You probably could have guessed the MVP on the offensive side of the ball but a certain defensive player put up his best numbers of the season.

The Missouri Tigers jumped to No. 19 in this week’s AP Top 25 after a 45-3 win over UMass. The win marked the Tigers last game of their non-conference slate, and was described as a rebound game after a tough loss to Texas A&M.

The offense spread the ball to a variety of players, and amongst those players one clearly dominated the touch spread. Defensively, after picking up just nine pressures as a unit last week the defense upped the ante and picked up 15 against the Minutemen. Additionally, after allowing Connor Weigman to complete virtually all of his aimed passes the Tigers only allowed Taisun Phommachanh to complete 65.3% of his last week.

The Tigers had four players on defense pick up a grade of 80 or higher last week, a stark difference in comparison to the mere two in the last two games combined.

Marcus Carroll | Running Back

Marcus Carroll had a chance to step up large with the absence of Nate Noel due to what head coach Eli Drinkwitz described as “back strains from the plane ride” and boy did he. At face value, Carroll picked up 15 carries for 91 yards and three scores, the three scores exceeding his output from the entire season prior to the game.

After a bubbly showing with 4.29 yards after contact per rush against Murray State, that after contact yardage wasn’t coming for Carroll after that game. However, Carroll seems to have found his groove thanks to increased touches as he picked up a healthy 2.8 yards after contact per rush against the Minutemen. He also picked up his highest breakaway percentage since the season opener at 38.5%, a lot closer to the 37.5% he picked up last season at Georgia State.

The play I’m going to highlight this week is his 35 yard touchdown, which was coincidentally his longest rush of the season. At around the 1:30 mark of the video, he hits the gap on the left of the line with explosive speed and the most impressive thing for me is his ability to use his vision to turn this into a touchdown. This could easily have been a 20-25 yard run without the vision, but he cuts to the outside and uses his fantastic elusiveness to break tackles en route to the score. Some people across the country said that run was Schrader-like, with the way he rumbles through the line and I’d have to agree.

Sterling Webb | Defensive Line

Sterling Webb had his best performance of the season by far and what was even more impressive is that he did it in just 19 snaps. After not picking up a single pressure the entire season, Webb picked up five against the Minutemen.

Webb ranked first in the country in pressures per snap among linemen with at least 15 snaps, which is incredible considering some of the numbers people put up this past week. Webb was in the 95th percentile of college football in HHS, and his analytics are even more impressive considering he didn’t pick up a single solo tackle. Analytically, especially for the defensive line the impact one can make extends beyond base statistics.

I tried to scan for film on Webb’s impact in particular, but wasn’t able to find anything concrete. Coming in from New Mexico State, Webb’s main calling card was the success he had at generating pressure under Jerry Kill, and his lack of a role this season has been a bit surprising. Although a performance akin to the one he had at UMass might be in order, and more playing time at that.

Legend

Running Backs

Breakaway: An RBs ability to break a run loose in space.

Elusiveness: An RBs ability to miss tackles in open space.

After Contact: An RBs ability to get yards after contact.

Security: An RBs fumble rate.

Protection: Yards Before Contact, this is used as a measure to see how good the protection a RB gets is, and is a hindrance in the RB VAT formula.

Drops: An RB’s drop rate.

Route Run: An RB’s yards per route run, often shows how good an RB is at route running.

TD/ATT: An RB’s ratio of touchdowns to rushing attempts.

YPA: An RB’s yards per attempt.

Interior Defensive Line

Pass Rush: Pass Rush Score, comprised of various pass rushing stats and factors

Run Defense: Run Defense Score, comprised of various run defense stats and factors

Stops: On a first down, if the offense gets 45% of the way to a first down or less.

On a second down, if the offense gets 60% of the way to a first down or less.

On a third or fourth down, if the offense doesn’t get a first down.

HHS: Hits, Hurries, and Sacks generated

Efficiency: Overall Defensive Efficiency