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As Missouri heads into what figures to be an intense defensive battle in Nashville against Vanderbilt, the Tigers (4-3, 1-3 SEC) have maintained a winning record thus far thanks almost entirely to dominating on that side of the ball.
Missouri has allowed only 90 points through seven games while opponents have rushed for 114 yards per contest and thrown for just 165. The Tigers are 1-1 in games when neither team scored more than 9 points. But what has made the Mizzou defense so good? The Tigers lack any huge stars on that side of the ball, particularly after defensive lineman Harold Brantley was lost for the year to injury before the season even began.
Sure, linebacker Kentrell Brothers leads the nation with 91 tackles, but he’s compiled those numbers fairly quietly and is far from a household name. While Brothers has been racking up tackles at an amazing rate and will likely be on All-SEC and All-American teams when the season ends, he hasn’t elevated to start status because of a lack of highlight-reel plays. He has just 1.5 sacks and 2 interceptions.
But while the Tigers don’t necessarily have a transcendent star such as Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett or Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, they also don’t have a weak link on the entire defense. If Brothers is the closest thing Missouri has to a great player, they at least have 11 very good players to put on the field at any given time.
Take Brothers’ fellow linebacker, Michael Scherer. He’s racked up 55 tackles so far this season, which would stand out on a lot of teams but doesn’t get a lot of attention playing next to Brothers. Defensive end Charles Harris didn’t get a lot of acclaim coming into the season after backing up Shane Ray a year ago, but he’s 3rd on the team with 38 tackles, including an SEC-best 12.5 for a loss and 5 sacks.
Harris is also overshadowed in the SEC by sack machines on ranked teams such as Garrett and Alabama’s Jonathan Allen, but he could make a strong case for All-SEC honors if he keeps it up. With him on the defensive line is freshman Terry Beckner, who has shown flashes of great potential with 2 sacks.
But perhaps the best aspect of Missouri’s defense is its secondary, led by veteran cornerback Kenya Dennis and safety Ian Simon. Dennis is having a fairly quiet year in terms of big plays. He has a sack and an interception so far with just 2 pass breakups. The same could be said for Simon, who has 2 interceptions and 3 pass breakups.
But for the Mizzou defensive backs, the proof isn’t so much in what they’ve taken away as much as what they haven’t allowed. It’s nearly impossible to beat the Tigers deep. Missouri opponents have completed 62 percent of their passes but have thrown for just 5 touchdowns all season while getting picked off 8 times.
Opposing quarterbacks average just 5.7 yards per attempt. Those numbers could get even better this weekend against an offensively challenged Vanderbilt team.
The question is, can the struggling Missouri offense do just enough to help its stingy, no-name defense win the game?
Shane Mettlen is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Texas A&M, Missouri and Alabama.
