How Chip Lindsey and Austin Simmons can fix Missouri’s passing game

Curiosity pinch this year’s Missouri squad is precocious arsenic location are plentifulness of unknowns connected some sides of nan football. At nan apical of nan list, each eyes will beryllium connected redshirt inferior backmost Austin Simmons and really he and nan full discourtesy look nether recently hired violative coordinator Chip Lindsey.

Simmons arrives from Mississippi, wherever he concisely started earlier an early-season wounded derailed his clip arsenic QB1 successful Oxford. Meanwhile, Lindsey has been astir nan artifact for a while, coordinating aggregate offenses astatine some nan collegiate and precocious schoolhouse levels crossed 3 different decades. Both will beryllium tasked pinch elevating Mizzou’s discourtesy supra wherever it was successful 2025.

Missouri’s passing crippled classed dormant past successful nan SEC pinch 188 passing yards per crippled this past season, ranking past successful nan convention for nan first clip since 2015.

There is discourse down why that number is low. Beau Pribula battled inconsistencies and a mid-season injury, while Matt Zollers was forced into action earlier than imagined.

Pro Football Focus tracks wherever quarterbacks spell pinch nan shot and separates their statistic by those landmarks.

Here’s Pribula’s breakdown successful 2025 (I’ve excluded passes down nan statement of scrimmage)

He was excelled successful nan short game, but had immoderate struggles successful nan intermediate crippled pinch conscionable 1 large clip throw, and six turnover worthy plays.

As for Zollers successful 2025:

Missouri’s heavy passing onslaught is worthy examining. In 2025, successful nan 20-plus gait range, Pribula and Zollers went a mixed 14-39 (36%), 427 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, pinch 9 large clip throws and 2 turnover worthy plays.

It wasn’t needfully an ratio issue; nan opportunity conscionable wasn’t there. Only 10.8% of Missouri’s passing attempts successful 2025 were throws of 20-plus yards.

In 2024, that number was 13.9%. Brady Cook and Drew Pyne mixed for 56 attempts that came on pinch 600 yards, 4 scores, 2 interceptions, 14 big-time throws, and 3 turnover-worth plays.

A play anterior to that, 16.4%. Cook went 29-62 successful 20-plus gait throws pinch 9 scores, 20 big-time throws, and a 50% set completion percent to conscionable 3 turnover-worthy plays.

Michigan’s discourtesy successful 2025 wasn’t world beaters. Similar to nan Tigers, they possessed a beardown tally game, but an inconsistent passing attack.

But, successful nan past 4 seasons, sloppy of nan quarterback, his offenses person shown a willingness to onslaught downfield. It was evident successful 2025 pinch existent freshman Bryce Underwood, who has yet to move 19 years old. In passes of 20-plus yards, Underwood attempted 55 of them, and nan Wolverines 57 attempts were 16.7% of their 340 passes.

It came pinch a mixed backmost of results for Underwood, 578 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 14 large clip throws, but besides resulted successful 4 interceptions and six turnover-worthy plays. Overall, Michigan’s 57 heavy throws tied Indiana for sixth successful nan Big 10. Mizzou’s 35th would’ve classed 15th successful that conference.

When Lindsey was astatine North Carolina successful 2024, Jacolby Criswell attempted 52 of nan Tar Heels 60 passing attempts (9th of 17 ACC schools successful 2024). Drake Maye’s 2023 was impressive:

And past successful 2022 erstwhile Lindsey was astatine UCF pinch Gus Malzahn, John Rhys Plumlee and Mike Keene mixed for 62 attempts and 10 scores.

Earlier this season, Lindsey shed immoderate ray connected not shying distant from this strategy.

“For us, I want a mindset that we’re going to return our opportunities down nan field,” Lindsey told reporters connected March 3. “And really make an accent that we’re going to onslaught nan section vertically and to do that you person to person guys that tin do it whether it’s nan receivers, aliases nan protection, aliases moreover nan quarterback.”

The extremity of that erstwhile quote mentioned nan quarterback.

If Lindsey’s offenses inquire nan position to push nan section vertically, nan adjacent point to inquire is if Mizzou’s starting backmost is tin of carrying retired that vision.

Simmons is simply a fascinating case. There’s been plentifulness of talk astir his limb talent since earlier taking nan starting occupation successful 2025. But, we person a constricted sample size of his accumulation arsenic he has 118 profession collegiate driblet backs. Of course, he sat down Jaxson Dart, and arsenic mentioned astatine nan top, wounded paved nan measurement for Trinidad Chambliss to return over.

In 2025, this was Simmons’ stat statement successful 20-plus gait throws:

Right distant you tin show that nan stat statement isn’t telling nan afloat story. Just 4 completions, but 5 large clip throws? 2 interceptions, but conscionable 1 turnover worthy play, and a 50% adjusted completion percentage? So, I decided to dive into those attempts.

There’s nary uncertainty that Simmons possesses a batch of earthy limb talent, and he’s existent comfortable successful attempting nan heavy ball. Against Georgia State, he effortlessly dropped a walk into nan hands of Harrison Wallace, resulting successful a 47-yard gain. One of 2 agelong completions successful their Week 2 63-7 triumph complete nan Panthers.

Of people he’s had his errors. As mentioned above, he did propulsion 2 picks successful that area of nan field. His 2nd was him trying to unit a walk to Dae’Quan Wright, who was a station route. But, nan play covered up good and Jordan Huff cleanly picked it disconnected from his information position. The different interception, you can’t really responsibility Simmons arsenic his correct defender sewage hit and he was blindsided, altering nan way of nan ball.

But again, Simmons’ limb talent is legit. Despite conscionable having 4 completions complete nan 20-yard mark, his adjusted percent is 50%. He tin spot nan shot wherever it needs to be. Against Georgia State, he put nan shot to wherever only wherever Wallace could drawback it. But Wallace couldn’t haul it successful for a catch.

Late successful The Citadel game, he effortlessly placed nan shot 49 yards downfield into nan hands of Cayden Lee, but it was dropped.

It’s a mini sample size, but from nan information we person successful 2025, Simmons has nan talent and willingness to beryllium capable to execute what Lindsey is asking of this offense.

Missouri’s discourtesy steadily decreased its hunt for explosive plays nan past 2 years. We won’t cognize until later this autumn if that will change, but Lindsey’s portfolio nan past fewer years and nan mini sample size of Simmons signals that they will effort to get backmost to that successful 2026.

We cognize nan rushing onslaught is awesome. Ahmad Hardy rewrote nan Tigers single-season rushing grounds pinch 1,649 yards. Jamal Roberts added different 753. It marked nan first clip since 2018 that Mizzou possessed aggregate 700-plus gait rushers. It’s unclear if, aliases erstwhile Hardy will return, but Roberts proved he’s much than tin of being a RB1.

The Tigers passing crippled needs to drawback up, and will spell a agelong measurement for a squad aspiring to reclaim nan magic of nan past, particularly providing alleviation to a defense that mislaid immoderate cardinal pieces. Hunting for explosives is fun, it elevates an offense, and hopefully we spot it a batch this autumn astatine Faurot.