Scouting the opponent, Missouri

After a tumultuous season on and off the field in 2015 the Missouri Tigers begin a new era this fall under head coach Barry Odom. The program took a precipitous fall in 2015 after back-to-back SEC East titles, finishing in a tie at the bottom of the division last fall with South Carolina with a 1-7 SEC mark and a 5-7 record overall.

Odom moves into the head job after serving as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. His old side of the ball is in good shape but the offense needs to make some tremendous strides after an abysmal 2015 season.

Missouri may not be in a complete rebuild mode, but there are some definite holes on the roster, most notably on the offensive side. Odom doesn't find the cupboard complete bare, but if the Tigers are going to make a bowl game in his first year they’re going to have to surprise some people.

There’s no getting around the fact that Missouri was one of the worst offensive football teams in the nation last year. The Tigers finished dead last in the SEC in points per game (13.6 ppg, not a misprint), they were the worst team in terms of total offense by a whopping 46 yards per contest (280 per game) and finished an ugly 125th in the nation in first downs (15.1 per game).

Drew Locke is back under center after being forced into action as a freshman. He took some lumps along the way. He completed just 49% of his throws last fall for 1,332 yards and only four TDs against eight INTs. Clearly, some improvement under center will be required if the offense is going to improve on last year’s paltry numbers.

Odom brought in new offensive coordinator Josh Huepel to work with Locke and install an up-tempo offense. Judging how bad the Tigers were last year, it seems safe to assume that a transition to a new style won’t be seamless.

The tailback position should be a strength this fall if the guys up front can open some holes. Ish Witter returns after gaining 518 yards last fall. The depth chart should be bolstered by the addition of Oklahoma transfer Alex Ross who should push Witter for a starting job.

There is some experience at the receiver spots, but this unit didn’t cover itself in glory last fall. Juniors J’Mon Moore (29 rec. 350 yards, 3 TDs in 2015) and Nate Brown (27 rec., 326 yards, 4 TDs) are veteran targets, but they’ve got to step up their game in order to help Locke’s development. The Tigers also had Chris Black to this group, a graduate transfer from Alabama.

The biggest question on offense is a line that boasted five senior starters at the beginning of the 2015 season. This year’s group features no seniors in the first five. Juniors Nate Crawford and Alec Abeln are the most experienced guys in a group that has little playing time under its belt.

Missouri must replace one of the best defensive players in the SEC from last fall, middle linebacker Kentrell Brothers, but aside from that key loss, there’s a lot to like about this defense.

Brothers and his 152 tackles are gone, but he’s the only player from among the top six tacklers on the defense that must be replaced.

The front seven is the strength of this unit with depth and experience at virtually every spot. Defensive end Charles Harris is back after tying for the team lead with 7.0 sacks and 18.5 TFLs a year ago. His counterpart on the other side, Walter Brady (7.0 sacks, 12.5 TFLs), give the Tigers one of the best pass rushing duos in the league.

Former blue-chipper, sophomore defensive tackle Terry Becker, did not disappoint as a freshman (3.0 sacks, 8.5 TFLs) and should be poised for a big sophomore campaign.

The Tigers will be auditioning for two new starters in the secondary in fall camp but cornerback Aarion Pinton and safety Anthony Sherrils are a pair of veterans to build around.

If Missouri’s defense simply maintains the level of play it showed last year the Tigers will have a chance to surprise some people this fall. Even handcuffed to one of the worst SEC offenses in recent memory, the defense repeatedly kept the Tigers in contention last season.

Missouri finished second in the SEC in points allowed last fall (16.2 ppg) and second in total defense (302 ypg) which is simply incredible considering the almost complete lack of help the offense provided.

ONE MAN’S EARLY TAKE

On the surface there doesn’t seem to be much reason to think that the Tigers will noticeably improve from last year’s squad. The defense should once again be one of the best in the SEC given the amount of experience returning and the fact that little will change with Odom moving into the head coaching spot.

From the outside looking in though, there seems to be little evidence to suggest that the offense will be drastically improved from last year. Furthermore, while it’s reasonable to think Locke will be better as a sophomore, revamping things with a new approach under Huepel seems like something that will take some time.

The defense is stout enough for Missouri to surprise some people, but the offensive problems we saw in 2015 seem too vast to clean up in one offseason.