Mizzou offensive coordinator Kirby Moore runs the quarterbacks through a drill at the school’s athletic training complex on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in Columbia, Mo.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — A sophomore slump? A first-year adjustment period?
Now that Missouri’s 2024 season is in the books after a 10-3 finish and Music City Bowl win, there’s an entire body of work to examine when it comes to the Tigers’ two coordinators and playcallers: Kirby Moore on offense and Corey Batoon on defense.
Batoon concluded his first season working with Mizzou and head coach Eli Drinkwitz, having been hired from South Alabama to replace Blake Baker a little less than a year ago. Batoon’s defensive style differed from his predecessor but did ultimately produce some gains — and some losses — on the stat sheet.
Moore’s offense didn’t quite match his strong debut as Drinkwitz’s first offensive coordinator back in 2023, which is interesting in its own right as Moore remains under contract for the 2025 season.
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“I’m very appreciative of our guys’ consistency, doing the work, having belief, working through adversity (and) the offensive staff being very collaborative, solution-oriented,” Moore said just before MU played Iowa in the Music City Bowl. “There were a couple of games there (where) we didn’t play our best, but then adapting, adjusting and improvising and finding ways to win.”
The 2024 Missouri offense produced fewer yards and points than it had the season prior. The Tigers gained 389.5 total yards per game in 2024, compared with 435.1 in 2023, and scored 28.9 points per game, down from 32.5. Most of that drop-off came through the air: Passing yards dropped by nearly 40 per game while rushing yards crept backward by just 8.
The bottom line, in a competitive sense, was that Mizzou went from being the sixth-best offense in the Southeastern Conference in 2023 to 10th in 2024 — though it is worth mentioning that the SEC added two teams for the 2024 season. Basically, that means the offense went from slightly above league average to slightly below it.
Some parts of Moore’s system remained remarkably consistent. In 2023, 25.1% of quarterback Brady Cook’s throws came on play action, according to Pro Football Focus. In 2024, it was 25.3%.
The proportion of Cook’s throws that went 20 or more yards downfield dipped slightly from 16.7% in 2023 to 15.2% in 2024. He threw less often behind the line of scrimmage and to the intermediate range between 10-20 yards downfield, as a result increasing targets on short throws within 10 yards.
Opponents were seemingly trying to contain the Missouri passing attack more than pressure Cook: They blitzed on 36.8% of pass plays in 2023 but only 26.4% in 2024.
As would be expected with a change in coordinator, there was more contrast between the Tigers’ 2023 defense under Baker and 2024 defense under Batoon.
“It’s been a great working relationship,” Drinkwitz said of his first season with Batoon. “I think the defensive staff has grown with more and more synergy and understanding of each other in what we’re trying to do.”
The 2024 defense allowed more rushing yards than it had the year prior but was more stingy in giving up passing yards and points.
Despite a handful of high-profile coverage busts that gave opponents big passing touchdowns over the top of the defense, the Tigers gave up only 14 aerial scores this season after allowing 22 the year before. They also — contrary to a game against South Carolina where this was an especially costly issue — missed fewer total tackles than last season.
Interestingly, Batoon tasked his cornerbacks with man coverage at a very similar rate to Baker’s system in 2023. Under Baker, primary corners Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Kris Abrams-Draine played man coverage 39% and 37.5% of the time, respectively. With Batoon calling the defense, top corners Dreyden Norwood and Toriano Pride Jr. played in man 38% and 38.3% of the time, respectively.
The big difference in year-over-year numbers was rushing the quarterback. Missouri dropped from third in the SEC with 39 sacks last season to tied for ninth with 28. The Tigers created 49 fewer pressures, too.
Part of that was Batoon’s more conservative approach to dialing up blitz packages — particularly compared to “Bllitzin’” Blake Baker. The contrast shows up in how often defensive players who were contributors during both years were used.
Hybrid safety Daylan Carnell, for example, rushed the passer on 10.3% of pass plays in 2023 but only 3.6% in 2024 — blitzing only a third of what he had previously.
Outside linebacker Triston Newson’s pass rush rate dropped from 23% to 15.4%. Safety Joseph Charleston’s dipped from 5.4% to 0.8%.
Batoon’s takeaway? Gratitude for the players who were part of both systems.
“I spoke to some of the seniors, the last true meeting we had, and was so appreciative of — through the transition — their buy-in,” he said. “Super-appreciative of those guys, the work they put in.”
And Drinkwitz seemed generally pleased with how his hire’s first season went.
“We’ve had some deficiencies throughout the year, and I think our defensive staff has done a really good job of masking those deficiencies, playing to our strengths and getting the best out of our guys to put us in a position to play in this bowl game,” he said.
