Making The Play: Abilene Christian

I had a feeling that Missouri would take care of business against Abilene Christian. I think most of us did. Though, in a lot of ways, it was unimpressive. The offensive line continues to be an issue for this offense. There are some issues at QB as well, but at this point it’s hard to tell how much of it is because of the offensive line.

Still though, there were some positives.

The defense continued its streak of solid play. If not for a garbage time, 49 yard touchdown, they would have given up just 259 yards. That is a very good performance and hopefully this defense can continue to grow as a unit.

Oh, and Missouri has two All-World Wide Recievers.

All of the spotlight has been on Luther Burden III, and deservedly so. He’s been as awesome as advertised. It’s just that Dominic Lovett looks like the one who is going to end up being this team’s de-facto number one receiver. This idea isn’t unique; it has been written about before. Now though, we’re seeing more proof of concept with this idea.

But through three games against varying levels of competition, Lovett has been Missouri’s most steady passing option. In each of the three games this season, he has at least three catches and over 65 yards in each one.

This past weekend, he showed off more of the ability that has him receiving such praise:

His downfield prowess has been clear, especially when you see his speed, but since he has made the transition to working out of the slot, Lovett has been able to show off more of his possession skills. Turns out, he’s pretty damn good at that aspect of his game, too.

Having Lovett provide this kind of production while the offense is.... in as much flux as it is, is huge. He’s been a reliable weapon for Brady Cook and has kept defenses from being able to totally key in on Burden as well. He’s been a huge boost to the passing game despite the struggles that they’ve had to deal with on that side of the ball.

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