-84 is starting level, 60-69 means backup and anything between 0-59 is replaceable.
With that in mind, this week's findings:
Offensive line
- LT Cayden Green, 89 snaps, 71.9 grade
- LG Dominick Giudice, 86 snaps, 66.6
- C Connor Tollison, 86 snaps, 58.5
- RT Keagen Trost, 86 snaps, 65.3
- RG Curtis Peagler, 80 snaps, 50.1
- RG Tristan Wilson, 6 snaps, 58.9
Better, it would seem, from the ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆµ offensive line — but still not great. The Tigers as a team allowed 12 quarterback pressures, two of which were sacks. Tollison was assigned blame for three, as was Giudice. Peagler and Trost were each blamed for two.
And Peagler, at least for a bit there, was pulled from right guard in exchange for Tristan Wilson. Maybe that was related to an injury — I admit to not having noticed this in real time — but given Peagler's PFF grade, it's reasonable to assume it was due to performance.
Remember: Peagler made it into the starting offensive line because MU felt more confident in him at right guard than the non-Green options at left tackle. Will that be true for the whole season?
Mizzou ran the ball through the left side of the O-line 19 times and through the right side 19 times — a perfect balance. The most effective gap was all the way out to the left edge, where eight carries went for 114 yards and two touchdowns.Â
Quarterback
- Beau Pribula, 86 snaps, 87.8
A quick zoom out: Two games is not a significant sample size, but peep this nonetheless. Pribula's season passing grade of 93.3 ranks second in the nation right now, trailing only Tennessee's Joey Aguilar. Pribula ranks fourth among QBs in his overall offensive grade and ninth in adjusted completion percentage. The arm is lively.
Pribula did rein in his range for this game, pulling back his average depth of target from 10.1 yards downfield against Central Arkansas to 7.7 against KU. Despite the shorter passes, he didn't necessarily get rid of the ball much quicker: 2.69 seconds to throw against UCA, 2.6 against the Jayhawks.Â
Four of Kansas' 12 pressures turning into sacks is a higher than normal proportion, which in a vacuum suggests Pribula might've done more to avoid one or two of those sacks. Under pressure, he only managed to fire off six passes.Â
Pribula played quite well against the blitz: 10 for 11 passing, 108 yards and a touchdown. He got rid of the ball quickly (2.21 seconds to throw), which looks like an indicator that he knew where it needed to go and got it there before any extra pressure could get home.
Running back
- Jamal Roberts, 50 snaps, 79.1
- Ahmad Hardy, 36 snaps, 72.6
There's more to explore with the running back tandem the Tigers seem to have found. But for now, it's clear they have two options.
Hardy received twice as many carries, so he's still the 1A back. Roberts often comes in to help pass block, too. Together, they ran 26 zone plays to 11 gap plays.
Hardy's advanced stats remain absurd. Of his 111 rushing yards, 103 came after contact. Only 8 yards came before he was hit on any given play. He created a lot of his own yardage and forced 12 missed tackles, which ties him for the most in any Week 2 game.
Wide receiver/tight end
- TE Brett Norfleet, 73 snaps, 61.0
- WR Marquis Johnson, 71 snaps, 55.9
- WR Joshua Manning, 58 snaps, 59.0
- Slot WR Kevin Coleman Jr., 53 snaps, 87.2
- TE Jordon Harris, 33 snaps, 61.1
- WR Donovan Olugbode, 26 snaps, 79.2
- Slot WR Daniel Blood, 9 snaps, 82.2
- TE Jude James, 3 snaps, 55.4
Norfleet playing so many snaps is certainly a positive sign that he's healthy and seeing the biggest role yet in his MU career. He's tied with Oklahoma's Jaren Kanak for the SEC lead in tight end targets, with 12 through two games.Â
So far this season, the breakdown in targets among MU wideouts: 19 to Coleman, 11 to Johnson, seven to Olugbode, six to Manning, two to Blood, one to Loyd. Could that be, more or less, the hierarchy this season?
Coleman looks quite sound in the slot role, so that's not especially likely to change. Olugbode, a true freshman, continues to impress and get routes — and even 4th down targets, one of which he hauled in with a one-hander against KU.Â
Mizzou's three starting receivers, thus far, have very different average depths of target: 6.7 yards downfield for Coleman, 10.2 downfield for Manning and 21.6 downfield for Johnson.
Defensive line
- DT Chris McClellan, 37 snaps, 75.3
- DE Zion Young, 33 snaps, 64.4
- DE Damon Wilson II, 27 snaps, 79.1
- DE Darris Smith, 26 snaps, 65.1
- DT Sterling Webb, 24 snaps, 58.2
- DT Marquis Gracial, 23 snaps, 80.2
- DT Jalen Marshall, 11 snaps, 67.6
- DE Nate Johnson, 9 snaps, 75.0
- DE Langden Kitchen, 5 snaps, 66.1
- DT Elias Williams, 4 snaps, 68.9
Wilson and Smith, both Georgia transfers, tied for the team lead with five pressures apiece against KU.
Young's grade seems a little low given that he forced the fumble that turned into a safety, but that kind of chaotic play might not register with the PFF algorithm.
These snap counts have settled to give a good, erm, snapshot of the rotation at each position.Â
At D-tackle, McClellan is the clear No. 1. Gracial and Webb are pretty even, though the former is playing better and starting. Jalen Marshall rounds out the rotation there.
At D-end, Young leads the line with Kitchen and Johnson still battling to be his backup. Wilson and Smith interchange for each other often.
Linebackers
- MLB Josiah Trotter, 37 snaps, 64.8
- WLB Triston Newson, 26 snaps, 54.9
- WLB Khalil Jacobs, 21 snaps, 69.0
- MLB Nicholas Rodriguez, 15 snaps, 77.4
Trotter and Rodriguez were each credited with a "stop," which PFF defines as "tackles that constitute a 'failure' for the offense." They also both missed one tackle.Â
Defensive backs
- S Jalen Catalon, 50 snaps, 57.1
- STAR Daylan Carnell, 42 snaps, 63.2
- CB Drey Norwood, 41 snaps, 71.8
- CB Toriano Pride Jr., 35 snaps, 67.3
- CB Stephen Hall, 28 snaps, 53.4
- S Marvin Burks Jr., 26 snaps, 72.2
- S Santana Banner, 25 snaps, 49.2
- STAR Trajen Greco, 5 snaps, 61.4
Carnell was the most prolific blitzer, rushing the quarterback five times and producing one pressure. In coverage, he had some extreme highs and lows: a 50-yard completion allowed and the game's lone interception.
Burks was the only other player to break up a pass.
The Tigers actually rotated at cornerback, using three — but rarely having all of them on the field at the same time.Â