By Brant Daughtry
I don’t know what Auburn did over the bye week, but I hope it was good. You’re past the point of doing anything spectacular this season, short of winning out, and I don’t think anyone expects that. At this point in the season, with the record being what it is, you’re working to somehow make a bowl game. With one paycheck game left on the schedule that you SHOULD win, that means you have to win three of the remaining five conference games to make it to the postseason. That’s going to be tough to do, and if I’m honest, I don’t see it happening. Luckily, I think one of those opportunities might be this week.
Missouri is coached by Eli Drinkwitz, a goofy looking dude who knows how to coach an offense. He’s one of the more out-there guys in the role of a head coach, and when you learn he got his start under Gus Malzahn, it makes sense. He actually met Gus in the high school ranks, working as an assistant with Gus in the early 2000’s. He spent the 2010 and 2011 seasons as a GA at Auburn, then followed Gus to Arkansas State in 2012. He didn’t come back to Auburn with Gus though, electing to stay as OC at Arkansas State, and was head coach at Mizzou by 2020 after one year at App State. Since then, his tenure has been kind of rocky, but he righted the ship last season, leading Missouri to their first ten-win season since 2014. While they’ve had some bad showings this year, they’re still a solid team with an offense that fits the head coaches identity.
It’s a spread scheme, with athletes at every spot and a quarterback who likes to distribute. Brady Cook has been doing it for a while, and he’s not a world beater, but he’s still pretty good. Typically they come out in what’s called 11 personal. One tight end, one running back, which is pretty standard of a spread offense. They’re not afraid to move guys around though, just because a guy’s CALLED a tight end, doesn’t mean he won’t split out wide and create a size mismatch.
Defensively, the Tigers are coached by Corey Batoon, a guy who’s never stayed in one place for very long. His most recent job was DC under Kane Wommack at South Alabama, and when Wommack left for the Alabama DC job, Batoon got an upgrade as well. Before that, he was actually Hugh Freeze’s safeties coach at Liberty in 2020. He’s been around and while he’s never been a mainstay, he gets the job.
The scheme is, technically speaking, a 3-3. Functionally though, like most modern defenses, it’s a variation of a 4-2. The difference though, is that any one of the three linebackers can become that fourth rusher, sometimes more than one if they want to bring more pressure. The defensive line is also set up specifically to clog the middle of the line, with a nose guard in the center and two 3-techniques, DT’s set up on the outside shoulder of either guard. Remember when Hugh Freeze talked about having difficulties against the Mint front against New Mexico? This is that. It’s a tough look to run against, specifically designed to stop modern spread offenses, like Auburn’s. They don’t run it 100% of the time, but it’s their base look and I’d expect a lot of it.
Player to Watch For:
Wide receiver Luther Burton III, #3- Not a hard one to pick this week. Burton is option 1 for Mizzou, and there’s an argument to be made that he’s the best receiver in college football. He’s not huge, only 5-11, 205, but he’s blazing fast and plays bigger than he is. He’s caught 31 passes for about 400 yards and four TD’s this year. They also get him the ball in a bunch of different ways. He’s got 90 yards on five carries and another two scores. With Theo Wease Jr. on the other side, this offense is tough on opposing backfields.
Linebacker Corey Flagg Jr, #11- Another easy one. Since he arrived as a grad transfer from Miami, Flagg is the leading tackler for Mizzou, with 29 on the year. He’s credited with 15 solo tackles, and that paces the team by a good bit. He’s a bit undersized, only 5-10, but he’s fast and smart. He also got an interception in the Tigers’ last game.
Watching the game that Mizzou played against A&M, that was an old-school SEC win. A&M laid to bear the Tigers’ weakness in the trenches and dominated in a way that evoked the late 2000’s. Looking at the way Auburn’s lines have played when they get assignments sorted properly, I think they can take advantage of that matchup in a similar way. Look back at the film from the Oklahoma game. Against a front that may not be up to the task, Auburn has a chance to establish the run and get out of CoMo with an upset win. It’ll take some game planning, some commitment to the run when it may not work every single time, and preventing of turnovers. It’ll take proper communication, most importantly. But, while I’m not predicting Auburn to win this game, I think the opportunity is there for the taking.
