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  • Brown knows Missouri, impressed by defensive linemen

    By: LARRY VAUGHT



    When Neal Brown was offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, he went against Missouri twice and knows what Missouri defensive coordinator Dave Steckel can do with his personnel in Saturday’s game here.

    “We had two really competitive games against those guys. I think when you talk about Missouri, everybody thinks about their offense because they’ve been so good going back to (quarterback) Chase Daniels. And they still are. I’m aware they’re very good on offense and that goes into my train of thought as I get our game plan together, too. But they’ve been very good on defense, too,” said Brown.

    “They’ve had as many good defensive linemen in the last five-seven years as anybody in the country. The first thing that jumps off the film when you’re watching Missouri is their defensive line. They go two or three deep at each position. They can really run. They have the fastest D-line that we’ve played and they play super hard and they chase the ball probably better than anybody we’ve played and their Mike linebacker, 48, his name’s escaping me right now (Andrew Wilson), he gets a lot of tackles.

    “Those inside guys do a good job of keeping the linemen off him and he does a good job making tackles. The secondary guys, a lot of them are the same that we played against. They’ve gotten a lot better.”

    Brown said Missouri is also “doing some different things” because of their defensive line depth compared to when Brown faced the Tigers at Texas Tech.

    Brown hopes sophomore quarterback Jalen Whitlow can settle down and make better throws and decisions.

    “I think he rushes, and his base gets real narrow. He’s got to train his mind to really focus on it all the time. I think it’s — I don’t know if experience is the right word. I think it may be a lack of reps, you know what I mean? He needs repetitions where he was hurt a little bit and where he had to split some time when we were trying on doing the quarterback competition, I think that’s part of it,” Brown said.

    The offensive coordinator said Whitlow played better against Alabama State in last week’s 48-14 win than he originally thought because he focused on the “four or five really bad throws” and not the good throws he did make.

    “I was really encouraged after watching the film because he threw the ball well, especially downfield which is something he hadn’t done a whole lot of. Some of those underneath throws, we can get that fixed,” Brown said.

    With Alex Montgomery (knee) out for the season and Ryan Timmons (ankle) likely out for Saturday, Brown said older receivers like Demarco Robinson and A.J. Legree need to “step up and produce” against No. 9 Missouri. He said tight ends Anthony Kendrick and Steven Borden both could play some at Montgomery’s spot to provide depth.

    Both Legree, a sophomore, and Daryl Collins, a junior, have played sparingly this year but will get their chance to play more Saturday.

    “Legree’s picking it up. He made a great play in the game on Saturday night. He took the ball, really took it away from the Alabama State defender. He’s practicing a lot better. His confidence really grew on how he performed on special teams. He’s really done some nice things for us on special teams and gained some confidence and he’s brought that to offense,” Brown said.

    “And Collins, he just hasn’t been productive with the snaps he’s had earlier in the year. He’s obviously, he’s got increased reps this week and if he continue to produce then he’ll get in there and have a chance to play on Saturday. I think he’s got some skills. He’s got to be focused every day. He’s got to take advantage of opportunities, but I definitely think he’s got some skills. I think he runs pretty well. He’s a solid built kid. I think there’s no reason why he can’t help us.”

    Brown said he does not want to use true freshman quarterback Reese Phillips this year to void his redshirt season unless it is absolutely necessary. Maxwell Smith, a former starter, continues to be Whitlow’s backup.

    “You always take the player, Reese’s, situation into account but as part of the whole unit, the whole football team. If it was a situation where he was going to be the guy, I think it’s still a viable option for him to play,” Brown said. “If it’s a situation where maybe it’s just to finish a game or do something like that — and it’s coach (Mark) Stoops’ decision — I think we would be cautious and try to keep his redshirt on him. In a perfect world we’d love to keep him redshirted. We’ve redshirted him this long. We’d like to keep Jalen healthy and go with him for the rest of the year.”

    He also said that sophomore running back Dyshawn Mobley, who Stoops joked needed to get the ball more or he would put him on defense because of his stellar special teams play, would play a “key role” against Missouri.

    “He’s gotten more opportunities the last two weeks. It took him awhile to kind of figure out his role and to really get a good feel of what we’re trying to do in this offense. I think he has that now, and he gives us a different running style. He’s a physical, downhill runner,” Brown said.
    Comments 1 Comment
    1. dan_bgblue's Avatar
      dan_bgblue -
      “You always take the player, Reese’s, situation into account but as part of the whole unit, the whole football team. If it was a situation where he was going to be the guy, I think it’s still a viable option for him to play,” Brown said. “If it’s a situation where maybe it’s just to finish a game or do something like that — and it’s coach (Mark) Stoops’ decision — I think we would be cautious and try to keep his redshirt on him. In a perfect world we’d love to keep him redshirted. We’ve redshirted him this long. We’d like to keep Jalen healthy and go with him for the rest of the year.”
      I hope Whitlow can complete the season so they can keep the shirt on Phillips.

      He also said that sophomore running back Dyshawn Mobley, who Stoops joked needed to get the ball more or he would put him on defense because of his stellar special teams play, would play a “key role” against Missouri.

      “He’s gotten more opportunities the last two weeks. It took him awhile to kind of figure out his role and to really get a good feel of what we’re trying to do in this offense. I think he has that now, and he gives us a different running style. He’s a physical, downhill runner,” Brown said.
      He is a load, and if he can locate the hole he will punish people on the defensive side of the ball. I really like his toughness and running ability
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