COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri left West Lafayette, Ind., with its perfect record intact Sunday morning.
But the defensive progress made through the first two games of this season and the second half of the previous season was undermined in 572 different ways by David Blough and a Purdue offense that almost completely abandoned one phase of its attack.
"On the defensive side, we weren't very good in a lot of areas," Missouri coach Barry Odom said Tuesday. "But the part that I'll take from that, that it's not a wash. There are many correctable mistakes. I thought our underneath coverage was not very good in helping on the back end, quarterback didn't feel enough pressure, and then we didn't win any competitive balls on the back end."
The Boilermakers were almost perfectly balanced between runs and passes through two games, but started the game with 11 straight pass plays, the last of which was Cam Hilton's interception. Purdue ran the ball twice in the first quarter and 16 times total out of 71 offensive snaps. It's not clear if Jeff Brohm chose to attack the Tigers (3-0) through the air because of the first-play concussion sustained by corner DeMarkus Acy and the first-half suspension of linebacker Brandon Lee, or if he and his offensive staff saw matchups they liked across the board, not just in Lee's and Acy's backups.
Either way, the Boilermakers called for a pass 77.5 percent of the time against Missouri and Blough completed 70.9 of those passes on a record-setting night, the good kind for a program that has featured spread offenses and had Drew Brees under center, and the bad kind for a defense that had looked much more stout up to that point.
The eyes and feet of Tiger defenders were not as sharp as they should have been last Saturday night, which is cause for concern as Missouri gets set to host No. 2 Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) at 11 a.m. Saturday (ESPN-TV).
Acy practiced Tuesday and is expected to play against the Bulldogs, and Lee will be available for the full game.
Saturday may have been a rude awakening for the defense, but Georgia and Missouri share a defensive concern through three games - sacks and quarterback pressures. The Tigers have six sacks on the season and seven quarterback hurries, but sacked Blough just once and failed to hurry him, and his comfort in the pocket was evident all game.
The Bulldogs haven't exactly needed a dominant pass rush through their first three games - they have scored greater than 40 points in each game and allowed 24 points total, 17 to South Carolina - but their only sack of the season came against the Gamecocks, and Georgia has nine QB hurries this season.
"Basically, you never can get enough pressure," Missouri defensive line coach Brick Haley said. "But we'd like to get a little bit more. Guys are doing things, balls are coming out fast, there's a lot of factors in getting pressure on a quarterback. We've got to ramp up what we're doing up front and get a little bit better in getting off blocks, but I'm pleased with where we are right now."
It's unlikely either team will pin their ears back to hunt sacks Saturday, as Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm and Missouri's Drew Lock both have the arm and skill players to make opposing teams play, but the team that can apply serious pressure without consistently blitzing and isolating its secondary will have a big advantage Saturday.
Odom sounded confident two true freshmen Jatorian Hansford and Trajan Jeffcoat will soon be able to help the defensive ends on all packages, not just special teams or in situational spots.
"I think we're getting days away from helping us, I really do," Odom said. "Not only just on third downs, I think they've got a chance, really working their way in and helping us on normal down stuff too.
"Both of those guys have a chance here, with three, going into four games into it, you look at the total picture of how they're going to play out over the grind of the season, I think they're going to have a big role."
III
Already taking on a big role on the offensive side of the ball is freshman wide receiver Jalen Knox.
Knox took home SEC Freshman of the Week after he caught five passes for 110 yards and a touchdown against Purdue, mostly lining up on the left side in the second and third quarters to replace Emanuel Hall, who was sidelined with a sore hip/groin.
"It helps, coming out and having a big game," Knox said. "I realized I can do this, and I'm supposed to be here. So it helps me going into this Georgia week, I feel like I can still go out there and contribute, no matter who it is."
Hall, for his part, said he'll play against the Bulldogs even though he was in pain during his 25-yard catch in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game.
"The last thing I want to do is lose a game to Purdue," Hall said. "Our third game, when we have a chance to go 3-0, so I just did what I had to do, I made plays and we made plays. (Freshman running back Tyler Badie) made some clutch plays and obviously Drew did too, so if we can play like that, with that type of confidence going into the Georgia game, that's going to really help us."
Also expected to be healthy for Missouri is left tackle Yasir Durant, who left the Purdue game with an ankle injury, though redshirt freshman Hyrin White was praised by teammates and offensive coordinator Derek Dooley for stepping in and keeping Drew Lock clean. Tiger wide receiver and punt returner Richaud Floyd was out of his air cast and at practice Tuesday, but Odom said he is still working on changing directions and will not play against Georgia. Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart said wide receiver Terry Godwin (contusion) should play Saturday.
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Missouri's 2019 schedule was released Tuesday by the SEC, and it features a five-game homestand, a three-game conference road trip and two open dates.
The Tigers open Aug. 31 at Wyoming, host West Virginia Sept. 7, Southeast Missouri State Sept. 14 and South Carolina Sept. 21 before their first open date, Sept. 28. Missouri hosts Troy Oct. 5 and Mississippi for Homecoming Oct. 12 to close out the homestand. The Tigers go on the road to play Vanderbilt Oct. 19, Kentucky Oct. 26 and have their second open date, Nov. 2, before the final game of the road trip Nov. 9 at Georgia. Missouri then hosts Florida on Nov. 16 and Tennessee on Nov. 23 before finishing the regular season Nov. 30 against Arkansas in Little Rock.