Saturday afternoon was rough. There were video feed issues up until a few minutes before kickoff, and I thought for the 2nd time this year I would have given Iowa State money to NOT see a game. The good news is that I was able to see what resembled a game. It was hard to tell because there were a lot of pixels and a lot of crappy play.
The game was really over before it got started. Mizzou took the opening kick to the 50 yard line, and I just had that feeling we were going to get rolled. It is really tough to rehash everything that happened because it's so painful to think about as a fan... And this is coming from a guy who has watched the game 3 times now.
If I were to come up with a simple way to recap the game it would be this: Missouri put on a fine blocking display. Missouri was masterful is using the opponent's momentum to drive them out of the play. If a guy wants to cut left, you push him left so dang hard that he goes out of the play. Lattimer was especially noticeable as he got schooled on that all afternoon. Additionally, the 4-5 WRs Mizzou would line up did an excellent job sealing off the secondary, allowing for large gains on the ground.
None of this is too surprising to me as Missouri is typically a very sound blocking team.
Based on the blocking alone, I would have figured Mizzou would have won the game. What really made this a blowout was the defense's bad tackling, and the offense's inconsistency.
If I switch to the other side of the ball, I am convinced that this offense puts too much pressure on the quarterback. Jantz either passed or ran the ball on 42 of the 54 non-special teams plays the team ran while he was in the game (77%). That's a lot of pressure, and it's a guy who has been prone to turn the ball over. For comparison, James Franklin either ran or passed the ball 51% of the plays Mizzou ran while he was in the game, and he is a running QB.
The only times the Iowa State is going to be on offensively is when Jantz is on, but he's too inconsistent, and has committed too many turnovers to rely on him for nearly 80% of the plays. The offensive line was not bad this game. There is no reason for the offense to only put up 10 points. I'd like to see more running plays, more play-action, and more passes to the RBs. Remember A-Rob and the wheel route burning teams? We need to have plays like that. Jantz needs somebody to shoulder the load, because it's a team sport, and he simply isn't good enough to single-handedly beat teams in the Big 12. We don't have Vince Young receiving snaps for Iowa State.
I don't know how many games this team is going to win going forward. If they continue to play like this, it might be none. I know the defense needs to play better, but the offense needs to figure out ways to be more efficient. I'd like to see more running and a slower tempo to try and keep these offenses off the field.
I don't know how many blowouts I am going to be able to handle, so I hope something changes. For now, I'm setting A&M's over/under to 63 points.