Sunday Grade Card
GET THE INSIDE SCOOP EVERY DAY WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION
Every Sunday, we hand out the grades position by position from the previous game. Here's the report card from a 31-13 loss to South Carolina.
QUARTERBACK
It was unrealistic to think Drew Lock could match last week's game against Missouri State. But Missouri needed him to get a whole lot closer than this. He completed just 14-of-32 passes for 245 yards, some of that coming after the game was in hand. He threw two interceptions. The first led to the play that lost the lead for good. The second ended any hope of a miracle comeback. FINAL GRADE: D
RUNNING BACK
Damarea Crockett had 90 yards in the first half, but only seven thanks to an injury in the second. Ish Witter averaged 12 yards a carry and Larry Rountree III had four carries (all in succession in the second quarter). The offense just isn't as good when Crockett isn't on the field. These guys were not huge difference makers, but they had Missouri right in the game at halftime. FINAL GRADE: B
Jordan Kodner
WIDE RECEIVER
Ugh. Missouri had at least four drops and they came largely at important times. The first three would have converted first downs when the game was still in doubt. The fourth wasn't a factor other than if someone managed to find Mizzou +12 somewhere. But it was not a good performance. The lone exception was Emanuel Hall, who caught three passes for 66 yards, didn't have a drop and should probably play more. FINAL GRADE: D
TIGHT END
Jason Reese had two catches for 88 yards and Mizzou's lone touchdown. He was the only tight end to catch a pass. FINAL GRADE: C
OFFENSIVE LINE
Lock was sacked only once. The Tigers had 423 yards of offense and averaged 6.1 per play. Those aren't bad numbers. There were problems offensively, but the line held up well against its first SEC opponent. FINAL GRADE: B
DEFENSIVE LINE
Terry Beckner was dominant for much of the first half. Jordan Harold got a sack, Walter Palmore made some plays and the Tigers were generally solid, if not spectacular, up front. They yielded 172 yards rushing, but it took South Carolina 40 carries to get there. FINAL GRADE: B
LINEBACKERS
Cale Garrett led the team with ten tackles, but was beaten on a third quarter touchdown pass by tight end Hayden Henry. Kaleb Prewett had his name called quite a bit with seven tackles and a pass breakup. Terez Hall had six tackles, including two behind the line of scrimmage. That group got the vast majority of the snaps. FINAL GRADE: B
Jordan Kodner
SECONDARY
The Tigers largely held Deebo Samuel in check and South Carolina never hit anything downfield. After a rough start, DeMarkus Acy played every snap and played pretty well. Same goes for Logan Cheadle. Anthony Sherrils and Thomas Wilson look like the top two safeties for now and both played pretty well. FINAL GRADE: B
SPECIAL TEAMS
Penalties, muffed punts, a kickoff return for a touchdown, a blocked field goal. I think that covers it. If there was a grade worse than F, we'd assign it here. FINAL GRADE: F-
COACHING
It's a loss and a loss can never be above a C. The Tigers weren't able to find a way to stretch the field in the passing game. Defensively, they fixed a lot of problems from last week and that needs to be recognized. They didn't drop passes or commit terrible penalties. But it's their job to fix it all. FINAL GRADE: D
