If there’s one thing Kirby Smart knows about Eli Drinkwitz’s teams …
“Let’s be honest, there are teams that don’t commit to the run. (Eli Drinkwitz) is committed to being stubborn with it,” the Georgia coach said Monday. “… Their commitment to the run game and downhill runs helps them be who they are.”
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Smart’s right. When the Tigers get hardheaded with that wide zone, they’ve historically been a tough out.
But, heading into a matchup with the No. 1 Dawgs on Saturday, Nov. 14, in Athens, Mizzou might need to renew those vows.
“I think the first thing we have to do is be more committed to the run,” Drinkwitz said Tuesday. “I think 19 carries for a tailback, especially in that kind of game (against Texas) — we can do more in that run game.”
In a 34-20 loss to Texas on Saturday — and in both of Missouri’s other two defeats this season — the ever-reliable run game has struggled. How well the Tigers are able to run the football, especially in the second half, has been one of the clear indicators of success this season.
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Jamal Roberts has handled RB1 duties well. He’s currently leading the SEC and is No. 5 in the Power leagues with 1,071 rushing yards this year, or 119 yards per game.
But, on three Saturdays this year, the ground game has let the Tigers down.
Take, for instance, just 3.5 yards per carry for 84 total rushing yards in Saturday’s loss to the Longhorns. Mizzou has been held below 4 yards per carry in three games this season, and you can probably guess the three games: Texas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. All losses.
Missouri getting back to what it does best isn’t necessarily as simple as just doing it more, but there’s some positive correlation here.
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The games against the Longhorns and Rebels, perhaps not coincidentally, also happen to be the games Mizzou has taken its fewest rushing attempts this year.
“Talking about a bit before, the biggest thing with run blocking is when you come out of a game and you get 3, 4 yards a carry, that’s just the beginning of giving body blows in a fight,” MU center Dominick Giudice said, “and as time goes on in the game, you’d be able to wear teams down. Obviously, we weren’t able to do that this past game.
“That’s a challenge going forward — being able to get those body blows going on teams early, and then being able to break ones later in the game.”
Roberts has been good at that, when given the chance.
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Drinkwitz said, even with Ahmad Hardy back in practice and available to play, that Roberts will continue to be the Tigers’ workhorse this year. Roberts has taken the most carries of any running back in college football this season, and — at his best — does some of his most productive work in the second half.
The plan is still to get Hardy back into action.
The All-American, who has taken three carries in two games and been on the field for nine snaps since returning to play Oct. 31 from an offseason gunshot wound to his leg, had opportunities against Texas that could have resulted in runs, Drinkwitz said, but the Tigers opted for throws on the RPO plays.
“There will be guys who can rotate in with (Roberts),” Drinkwitz said, “but if we’re only going to have 19 carries for backs, maybe 22 carries total for the backs, as of right now, I would say he’s going to get 19 or 20 of them.”
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Drinkwitz seemed to indicate that the Tigers want more than between 19-22 carries.
Missouri has averaged 5.6 yards or more per carry three times this year, in wins over Florida, Texas A&M and Arkansas. In those games, MU ran the ball at least 35 times.
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Now, you call what’s working, you avoid what’s not.
But … Mizzou was averaging 2.3, 4.6 and 4.2 yards per carry at halftime in those three games. Mizzou’s rushing success rate was not above 43% for the full contest, which, according to Hudl IQ’s advanced analytics, is lower than the season-average of every single SEC team.
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The Tigers stuck with it and benefitted after halftime for three SEC wins. It doesn’t need to work on every single play if it creates some explosives later in games.
“I think there is the cumulative effect of making sure that we land body blows throughout the game,” Drinkwitz said. “We’ve got to continue to do that.”
Nov 7, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers running back Jamal Roberts (20) runs the ball during the second half against the Texas Longhorns at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images
It’s understandable why the Tigers have strayed from the run at times.
In the Texas and Ole Miss games, Mizzou was chasing late in the game. That naturally means throwing the football more often and a generally lopsided run/pass ratio.
But the Tigers are giving up some of their best chunk plays in the process. Mizzou has hit a 20-yard run in every single one of its wins over an FBS team this year. It has not hit an explosive of that distance in any of its losses — the games it has run the football the least.
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The Tigers (6-3, 3-3 SEC) have likened what they want to do running the football to boxing matches: body blows, wear and tear, late KO.
Georgia’s next, and the Bulldogs (8-1, 6-1) are as strong as they come up front in the country this year.
So, Mizzou had better rediscover its love for committing to the run.
“Just being able to stay ahead is obviously something we want to do,” Giudice said, “and being able to maybe hit those big runs early on in the game, being able to make sure, obviously, we’re gonna get the 3, 4 yards, which is what we want, but being able to hit those earlier on in the game to be able to stick with that, I think would be, obviously, the best way to do it.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football needs to be more committed to running the football
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
