Mizzou's defense looking to dominate in 2025
The Missouri Tiger defense has received rave reviews throughout the offseason.
From improved returning players, to big-time transfer additions, Mizzou is hoping it has the making of an elite defense. Even one of the best in the country.
As the Tigers line up against Central Arkansas to kick off the season, returning starting defensive tackle Chris McClellan knows what he’s hoping to see Thursday night.
“I just want to see us start fast, go out there and attack … play physical and just kind of start the season off, dominant, dominant presence,” McClellan said.
Spark Plugs
The dominance should be able to appear all across the defense. The Tigers made key additions to the defensive end room. They have seen big improvements from members of the defensive tackle room. The linebackers got a combination of both, as did the defensive backfield.
“We have a bunch of talented players,” McClellan said. “So it’s like, you know, we got a lot of, I like to call them spark plugs, you know. So, like, those are guys that, at any moment, you know, make something big happen at all three levels.”
And with all that talent across the defense, McClellan said it is hard to know who is going to make the next play. But there’s no doubt that someone will.
“Everybody’s so capable of doing so,” McClellan said. “So I’m excited to see, you know, everything we’ve practiced throughout the spring and camp translate over to the field, or the game.”
Internal Growth
One of those spark plugs who has come on as a surprise this fall camp has been redshirt junior Marquis Gracial, another defensive tackle.
Gracial played limited snaps last season. But he has received a lot of praise through camp as one of the most improved players on the roster.
“Marquis has been locked in, focused,” McClellan said. “And like, you know, we work together a lot. And he’s taken some huge steps, you know, since last season. You know, he’s probably been, you know, probably one of the most improved players on his team. Yeah, I’ve been super impressed.”
Basic Dominance
The development of Gracial, plus the return of McClellan and all the additions to the defensive end room should give the Tigers an advantage. Especially if they are able to get after the passer without needing to blitz.
“We want to go out there and be able to use our natural abilities to just, you know, dominate the opponent,” McClellan said. “So that’s a big thing for us. It’s always one of our goals that the D-ends and D-tackles is to confuse, harass and hit the quarterback. So, you know, being able to go out there and kind of just, just rush the passer without a bunch of fancy twist games or anything like that. It’s going to be like, it’s really fun for us.”
The Tiger defense will get a good opportunity against a lower-level opponent in Central Arkansas when the season kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night. And those defensive spark plugs are looking to make an impact right off the bat.
