Missouri running back Marcus Carroll carries Vanderbilt defenders into the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown run in the second half of a game on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. COLUMBIA, Mo.
— Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore spent his bye week looking for the forest, metaphorically speaking. He’d done this before, going on an arboreal adventure of sorts between his first and second seasons calling plays for the Tigers offense. For coaches, it takes something like a bye week to fully evaluate something like a forest.
“Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees during the season,” Moore said back before preseason camp. “And the stuff that you’re doing, you’re staying with it.” By stuff, he means scheme.
And at the time he delivered that metaphor, Moore was referring to his comprehensive offseason analysis of how Mizzou could improve in the red zone — especially on third downs inside opponents’ 20-yard lines. The red zone is the part of the field in which MU started preseason camp. During last week’s bye, the Tigers spent significant portions of their practices camped out in that area, relentlessly repping red-zone possessions.
Missouri football quarterback Brady Cook speaks with the media about red zone struggles on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, before a game at Texas A&M. (Video by Mizzou Network, used with permission of Mizzou Athletics) “Red-zone plays.
Red zone versus the defense. A red-zone lockout period,” Missouri quar.