Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert & Passing Game

JonDMiller

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
I have seen a few posts on here comparing Mizzou QB Blaine Gabbert to Northwestern's Dan Persa.

I am sorry, but that is not close to being accurate. I have seen Mizzou play three or four times this year and NW at least that many, including all of the NW-Iowa game. Persa > Gabbert.

Gabbert completed 62% of his passes, not a bad number, but many of those throws are horizontal and quick dumps. He is no where near the deep ball thrower that Nick Foles of Arizona is, and Iowa doesn't give up many big plays deep, less than 10 of 25 yards or more all season.

Now, that dovetails into areas where Iowa has struggled, so I am not trying to imply that Gabbert and the Missouri passing offense is bad. It's not. Gabbert just does not have the command of his offense that several of Iowa's opposing QB foes had this year.

Iowa's defense faced 5 of the top 20 rated passers in the NCAA this season, and 6 of the top 26. Every Big Ten opposing QB Iowa faced this year has a higher passer rating than Gabbert with the exception of true freshman QB Rob Bolden of Penn State. Only Bolden, Austen Arnaud and Keith Wenning of Ball State had a lower passer rating from Iowa's 11 FBS opponents than Mizzou's Gabbert.

Missouri also does not have the standout individual talent they have had at receiver in recent years, no real standout deep threat...but then again, neither did Northwestern.

Missouri will be in the shotgun most of the time, and I would guess they will try to uptempo the Iowa defense.

The pressure will be on the Iowa offense to convert on third down. Missouri's defense has been a revelation this year, but they can be run on, and we know Iowa is going to try to establish that ground game. Iowa should be healthy along the OL, which will make a big difference, especially at RG.
 
Hmmm. 6 of the top 26 qbs we played against. Us having to play our 4th string linebackers. Sounds like the perfect storm against us if you ask me. Definitely explains a lot.
 
I looked at Mizzous offensive stats and I was suprised by the numbers. I thought their offense had been a lot more productive this year.

Gabbert has 15 TD passes.
 
Disagree. Gabbert can really throw the deep ball but they don't ask him to a whole lot in their offense. Talent wise he is probably the most talented QB Iowa will face all year. Here is a kid who will be one of the top 3 QB's chosen in the 2012 draft. He has size and he can run well too.

I like Iowa in this matchup though if their LB's can play smart. ISU had the perfect game plan against Mizzou as they went with a 3-2-6 defense. ISU just couldn't score. Make Mizzou beat you on the ground. Plus Iowa has a better front 4 than ISU and should be able to generate a little pressure on Gabbert without blitzing.
 
Gabbert has a big league arm -- deep outs with speed and accuracy. While tall, he can run when needed. I see very few similarities between Gabbert and Persa. Persa = quick darting runs, with quick release on check downs. Gabbert, decent top end speed but not shifty but has a stonger arm. The biggest difference is that Gabbert is still playing, Persa is not. btw ... the Mizzou TE (Egnew) is a receiver.
 
Cyclones17 said:
Disagree. Gabbert can really throw the deep ball but they don't ask him to a whole lot in their offense. Talent wise he is probably the most talented QB Iowa will face all year. Here is a kid who will be one of the top 3 QB's chosen in the 2012 draft. He has size and he can run well too.

I like Iowa in this matchup though if their LB's can play smart. ISU had the perfect game plan against Mizzou as they went with a 3-2-6 defense. ISU just couldn't score. Make Mizzou beat you on the ground. Plus Iowa has a better front 4 than ISU and should be able to generate a little pressure on Gabbert without blitzing.
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Of course you will disagree. He plays in the Cyclones' conference and that weak division called the B12 North.
 
Cyclones17 said:
I like Iowa in this matchup though if their LB's can play smart. ISU had the perfect game plan against Mizzou as they went with a 3-2-6 defense.
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We don't have 6 healthy and/or competant DBs.

Plus Iowa has a better front 4 than ISU and should be able to generate a little pressure on Gabbert without blitzing.
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This has absolutely not been the case at all this year, not sure why it would all of a sudden happen now.
 
jparmley3 said:
Of course you will disagree. He plays in the Cyclones' conference and that weak division called the B12 North.
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The one that has owned the Big 10 the last decade? Regardless, I disagree b/c Jon is wrong. I am guessing NFL scouts know a little more about QB play and some have him as a 1st round pick next year. He has an NFL caliber arm.

JonDMiller said:
If Gabbert can really throw the deep ball well, they'd throw the deep ball more.
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Why? Tom Brady throws a good deep ball and how many deep passes have the Patriots thrown this year? Patriots lost their big play guy in Moss and the Tigers lost Alexander. Doesn't mean Gabbert can't throw the pass, he absolutely can
 
TylerSash said:
We don't have 6 healthy and/or competant DBs.



This has absolutely not been the case at all this year, not sure why it would all of a sudden happen now.
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ISU was playing guys that had not played much or at all during the Mizzou game. But it worked well as they only scored 14 points. If Iowa is smart they would go 4-2-5. They have a better front 4 despite the struggles at times this year and they should never go 3 down lineman b/c they would be taking their best players off the field.
 
Persa > Gabbert in terms of attacking Iowa's Achilles heal. But there's really no comparison between the two as an NFL QB talent. Gabbert >>>> Persa.

Persa is like a point guard QB who is able to dance around and deliver the ball or make plays with his feet. Couple that with the fact that we continuously send just (4) 270+ lineman as our main means of defense against Persa type QB and that's where you get a recipe for disaster. It's that quick, scatter type QB who can throw precise balls short distances. Persa is a harder matchup for us.

However, not all defenses play like we do, and I think most defenses would rather face Persa than Gabbert. Persa isn't going to even sniff the NFL. Gabbert is.

I like the fact that we get 3 weeks to prepare. I think we'll hold this offense in check..... If we played Mizzou in the regular season this year I think they'd beat us by 10+.

I saw all I needed to see out of Gabbert at the 1:50 mark of this video to make me nervous.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZlWp0KdmHM"]YouTube - Missouri vs Oklahoma 2010[/ame]
 
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I admit I haven't watched Missouri much (and that means very little), but just because someone is projected as a first round draft pick by NFL scouts does very little for me. A lot of those projections come from measurables and not play on the field. Everyone so far seems to agree that Gabbert has a strong arm and is good size for a QB while still having some mobility. NFL scouts would look at that and automatically put him in the first few rounds of the draft. And I think everyone has also agreed that Gabbert has at least been a good QB, but not great. Does Gabbert have the ability to put the ball in a tight window through zone coverage? Does he have that touch to drop it in front of the safeties but over the LB's? Does he have the patience and on-the-field awareness to keep from making stupid throws? I haven't watched Missouri enough to answer those, maybe someone who has can be more insightful.
 
give Norm a few weeks to prepare for any opponent and I'll give the Hawks the edge. that being said, I'm sure Missouri will be checking out the film of that Northwestern game. is Gabbert mobile at all? meaning...do I need to be worried on 4th and 10 when he scrambles
 
Gabbert is like Phillip Rivers, he's awesome when he has time. However, when you rush him and get to him, His arm weaknesses comes into play.

Looks like Nebraska fans are jumping on the Iowa bandwagon due to their hatred of all things Mizzurah.
 
JonDMiller said:
If Gabbert can really throw the deep ball well, they'd throw the deep ball more.
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Long time lurker, first time poster....I think with Iowa's defensive secondary being "down", you will see him throw the deep ball more than usual. Their TE will probably win best TE in the country as he is their primary target. I think Gabbert and Persa are two totally different quarterbacks operating in two different systems. IMO Mizzou's system is run more efficiently than NW's. I certainly dont expect this game to be a cake walk.
 
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