Missouri running back Marcus Carroll carries Vanderbilt defenders into the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown run in the second half of a game on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Columbia, Mo.
COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore spent his bye week looking for the forest, metaphorically speaking.
He鈥檇 done this before, going on an arboreal adventure of sorts between his first and second seasons calling plays for the Tigers offense. For coaches, it takes something like a bye week to fully evaluate something like a forest.
鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 hard to see the forest through the trees during the season,鈥 Moore said back before preseason camp. 鈥淎nd the stuff that you鈥檙e doing, you鈥檙e staying with it.鈥
By stuff, he means scheme. And at the time he delivered that metaphor, Moore was referring to his comprehensive offseason analysis of how Mizzou could improve in the red zone 鈥 especially on third downs inside opponents鈥 20-yard lines.
The red zone is the part of the field in which MU started preseason camp. During last week鈥檚 bye, the Tigers spent significant portions of their practices camped out in that area, relentlessly repping red-zone possessions.
Missouri football quarterback Brady Cook speaks with the media about red zone struggles on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, before a game at Texas A&M. (Video by Mizzou Network, used with permission of Mizzou Athletics)
鈥淩ed-zone plays. Red zone versus the defense. A red-zone lockout period,鈥 Missouri quarterback Brady Cook said, listing out the tedium of bye week practices, 鈥渨here it鈥檚 basically offense versus defense for three or four rounds, just in the red zone.鈥
In case that doesn鈥檛 make it obvious: Red-zone offense was a point of emphasis for No. 9 Mizzou (4-0 overall, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) during the bye, just as it was early in the preseason. That the Tigers are even particularly preoccupied with what鈥檚 happening in that part of the field is a sign that they鈥檙e focused on the margins.
So far this season, MU has scored on 19 of its 20 possessions that entered the red zone, a 95% clip tied for 10th-most efficient in the nation. That鈥檚 close to where the program was last season when it came away with points on 96.6% of red-zone drives, the third-best mark in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Yet coach Eli Drinkwitz remains unsatisfied with this year鈥檚 progress, just as he was with last year鈥檚 red-zone efficiency. His concern is not about empty trips inside the enemy 20 but with an overabundance of field goal tries when Missouri is so well positioned to score a touchdown.
And what play generally stands between the offense and the field-goal unit? Third down, which explains his specific emphasis.
Through four games, Mizzou has faced 12 third downs inside the red zone. Backup quarterback Drew Pyne was in the game for two of them, which takes out those plays for the sake of pursuing the best analysis.
Of the remaining 10 red-zone third-down situations in which Missouri鈥檚 starting offense was on the field, the Tigers have scored five touchdowns and settled for five field goal attempts 鈥 four of which were converted.
That means MU has converted half of its red-zone third downs, a rate slightly lower than its 54.7% third-down conversion percentage across the entire field 鈥 the sixth-highest in the country.
Comparing a red-zone third down and one farther back on the field is not apples to apples, though. The stakes seem a little higher in the red zone as failing to convert there makes a possession more likely to net three points than six, seven or eight. A failed third down elsewhere can still have consequences on the scoreboard, just not as directly.
Defenses play the red zone differently, too, as Moore explained in the preseason, because 鈥渢he field is shorter.鈥
Drinkwitz put the onus of red-zone improvement on both Missouri鈥檚 players and Moore, the play caller.
Missouri football head coach Eli Drinkwitz speaks with the media about the week off on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, before a game at Texas A&M. (Video by Mizzou Network, used with permission of Mizzou Athletics)
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a whole lot that has to necessarily change,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 just got to be better execution, and there鈥檚 got to be better schematic fits. A couple of plays designed weren鈥檛 conducive to being successful. And a couple of plays weren鈥檛 executed the way we thought they should be. So it鈥檚 everybody doing their job just a little bit better, is really what it comes down to.鈥
Mizzou has been conceptually split on its starters鈥 red-zone third downs: Five have been passes, five have been runs. On those plays, wideout Luther Burden III has scored two receiving touchdowns while Cook has scored twice and running back Note Noel once on the ground. The takeaway 鈥 that targeting Burden through the air, utilizing Cook鈥檚 rushing ability and feeding Noel all have benefits 鈥 is not particularly novel.
While there might be schematic adjustments as a result of what Moore found during his bye week of examination, there could also be players asked to press the 鈥渄o better鈥 button.
鈥淲e could just execute a little bit better 鈥 all of us,鈥 wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. said, pointing out that he鈥檇 missed some blocks in the red zone that stunted the Tigers鈥 progress.
Cook said the bye week鈥檚 added reps have the Missouri offense feeling more confident in its red-zone capabilities ahead of the weekend鈥檚 trip to Texas A&M. And MU has still been scoring points, even amid what coaches identify as a struggle.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to win games like that,鈥 Cook said. 鈥淟uckily, we did.鈥
