Dive into the Heart of Mizzou Athletics

There wasn’t much on the bright side for the Tigers this week

As one would expect from a 41-10 drubbing at the hands of No. 15 Texas A&M, the now No. 21 Missouri Tigers didn’t have a lot to show for analytically from Week 6. In fact, the entire team was under the 30th percentile in VAT on offense and defense from top to bottom.

Defensively, the Tigers accumulated a mere seven pressures. Seven pressures is lower than any amount of pressures the Tigers got in a game last season, and it’s actually the second time the Tigers have done it as they picked up seven against Murray State. It is the lowest amount in a game since week six of 2022 when the Tigers picked up six pressures in a 24-17 loss to Florida.

To add on, the Tigers allowed 18 completions on 20 targets as a defense — with two other incompletions being throwaways — and an NFL QBR allowed of 118.8. The Tigers also missed seven tackles in a game that had plenty of tackling opportunities, considering the Aggies dominated possession of the ball from start to finish.

Offensively, it was a pretty rough outing for this team as only one player had above a grade of 70 from PFF and that was Luther Burden III. Brady Cook had his lowest adjusted completion percentage in a game since the Georgia game last season, an excusable offense considering the grandeur of that opponent.

This weeks edition of analytics MVPs will feature an unusual side of the football garnering love, as there was one man that had a truly reputable performance. Let’s take a look:

Luke Bauer | Punter

Bauer picked up the most punts in a single game this season with five, and made the most of his opportunity with his best performance since the opener against Murray State. Bauer had 228 yards punting at 45.6 yards per punt, downing one punt inside the 20 and only picking up one touchback.

Bauer was in the 94th percentile of hangtime which is why he was 22nd percentile in return rate, as he gave good time for the Tigers coverage team. Bauer’s numbers are encouraging, but I am intrigued to see how he does in the pressure of a closer game where flipping the field is even more important.

Unfortunately, there’s a lack of tape on punters so I can’t even get tape on what I thought was Bauer’s best punt. However, it was a punt that gave the Aggies bad field position as they started their drive from the 10-yard-line.

The famous saying in football is that there’s three phases of the game, and unfortunately for the Tigers they got a standout performance from the phase of the game that shows up the least. However, if the Tigers can get a full team performance going forward, Bauer can be a great asset to a team that needs to bounce back

Legend

Punters

Return Rate: The rate that a punters punts are returned by the opposition
Inside 20: The rate that a punters punts are downed inside the 20-yard-line
Hangtime: The amount of time a punters punts spend in the air
Dead Balls: The amount of balls that aren’t touched by the returner.