How Mizzou's defense adjusted to contain Boston College's mobile QB, rushing attack (2024)

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Pick a number between three and five, inclusive.

If you chose three, four or five, you’re correct: Missouri lined up with that many defensive linemen at some point in Saturday’s 27-21 win over Boston College.

The then-No. 6 Tigers threw a handful of different looks in the trenches against the Eagles and dual-threat quarterback Thomas Castellanos, sifting through options as it became more comfortable to corral the scrambler.

There were a handful of negative firsts that came in the game for Mizzou’s defense under new coordinator Corey Batoon, but they were the kind of firsts that were inevitable and often occur before the third game of the season, as was their contest Saturday: first points allowed, first penalty, first opposition drive into the red zone.

There were clear successes: game-changing interceptions by safety Tre’Vez Johnson and cornerback Dreyden Norwood, sacks by transfer linebackers Khalil Jacobs and Corey Flagg Jr.

And there were mishaps: Two blown coverages gifted the Eagles lengthy passing touchdowns.

“I know Corey (Batoon) is disappointed,” MU coach Eli Drinkwitz said after rattling off some of those shortcomings.

But to be clear, that’s the defensive coordinator’s own emotion. Drinkwitz was quite pleased with how his offseason addition handled a test against a much more dynamic offense than Missouri had seen through its first two games.

“Cool as a cucumber, man. Nothing phases him,” Drinkwitz said. “Just up there dialing up great calls. He did lose it a little bit on the last coverage bust, but he’s a vet. Can’t say enough great things about him and the calming presence and the tactical advantages that he gives us.”

Tactically, Saturday’s game seemed to revolve around stopping the run. Boston College mixed in multiple running backs around Castellanos’ own rushing capability, using some read plays alongside scrambles and traditional handoffs.

Mizzou’s initial game plan seemed to involve using five down linemen on some first downs, swapping hybrid safety Daylan Carnell for an extra defensive tackle — that’s the personnel package Batoon used on the first play from scrimmage. The vast majority of the time, the Tigers were in their base 4-2-5 defense, while the 3-1-7 prowler package made its fair share of appearances on third downs.

In terms of taking away Boston College’s rushing ability, though, early returns weren’t particularly positive.

Castellanos ran for 21 yards in the first quarter, with the Eagles’ running backs combining for another 24. The BC quarterback wasn’t forgoing the passing game to pick up those yards either, completing 4 of 7 passes for 38 yards in the opening period.

And in the second quarter, his ability to play off schedule broke the Missouri defense. He fumbled a snap, sending the ball to the turf before picking it back up — certainly an example of the script being tossed out on a given play.

The moment of backfield chaos drew Mizzou’s defensive shell inward toward the line of scrimmage. That was helpful for some positions — say, linebackers — but for the secondary that had dropped back into pass coverage, it was costly.

Not one but two Boston College receivers broke over the top of the MU defense as a result, giving an improvising Castellanos a choice between whom he wanted to give a touchdown. His pass was a tad underthrown, but it didn’t matter: The Eagles were off to the races and showing off what makes that style of quarterback tough to defend.

“It’s hard,” Johnson, the safety with the interception, said. “Him being such a good runner, you've got to also have your eyes in the backfield for the quarterback. He created a lot of confusion, a lot of problems. But like I said, game plan, went out and executed and came out with a win.”

The game plan, as far as it pertained to Castellanos, seemed to evolve as the game went. Flushing him from the pocket came with its own consequences.

“Any time you rush past an athletic quarterback like that, then you’re playing with 10,” Drinkwitz said. “We felt like we had an advantage if we could keep him in the pocket.”

So that’s what the Tigers did. When rushing four, MU’s defensive line seemed to pull back at times — filling space more than trying to play tag in and out of the pocket. When Jacobs sacked Castellanos in the third quarter, it was off an unblocked blitz. The frequency of those calls wasn’t immediately available after the game, but the eye test suggests Mizzou was rather sparing in how often it sent extra pressure.

It worked as the game went on. In the second quarter, Castellanos’ legs netted no yards. He lost 12 in the third and gained only 7 yards in the fourth.

After posting 45 rushing yards as a team in the first quarter, Boston College finished with 49 overall.

“The main thing was stopping the run and get after the quarterback,” Johnson said. “Our third thing was create takeaways, and I think we did all three of those.”

Winning a ranked matchup in Week 3 bodes well for Missouri for a variety of reasons, but its defensive performance against Castellanos in particular could pay dividends down the road. What the Tigers figured out against his style might be necessary against the other mobile quarterbacks along the schedule — like Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia in a week’s time.

“Disappointed that we gave up that many points, but (Batoon) did a really good job keeping our guys focused for a very difficult contain,” Drinkwitz said. “Really, the next week’s quarterback is gonna be real similar.”

COLUMBIA, Mo. — What if Luther Burden III had not been in the game to make what became Saturday’s win-cementing catch?

Mizzou’s star receiver often does things that look impossible, but not even he could have pulled down the fourth quarter’s penultimate first down had he been ejected earlier for taking Boston College’s bait.

You know what else is impossible, even for the talented Burden? He can’t throw the ball to himself in the first quarter.

Both topics are worth ruminating upon for No. 6 Mizzou as it digests its 27-21 win against No. 24 Boston College before turning attention toward SEC play.

Hey, there’s no such thing as a bad win against a ranked team. The Tigers’ run of consecutive wins dating to last season (a nation-leading seven) and straight home games sold out (eight) rolls on as Saturday’s SEC opener against Vanderbilt nears. But here’s the thing about good teams that are determined to become great teams: They don’t throw out the bad with the good. They use it to improve.

Saturday presented two obvious ways the Tigers can sharpen their claws.

One has to do with how games start. It’s specifically tied to one player. Fixing it should be pretty easy, as long as it’s acknowledged as an issue.

Another affects the whole team across four quarters. But there’s one player who can and should lead the charge of positive change. Burden.

First, Mizzou has to get Burden an early touch or two every game. No exceptions. No excuses. He went a quarter and a half without getting the ball in his hands Saturday. When he finally got it on Mizzou’s 18th play of offense, he turned a Brady Cook pass into a 44-yard gain. That play lit the fuse on a 117-yard receiving performance that featured 74 yards gained after catches in addition to a highlight worthy spin move on a 19-yard touchdown reception.

“It doesn’t make it harder,” Burden said, diplomatically. “When I get the ball, I’m trying to do what’s best for my team. It doesn’t matter when.”

Still, it took too long for Mizzou to activate its best gamebreaker. Period.

Second, the Tigers have to clean it up. Eight penalties on Saturday surrendered 91 yards, and the list included some really dumb and poorly timed stuff.

For example, Mizzou’s defense would have snuffed Boston College’s first two drives promptly had third-down penalties on each of those drives not provided the Eagles with new life. The Tigers now have surrendered 215 yards on 25 penalties this season. The trend has not cost them a game, but it eventually will if it continues. And it could have happened Saturday, had Burden not caught what appeared to be a lucky break.

Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz didn’t sound too pleased with the game’s ACC-based officiating crew, but I imagine he will find little to object about Burden’s rapid-fire flags in the third quarter.

Burden drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for tossing an opponent’s mouthpiece during one jawing session. Then, two plays later, while knowing he was one more unsportsmanlike conduct penalty away from being thrown out of a game his team led by only 10 points, he drew an unnecessary roughness penalty for aiming a ball at a Boston College player during jostling on the BC sideline. It easily could have been called another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. If it had been, Burden would have been watching from the locker room instead of corralling a critical catch that later shut the door on Boston College after it had cut the lead to six and forced Mizzou into a third-and-seven situation on its own 28-yard line.

“The penalties, those are on me,” Drinkwitz said. “Those are on me. They said they captured me getting on Luther pretty good about it. That’s the bottom line. It was selfish football and it’s gotta get cleaned up, but I’m sure glad he’s on our team.”

The first problem seems pretty fixable, right? Coaches have a bad habit of overcomplicating these things, and I think Drinkwitz was trending that way Saturday while shrugging off Burden’s slow launch. This wasn’t a case of Burden dropping a first-quarter pass, or Cook overthrowing him. Burden being an option on early plays that don’t go his way isn’t a good answer, either. Some guys, you get the ball early to get them going. Burden is one of those guys.

The penalty problem is bigger than any one player, but Burden certainly can be the lead change agent in solving it. If buckling down on bad decisions and mental mistakes that gift yards to opponents becomes something he takes a lead in stomping out, others will follow him, the same way they mimic his touchdown dances.

Saturday’s postgame comments presented a good sign there.

“I just have to cut the nonsense out,” Burden said. “Stay composed. I don’t want to put my team in that position anymore. I’m glad to learn from it.”

If the lessons learned Saturday are that Burden must be involved earlier and that he can’t risk making himself unavailable late, a good team can take another step toward becoming great.

Learning lessons while remaining undefeated is a lot better than the alternative.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri almost got got, and in that, it got what it wanted.

Trailing No. 24 Boston College 14-6 in the second quarter of Saturday’s game, the No. 6 Tigers were in risky territory.

After not allowing a point in its first two games this season, Mizzou’s defense had given up a couple of scores to the Eagles and dynamic quarterback Thomas Castellanos. A key penalty fueled one BC scoring drive while coverage more busted than too-tight skinny jeans gifted the visitors another touchdown.

MU’s offense, meanwhile, had started in pedestrian fashion, settling for a pair of field goals while struggling to consistently complete the passes it craved.

Tre’Vez Johnson, one of the defensive backs who rotates through the safety position, prowled the sideline.

“Just don’t flinch,” he told his teammates, a phrase that trickled along the benches between Faurot Field’s 20-yard lines.

With 4:20 before halftime, Johnson snared an underthrown pass from Castellanos for an interception, returning it to the Eagles’ 25-yard line.

A short field was just what Missouri’s offense needed. On its third play after the pick, wideout Luther Burden III cooked four BC defenders while breezing into the end zone.

His touchdown, set up by Johnson’s interception, was the first of a string of 24 unanswered points that Mizzou (3-0) scored in the middle of a 27-21 victory over Boston College (2-1) — a result that the Tigers think was mostly about their ability to respond to trying circ*mstances.

“Today was not pretty, was not our best performance, top to bottom — but (we) really responded,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “We hadn’t been challenged all year, and (I) was concerned, with so many new faces, what that response would be. Today, I think you saw a team that’s committed to each other, a team that responds, a team that’s never out of the fight.”

Drinkwitz made the call to go for a 2-point conversion after Burden’s score to tie the game 14-14 in the second quarter, which proved prudent when running back Nate Noel took a shotgun snap himself and powered across the goal line.

“That could get ugly real fast, so for us to turn it around and (the) defense to get a stop and us go score right after that, that’s good for heading into the rest of the season,” Burden said.

He and Noel were the offensive standouts from Saturday’s game.

Noel ran the ball 22 times for 121 yards, including four carries of 13 or more yards. Burden caught six passes for 117 yards and a receiving score, creating plenty with the ball in his hands — namely 74 yards after the catch.

The preseason All-American wideout’s performance mirrored the offense at large: It wasn’t until he started getting touches that the Tigers really started moving the chains. But Burden wasn’t surprised at how MU settled in.

“I knew we were gonna keep swinging no matter what,” he said.

Kicker Blake Craig — “the difference” in the game, Drinkwitz said — shot a booming 56-yard field goal through the uprights just before halftime, the longest kick of his young career. That gave Missouri a 17-14 lead heading back into the locker room, an advantage it wouldn’t relinquish.

Back inside quieter confines, the Tigers’ coach emphasized the importance of winning the game’s “swing eight” minutes — the four minutes on either side of halftime. Receiving the ball to start the second half, Mizzou’s players executed on his challenge.

Another Burden catch produced 36 yards of man-made magic and set up a rushing touchdown for quarterback Brady Cook to go up 24-14.

The score came 4½ minutes into the third quarter, so not precisely within the swing eight minutes. But if Drinkwitz expanded his emphasis to a swing 10, that span saw the Tigers score 21 points.

A late-game blown coverage allowed Boston College to re-enter one-score territory and briefly threaten the Tigers, but MU’s offense controlled the ball to ice the game in the fourth quarter. Forced to throw on a third down to keep possession, Cook found Burden for a short but vital completion that set up an opportunity to drain the clock.

There were lessons throughout the game that will come up on the practice field for Missouri — namely regarding pass coverage, which produced both two interceptions and two catastrophic collapses. But there was a more intrinsic takeaway from the MU sideline, too.

“For us to have to face some adversity and then figure out who we are, who we can count on, what are you going to do when your back’s against the wall and you’re tired?” Drinkwitz said. “I think that was really important.”

The combat analogies weren’t just coming from the coach, either.

“We’ve been through situations in spring, fall camp with each other,” Noel said. “We already knew what we had. But to do it against another team, to go up backs against the wall and nobody flinched, that just shows we really bought in.”

Winning against a ranked and clearly talented Boston College side helps Mizzou’s stature in a bigger-picture sense, too. While dominant results in the first two games of the year were enough to keep the Tigers undefeated and moving upward in polls, those results hadn’t done much to establish Missouri’s place in the national college football psyche.

ESPN’s “College GameDay” pregame show, for instance, traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, this weekend instead of Columbia, Missouri, picking a matchup between Louisiana State and South Carolina over Saturday’s only duel between ranked teams.

“To me, it’s disrespect,” Burden said, “not to have us on the big stage with the big TV cameras. I took that personal. I’m pretty sure everybody else in that locker room took it personal. We ain’t going nowhere. We’re here to stay.”

The downside of a highly ranked college football team doing exactly what it should do against early season opponents it paid to pulverize is that it provides such little intrigue some start overexerting themselves in attempts to create some.

No. 6 Missouri is 2-0 after romps against Murray State and Buffalo. No parades needed. But it’s a lot better than, say, Notre Dame dropping 13 spots in the Associated Press Top 25 because it coughed up a home game to Northern Illinois. Ouch.

An under-examination Tigers defense stocked with new transfers and led by new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon has delivered consecutive shutouts, held opponents to a measly 18.5 percent success rate on third-down conversion attempts, and has allowed just one play that gained more than 20 yards. The biggest unknown about the team has been a positive, as positive as can be through two games against significantly overmatched opposition. So, naturally, the worry has to find a new place to land.

For some, that’s on quarterback Brady Cook. Again.

He’s overthrown some targets! He’s only completed one touchdown pass! Last week, he had an interception!

Please, relax.

Don’t take my word for it.

Listen to Boston College coach Bill O’Brien.

“Very athletic, tough quarterback in Brady Cook,” O’Brien said this week while previewing Mizzou. “Very, very good player. He can throw. And run.”

Cook’s completion percentage (71.6 percent) is fourth-best in the SEC at the moment. His team was up 35-0 at halftime in Game 1 and led 24-0 at halftime of Game 2. He has overcooked some throws, sure. He’s also used his legs to smartly score three times, giving him the second-most rushing touchdowns for an SEC QB so far this season. Any analysis that goes beyond that after MU’s first two games feels like mountain making from molehills.

Saturday’s Game 3 is a little different, though. Credit to No. 24 Boston College and O’Brien for making it so. By stunning Florida State, BC has a buzz, a number by its name and a top-10 win beneath its belt.

Now, I’m not sure beating Florida State is going to look nearly as impressive by the season’s end, perhaps similar to how Mizzou got a big morale boost out of beating then “defending champion” LSU in 2020, a win that felt seismic in the moment, before that same LSU team went on to be a .500 team that fired its coach. But a college football season isn’t examined in reverse. It plays out weekly. Boston College has legitimate momentum and confidence, plus a talented quarterback in Thomas Castellanos.

This game has earned an elevated stage. It’s the first meeting of a ranked Mizzou team and a ranked non-conference opponent since Mizzou and Illinois kicked off the 2008 season at The Dome. It’s also the only game going down Saturday that features two ranked teams. College GameDay seemed to have picked the wrong SEC Columbia. That won’t stop the College Football Playoff shapers from scouting.

So, yes, it’s time for Cook to elevate again. Count me among those who thinks he can and will. We’re still talking about the same quarterback who squashed skepticism last season and led the Tigers to an 11-win season that included a win against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, a team leader who last season threw nearly as many passes of 20-plus yards (52) as returning Georgia starter and Heisman Trophy candidate Carson Beck (58), and more than returning Alabama quarterback and Heisman candidate Jalen Milroe (51).

Cook’s even more experienced now than he was then, and he knows the difference between Murray State and Buffalo and ranked BC. A CFP appearance is within the Tigers’ paws this season if they seize it. Games against ranked opponents, whether they’re ranked at the season’s end or not, matter more.

Remember, too, that Cook and his offense’s production were rather tame through the first two cakewalk games of last season, before coach Eli Drinkwitz and offensive coordinator Kirby Moore started getting deeper into the playbook against Kansas State and beyond. Chess not checkers, Drinkwitz reminded us back then.

A look around the league would also be wise, for the sake of some quarterback context.

Florida already has moved on to its freshman quarterback DJ Lagway after initially starting Graham Mertz. Auburn has benched interception prone Payton Thorne in favor of redshirt freshman Hank Brown. Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman has completed fewer than 53 percent of his passes and has just one completion of 20 or more yards.

There are SEC campuses suffering from real QB issues. Mizzou isn’t one of them. Saturday would be the perfect time for Cook to make that clear once more.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Caleb Flagg’s games came first.

Playing sports as a kid, he’d wrap up his game and head over to a different field to watch another, where his older brother, Corey Jr., would be playing.

“I used to wish to be on the field with him,” Caleb told the Post-Dispatch, thinking about “all the plays we could have been making. Of course, I used to be saying to myself: I would have more touchdowns.”

A decade and a half later, through circ*mstances that range from a Texas high school football dynasty to a former Missouri coach to the transfer portal, Corey and Caleb Flagg are finally on the field together.

It happens to be at Mizzou. And it was a long time coming.

Both Flagg brothers have found roles with the No. 6 Tigers. Corey, 22, is one of two middle linebackers used in MU’s defense. Caleb, 20, leveraged a strong spring camp into a rotational spot as a safety.

They transferred together over the offseason, albeit from separate schools. Corey appeared in more than 40 games across four seasons at Miami, while Caleb was ready to move up a level after two strong years at Houston Christian.

“I just can’t thank Coach Drink(witz) enough for allowing me and my brother to be a part of this,” Corey said after Missouri’s season-opening win over Murray State.

‘We know this is not normal’

Jon Kay saw both Flagg brothers coming through the pipeline.

Kay, as the head coach at Galena Park North Shore High School in the Houston area, was aware of talented brothers who were playing at Cunningham Middle School within the district.

Corey, as the elder sibling, joined the program first. He emerged as a standout during his junior year when the Mustangs marched all the way to the 2018 Texas Class 6A D1 championship game — a high school football gauntlet up there with the toughest anywhere in the nation.

North Shore won in Hollywood movie fashion, on a final-play Hail Mary pass, beating Duncanville and future Mizzou cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. But Corey had struggled.

“He was trying so hard to make every play,” said Kay, now the linebackers coach at Rice. “I think it was a pretty valuable lesson for him, just to learn how to play within a defense.”

A year later, Corey had improved. In a title game reprise, he helped the Mustangs pitch a second-half shutout for back-to-back championships to close out his career. Corey was the game’s defensive MVP.

Caleb, a sophom*ore at the time, was supposed to be part of that team. He’d earned a special teams role with North Shore’s varsity team, but an early season injury kept him off the field.

And Corey was off to Miami to start his college career.

“That was very special,” Caleb remembers thinking. “It really gave me hope, to see that there’s actually offers and it was real close to me. He helped me keep my dream alive with becoming a Division I athlete. ... That’s why I’m blessed to have a big brother like him.”

But it was also a window to share the field closed.

“I always felt, even though they never told me this, that they always wanted to play together again,” Kay said.

The Flagg brothers figured the college recruiting process would put them at different schools, so that goal was on hold.

“But (in the) NFL, we had dreams,” Caleb said. “We’d see each other in the NFL, hope we get drafted on the same team.”

Before any of that could happen, the younger Flagg had a high school career to close out. In his first season without his older brother around the house, Caleb and the Mustangs lost in the state semifinals. In 2021, his senior season, they won the championship again.

It was the third in four seasons for North Shore and the Flagg family. A video from that day shows Corey on the sideline, filming his younger brother’s celebrations.

A month later, Caleb committed to Houston Christian.

“Proud of you bro!” Corey wrote on X, formerly Twitter, following his younger brother’s commitment. “You don’t know how much this means to me, man. Love you.”

The brothers had made it, in one sense: They were both playing college football. They also made it challenging for their family to watch them play.

“It’s still crazy how they did it, but they did,” Caleb said. “Every weekend, they split it up. ... There was always somebody in the stands for us.”

When they could, the Flagg brothers watched each other’s games. At its most convenient, it was a bit like their youth sports days — one would play before the other, making cheering each other on a pre- or postgame activity.

“If we had a 6 p.m. kickoff and he had a 2:30,” Caleb explained, “pregame, I’d have his game on my phone, watching his game. Watching him would kind of get me in the mode for my game.”

After the 2023 season, Corey decided to transfer for his final year of college football, while Caleb wanted to jump up a level or two after a strong performance at Houston Christian, so the brothers entered the transfer portal.

Blake Baker, at the time Missouri’s defensive coordinator, called Corey. Baker had recruited the elder Flagg brother to Miami, back when he was the Hurricanes’ defensive coordinator and linebacker coach.

And after the Mizzou assistant saw some of Caleb’s film, he had a question for Corey: Would both brothers want to play for the Tigers?

“That was a blessing that just fell in our lap,” Caleb said. “It didn’t build up — nothing to it. It was just straight like that.

“We instantly knew that we wanted to play together, so that decision was instantly made,” he continued. “But once we got up here to the visit to Mizzou, man.”

Both brothers were impressed with what Missouri had to offer. On their visit, they clicked with Daniel and Harold Blood, another pair of brothers now together with the Tigers after the latter’s offseason transfer.

Almost immediately after the Flaggs committed to MU out of the transfer portal, there was a speed bump. Baker suddenly left to take the defensive coordinator position at Louisiana State. The coach who’d drawn both brothers to Columbia was gone.

“All well wishes to Coach Baker,” Corey said. “He’d done a lot for my family, even when I was at Miami, so I appreciate him for what he’s done. Definitely was some uncertainty because that was the guy I was talking to in the portal process — him and (linebackers) Coach DJ (Smith). But Coach DJ and Coach Drink made us feel at home, so that’s why we stayed.”

As Drinkwitz remembers it, he didn’t have to do any real convincing to keep Corey and, by extension, Caleb in the program.

“Honestly, there really wasn’t a pitch,” Drinkwitz said. “(Corey) chose his place. Coach Baker had a lot to do with it, obviously with the previous relationship and knowing the scheme. But he chose this place for the guys in the locker room and has reiterated that throughout the process: that this was a place for him and his brother.”

What helped keep the brothers on board, too, was consistent delivery from the Mizzou coaching staff. Promises were kept, even if the coach who made them was no longer in the facility.

“Everything they said they would do, they’ve done,” Corey said. “They’ve provided this opportunity to compete.”

And compete they did. Caleb was the Tigers’ spring game defensive MVP, a performance that positioned him well for a spot on the two-deep when preseason camp rolled around. Corey has impressed, through two games, at linebacker, where his ability to cover ground is reminiscent of his North Shore performances.

They’re enjoying having each other around. Between practices, they watch video clips together — “that’s fun, watching film with our brother,” Caleb said.

The Flagg family attended the Tigers’ first two games of the 2024 season, basking in the ease of being able to see both brothers in one game, no dividing and conquering required.

“It’s unreal, and it’s a blessing,” Caleb said. “(We’re) not taking the moments for granted because we know this is not normal. Not everybody gets to play with their brother and have your family be in one place for a football game. We’re cherishing the moments.”

They might both be contributors to a Southeastern Conference program, but the roots of making it to this stage, together, are in growing up together.

“Growing up, I always chased my brother because that was always my role model,” Caleb said, then added: “He’s a phenomenal big brother. He gave me a perfect example to follow.”

And following him to Missouri has worked out. Caleb is reminded of it from time to time when he’s sharing the field with Corey and sees his last name mirrored on the jersey in front of him.

“It’s still a thought in my mind,” Caleb said, “like, ‘Man, that’s my brother.’”

KANSAS CITY — University of Missouri administrators formally approved a $250 million renovation of Mizzou’s Memorial Stadium on Thursday, the expected next step for the project.

The stadium’s new-look north concourse is expected to be ready in time for the 2026 college football season and will feature several new premium seating areas. Nothing vastly changed from a design or plan standpoint between an April announcement of renovation plans and unanimous approval from the UM System Board of Curators during a Thursday meeting — except for the implications.

Ground will be broken Nov. 30 in conjunction with MU’s final regular-season football game of the year, a tangible step toward the realization of renderings once again touted after the meeting.

But there’s still a quarter of a billion dollars needed to fund the renovation, which seemed especially relevant during Thursday’s meeting on the UMKC campus. Administrators detailed the need they saw — and still see — for spending that kind of money at this point in time, when Missouri football is ranked sixth in the nation.

“It wasn’t going to change for a long time if we didn’t do it now. The decision to invest $250 million for Memorial Stadium was not a whim,” said Bob Blitz, a curator and the chair of the board’s Mizzou athletics oversight committee. “We learned that the most public-facing signal of championship expectations is the quality of the stadium of the university. You can see that we’re looking for championships, and you can expect championships.

“Most importantly, we learned that the failure to invest in this today would create a rapid decline in what is our rapidly improving program,” he continued. “Every metric that we looked at compelled us and directed us to make this investment now.”

Athletics director Laird Veatch was hired after the board first unveiled its plans for the north concourse back in April, taking the job with acknowledgment of how the project would dominate his first months on the job.

“We are marching forward quickly and aggressively,” Veatch said. “We’re moving forward in good faith that our Mizzou, loyal fans are going to say ‘yes’: They’re going to say ‘yes’ when we ask for their support, they’re going to say ‘yes’ to purchasing tickets. We are confident, given all the momentum we have.”

The athletics department is expected to cover half of the project’s cost — so, $125 million — through philanthropy.

Veatch said the department is “over halfway there in terms of overall commitments,” which would put the current fundraising tally a bit above $62.5 million.

That progress is worth monitoring. Veatch said in June that Mizzou athletics had secured 10 seven-figure donations, and the athletics department announced an anonymous contribution earlier this year that was expected to include $50 million for the north concourse renovation.

“I would say we have a lot of really good conversations going with several of our donors that will put us in a position to further that along,” Veatch said. “But we do have a lot of work to do, and we need them to say ‘yes’ and support us, but we’re confident we have the capacity and passion to do it.”

The university side of MU will pay for the project’s other $125 million in cost, with at least some expected to be debt borrowed against the addition’s future revenues. There seems to be a substantial chance that the university will seek at least some state funding to go toward Memorial Stadium’s new north concourse.

“We’re not shy about asking them,” Blitz said.

Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey visited Thursday’s meeting ahead of a planned trip to Columbia that will take him to Missouri’s Saturday football game against Boston College.

In public remarks to the Board of Curators, he conveyed confidence in the SEC’s stability amid broader uncertainty in college athletics about the future of revenue sharing, realignment and the eroding oversight of the NCAA.

“Throughout what’s happening today, I repeatedly offer that in these times of change, there’s no better place to be than the Southeastern Conference,” he said.

MU administration tied its decision to greenlight the Memorial Stadium project to its stature within the SEC and Sankey’s presence.

“As an SEC member — the most important conference in the country — we want to be an even stronger partner, stronger member going forward, and that takes investment,” UM System President and MU Chancellor Mun Choi said. “Rest assured, we’re going to work hard throughout our every sector to generate the revenues that we need to make sure that this project is done on time and on budget.”

The Memorial Stadium renovation will add about 2,000 premium seats while constructing new seating areas, above, below and around the famous hill and rock M.

Sankey on Disney-DirecTV dispute

On a vastly different note from the Memorial Stadium discussions, the Post-Dispatch asked Sankey whether an ongoing dispute between Disney and DirecTV that has left the television provider’s customers unable to watch ABC, the SEC Network and ESPN channels — the networks that hold the SEC’s media rights — has reached a level of concern for the conference.

“Each time there’s a carriage negotiation, sure, it’s a level of attention,” Sankey said. “And in fact, I had not even opened the email from my friends at DirecTV, and it was on social media that they had written me a letter. We’ve stayed in constant communication with our colleagues at ESPN and Disney. I know they’re working diligently to provide the opportunity to restore the service. We’ll see what happens. ... Hopefully they can find their way to a conclusion.”(tncms-asset)3c98e300-7040-11ef-af68-fbb61fb75850[0](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)8e484e28-6f89-11ef-802f-bbc0b6500483[1](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)c0230b08-6ee0-11ef-86e5-7b832d9621e7[2](/tncms-asset)

Bring your Tigers football, basketball and recruiting questions, and talk to Eli Hoff in a live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Transcript

Eli Hoff:Good morning from Kansas City! The UM System Board of Curators is meeting at UMKC later this afternoon to talk about the Memorial Stadium project, and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is in town. Could be some interesting things coming your way from those events this afternoon. But for now, it's all about your questions!

Todd H:Good day to you Eli--hope all is well your way. I've missed so many chats lately and I'm not proud of it.

Hoff:Howdy, Todd! I may be writing from a coffee shop next to UMKC's campus, but I promise I don't take attendance.

KevZou:Everyone is talking about BC being for real and Mizzou better watch out. I say we don't know anything about BC based on two games....and perhaps not much about Mizzou. What say you?

Hoff:Sure. I don't think anyone can argue with that. How much of what we'll know about any team by season's end is evident through Week 2? Probably not a whole lot, and last year's Mizzou team is a good example. The working hypothesis through the first two games of last season was that the Tigers would get blown out by K-State... and then that didn't happen.

I actually think Missouri is more of an unknown than Boston College is, though. We've seen BC go all-out to win a game — Week 1 to beat Florida State. That showed that Castellanos can scramble and control a drive, the Eagles can and will run right at you, and the defense, especially around the line of scrimmage, doesn't mess around. That isn't everything, but it's something. What I think the bigger unknown is with Boston College is how good it'll end up being. Florida State could finish 8-4 and that win stays as a really good one for BC. Or they could be 4-8 and that ends up being a routine one.

Whereas with Mizzou, there've been two shutouts against some lowly opposition. The offense has a lot of firepower — nobody's disputing that — but it hasn't showed it yet, and hasn't needed to. I think if I'm a neutral observer trying to figure something out while watching this game, it's actually with how the Tigers look in this one. But I see where that can be subjective.

TigerBoz:Is the Mizzou defense likely to spy the BC QB for the entire game or just in certain situations?

Hoff:This is one of the things I'll be watching for. I'm pretty confident that Mizzou will try to through a few different things at Castellanos — Eli Drinkwitz said just about as much during his news conference. I'm sure at least some of those will involve a QB spy.

And the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Corey Flagg Jr. in that role. He's incredibly mobile for a middle linebacker and can tackle well, so if Mizzou needs someone to follow a scramble in a hurry and put a stop to it, that seems like it's up Flagg's alley. I don't know if this actually would impact things, but Flagg's on the short side for a linebacker, too, which could actually play to his favor. If Castellanos (also short) is escaping the pocket, maybe Flagg is quite literally under the radar compared to the trees that are linemen.

Where the approach might matter the most — and be the most interesting — is on 3rd downs. Let's say Boston College faces a 3rd and 8. There's a good chance they pass, but picking up 8 yards for a scrambling QB isn't exactly difficult. If Mizzou goes with its prowler package (3-1-7 defense), that gets interesting. There's a lot of speed and versatility on the back end to contain Castellanos.

I know a lot of you have vested interests in this game, but from just a football standpoint, that's going to be fascinating. Drinkwitz called it a "chess match," and I'm inclined to agree.

Todd H:These penalties committed by our OL have been infuriating and are inexcusable and unacceptable. This is not something new Eli--these OL penalties have been a problem now for over 2 seasons! (Remember how 1st and goal at the UGA 1 was moved back 5 yards and MU had to end up settling for a FG in that game 2 years ago?!?) What can Drinkwitz do as the head coach to fix this problem?

Hoff:I'd argue the inexcusable ones are the illegal formation ones. Drinkwitz called them "embarrassing," so I don't think I'm taking an unfair shot there. Those ones are on the coaches. Especially with in-helmet comms now, they need to be lining up in a way that they are either correct from the get-go or can be corrected from the sideline. Just shouldn't happen.

Penalties backing up field goals isn't anything new with Mizzou, either. Mevis' 61-yarder was longer than it needed to be because of a penalty. So that supports your point.

There might be a technique aspect to some of these holding calls that have popped up. The O-line spent time this week working on when to time their release — the fine line of finishing a block without holding the other guy. That's probably the extent of what the coaching staff can really do for right now.

And maybe being in a higher-pressure situation will help. It's not like any of these penalties have been costly so far. Sub-optimal, sure, but the impact hasn't exactly jeopardized a game. That could change starting on Saturday. If the players are a little more locked in overall that might help avert mental lapses. Though I also understand if not all of you share that optimistic view.

TigerBoz:The Mizzou program has to be happy that BC comes in as a ranked opponent it's a must win game and a win will only help the resume moving forward. Also, wouldn't you agree that a number by BC helps the team's motivation, if that's needed?

Hoff:Definitely. With where things stand right now (see above point about what we really know at this stage of the season), some points of Mizzou's schedule have strengthened (BC, Vandy, maybe Arkansas and South Carolina?) while others have weakened (Texas A&M, perhaps Auburn). Given how we think the CFP process might shake out, every bit of strength helps — assuming, of course, Missouri wins.

And yes, it's good for motivational purposes, too. If you've been reading our pages or listening to the Eye on the Tigers podcast, you've known not to underestimate Boston College. Week 1 against Florida State should've confirmed that. The ranking by their name is there for the rest to catch on that this team, at this stage, is one to take seriously. I don't think Missouri was going to be caught by surprise — regardless of whether BC was ranked 14, 24 or would be 44 if the poll went that far, this was always going to be the best team faced so far this season. There's plenty of material to hype up this MU team for the importance of this game.

KevZou:I don't think that matters. They will be unranked again when Mizzou beats them. And later in the season people will say "but BC was 24 when Mizzou beat them." And they'll say "It's just BC...and they aren't ranked any more."

Hoff:I guess. But there's also a world where BC contends in an ACC field that looks pretty wide open right now, isn't there? I'm not saying there won't be a 20-20 hindsight view of this game, just like there is with BC beating FSU, but what matters at the moment is that Mizzou gets the No. 24 team in the country this weekend, and beating them is helpful for building a resume.

Jeremy:I was thinking about how BC beat Florida State and Duquesne, and it seems very unlikely that BC could manage to run such long, slow drives with 75% rushing plays and so many successful 3rd downs against Mizzou's defense. Clock control only works if you can keep moving the chains. I'm starting to believe that MU may not be as vulnerable to a running QB in 2024, either. (Does being vulnerable to a Heisman winner even count?) So at this point I'm really only worried about Mizzou's offense being the letdown. (Also: another lopsided stat in the BC-FSU game was the penalties; so that's making me a little nervous.)

Hoff:The question there is how Mizzou's defense can do against the run, right? And I think the answer to that remains to be seen — hence my earlier point that there are still a lot of unknowns about this team even with some encouraging signs. You'd expect the Tigers to hold up better than Florida State, defensively, and I'm not even going to use Duquesne as a bar. But the game will show whether that's the case.

Figuring out how to deal with mobile quarterbacks is especially important for this year's team. Jayden Daniels made last year's unit look silly – but you're right, he won the Heisman because he made darn near everyone look silly. Diego Pavia at Vandy is a scramble. So is Milroe at Bama, Thorne at Auburn, Sellers at South Carolina. That type of quarterback is hard to stop at the college level, but if Misosuri can't at a minimum mitigate their damage, it'll be a long season.

It's also fair to have some questions about the offense. We'll see how much explosiveness is in the cards against a tougher opponent.

TigerBoz:The book makers set the opening spread at 17.5, doesn't sound like they are buying the BC hype and this should be a very comfortable Mizzou win? However, the spread seems high to me. Your thoughts?

Hoff:I don't disagree with Vegas too often, but that does seem a little high. That spread is saying Mizzou will win by more than two scores. And if you had to predict this result in terms of scores, I think a lot of folks would say they think BC will be within two scores late in this one. Or at least, that's where I land. But I don't go betting against the spread.

TigerBoz:Isn't it fair to say that Mizzou must get off to a quick start offensively and hopefully make BC play from behind? I would rather have the BC QB attempting passes to catch up rather than using his legs to cause havoc.

Hoff:Game script-wise, that certainly seems like something that would help. The first couple of drives will be tone-setters. If BC gets to run 12 plays, that's a very different start from going 3 and out.

DCG:Hey, Eli: Just joining the chat, and I was listening to the pod early this morning and stunned to hear (though perhaps I shouldn't be) that some fans think Drew Pyne would be better than Cook. I look at Pyne and see an NFL-type backup. Lesser talent, but experience makes him ideal to take over if injury calls for it. I wonder though--does the coaching staff see him as a future starter? I'm sure he was recruited with assurances that he'll have a chance, but it seems like Mizzou has landed some young talented QBs and I think Pyne is just a guy.

Hoff:I was shocked by that too. But the people on Twitter are the people on Twitter. And some of them will look for any reason to advocate for someone not named Brady Cook.

I do think Pyne will be in the mix for the starting job next season. He has experience and will be quite familiar with Mizzou's scheme by that point. I could see Missouri rolling with a competition of Pyne, Sam Horn (if he picks football) and possibly another transfer portal vet. But it's too early to be certain of how that'll go.

Schlay:Interested to hear how Jude James the local Francis Howell WR is doing as a Freshman and when we might see him in action.

Hoff:I expect him to redshirt this season. He looked good in camp, but that was with Brett Norfleet and Jordon Harris hurt. With them back in the picture, James is battling for fourth in the TE room at best. He and Whit Hafer will be the developmental guys for this season.

CWE_Tiger:Just curious about the transfer punter from Murray State. Any idea why he couldn’t beat out Bauer for the job?

Hoff:To be blunt: Because Bauer is a better punter. That job was up for grabs. Bauer had better punts in camp and has been quite solid in the first two games. It's very much a results-based position.

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COLUMBIA, Mo. — In Missouri’s weekend victory over Buffalo, defensive ends Johnny Walker Jr. and Joe Moore III played the role of the villain.

To the Tigers’ home crowd, of course, they were protagonists. But ask anyone in the Bulls backfield and you’re unlikely to hear the word “hero” in reference to either.

With four quarterback hurries, two tackles for a loss and one sack between them, Walker and Moore caused plenty of chaos.

They’re the jokers, after all, that’s a position befitting a villain.

“Joker” is a new name for Mizzou’s boundary defensive end position, a moniker that arrived over the offseason with new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon. Walker is the starter in that role, with Moore as the primary rotational piece.

Saturday’s shutout of Buffalo was an interesting examination of what that position requires and how other teams could attack it.

Within MU’s system, naming conventions for defensive positions vary from those of their offensive counterparts. Offensive lines are structured to have right and left counterparts, like tackles and guards, for example. But the Tigers defense doesn’t do that — there isn’t a right or left defensive end, nor a strong- or weak-side end.

Instead, Missouri uses boundary and field designations, most prominently with edge rushers and safeties. The boundary side is the side closest to a sideline — the shorter side of the formation, horizontally speaking — while the field side has more space. At Mizzou, the joker lines up closer to the sideline.

“As far as in the boundary position, those guys have athleticism, flexibility,” coach Eli Drinkwitz explained. “Typically your field end’s going to be a little bit bigger, a little bit more stout, so that’s why Zion (Young) and Eddie (Kelly Jr.) and Jahkai (Lang) play to that area.”

Walker and Moore, who fit more of the lean, quick edge rusher mold as the joker, also have occasional pass coverage responsibilities, which can look strange because of its rarity.

Against Buffalo, 29 of Walker’s 30 snaps sent him after the quarterback. The one that didn’t was interesting.

It came on a second-and-10 play early in the first quarter. Missouri’s defensive personnel was its usual 4-2-5, with its hybrid safety tucked next to the linebackers. Then Buffalo changed its formation before the snap.

A running back and tight end motioned toward the boundary side, settling into a trips formation. Three MU defenders shifted accordingly.

Cornerback Dreyden Norwood moved outside, aligned with the Bulls’ widest receiver. Outside linebacker Triston Newson moved that way, too, but not as far — his mark was the slot wideout.

And joining them on the perimeter was Walker, squared up in a coverage stance against a Buffalo tight end. It was no panic adjustment but rather the planned tweak for that kind of pre-snap motion.

Walker was in coverage on pass plays 36 times last season, according to Pro Football Focus, or roughly 10% of his pass snaps. He has yet to be in coverage on a pass play this season, according to PFF’s tracking, in part because of how the Bulls handled this particular play.

The call looked to be a run-pass option for Buffalo quarterback CJ Ogbonna. After the snap, the trio of receivers on the boundary side set up a screen, though no throw came. Instead, Ogbonna handed off the ball.

It looked to be a wise counter. With Walker split out in coverage, the Tigers had only three down linemen. Daylan Carnell, the “STAR” hybrid safety in a linebacker-adjacent role on the opposite, field side, was dually responsible for setting the edge with Young, the field end.

Accordingly, Carnell crashed toward the line of scrimmage after the snap and shed his block — but got beaten to the outside for a first down.

The play was simultaneously savvy from the visitors and intriguing for Missouri. The joker is a fascinating part of the Tigers defense to watch, especially with how pass rush, edge containment and pass coverage responsibilities fluctuate — and the position’s dynamics with second-level linebackers.

“We play off each other,” Newson, the outside linebacker, said. “(Walker) takes a gap, I take a gap. It’s really important. All the free time we get, we try to talk and make sure we’re dialed in and on top of things.”

Asked by the Post-Dispatch about the joker role during his Tuesday news conference, Drinkwitz pointed out a wrinkle with the position that ties to last week’s defensive trend of note: the 3-1-7 formation, or “prowler package,” that the Tigers are once again deploying on third downs.

“In fact, on our third-down prowler package, we actually put Joe (Moore III) and Johnny (Walker Jr.) in there at the same time,” Drinkwitz said.

That system prioritizes athleticism and versatility by adding an influx of defensive backs to the equation, so stacking the defensive line deck with two jokers can generate a bit of folie a deux.

That double-joker usage was a discovery by Batoon and new edge rushers coach Brian Early.

“Coach Early and Coach Batoon figured out real quickly that, hey, these two guys have really good pass rush moves and really do a good job containing the quarterback in their pass rush,” Drinkwitz said. “That allows us to do a lot of different things within the prowler package.”