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Mizzou Football: Simmons and Lee’s third-down chemistry is growing
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- Mizzou Football: Simmons and Lee’s third-down chemistry is growing
After a slow start offensively, Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee provided the spark Mizzou's offense needed to roll to a 27-6 victory over Texas A&M.
The game's only first-half touchdown drive came on a 10-play, 77-yard sequence that ate up over four minutes of game time. It was the second-longest possession by any team in the game. Three times in the drive, Mizzou found itself in either a 3rd-and-4 or 5. Heading into the game, that's a situation MU didn't want to be in. Prior to Saturday, the Aggies' defense ranked 12th in 3rd-down success rate allowed , per Nate Edwards.
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But within Mizzou's scoring drive, the team converted all three attempts when the Aggies defense had an opportunity to end the possession thanks to the Tigers starting QB and senior wide receiver.
On the first, a 3rd and 4, A&M presented zone coverage. Lee found an opening in the zone, where he and Simmons connected for a gain of eight on an easy pitch and catch. The second came on a 3rd and five, where Lee ran a slant against man coverage. This time, Simmons delivered the ball into a tighter window, near the first-down marker. The two connected for the conversion right at the sticks.
On the Tigers' third conversion of the drive, A&M presented Cover-1 man, as noted by Simmons postgame. Lee worked inside against his defender as Simmons delivered another tight-window throw. Lee did the rest, taking advantage of the bad angle of the safety, and weaving his way for a 32-yard score.
"Cayden does a great job in making the extra effort in those plays," Simmons said. "It was a rough little look as far as the play went. That was a look we didn't work on the entire week. But he knows how to make plays when the time comes. It's just Cayden Lee. I'm not going to lie to you."
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But while the credit went to Lee for the YAC, it was Simmons who fit it into tight man coverage, maintaining his confidence and composure after throwing his first interception of the season earlier in the game.
"Nothing really fazes him," Eli Drinkwitz said. "He still was dialing it up and putting it in tight spots and trusting himself. That's the mark of a guy that you really wanna play with."
In what Drinkwitz called an old-fashioned SEC football game, that drive proved pivotal as MU never surrendered the lead and leaned on its ground game to victory. While Mizzou finished 3-of-10 the rest of the way on third down after the touchdown drive in the second quarter, the early conversions have continued a three-week trend that's developed throughout SEC play.
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So far in 2026, Simmons and Lee have converted 10 third downs. Simmons and Olugbode have converted eight. But an important note is that six of Olugbode's seven came before SEC play. Eight of Lee's have occurred the past three weeks – Mississippi State, Florida, and Texas A&M.
The duo of Simmons and Lee has the most third-down conversions in the Southeastern Conference. Here's how they compare to the rest of the league on third-down conversions:
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Auburn(5 games): Byrum Brown to Keshaun Singleton: 6.
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Mississippi State(5 games): Kamario Taylor to Anthony Evans III: 6.
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Florida: Aaron Philo to Dallas Wilson: 6.
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Texas (5 games): Arch Manning to Emmett Mosley V: 6.
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Arkansas: KJ Jackson to Chris Marshall: 5.
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LSU: Sam Leavitt to Eugene Wilson III: 5.
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Alabama:Keelon Russell to Lotzier Brooks: 5.
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Georgia: Gunner Stockton to Talyn Taylor: 4.
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Mississippi(5 games): Trinidad Chambliss to Caleb Odom: 4.
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South Carolina: LaNorris Sellers to Matthew Fuller: 4.
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Kentucky: Kenny Minchey to Kenny Darby: 3.
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Oklahoma: John Mateer to Hayden Hansen and Isaiah Satenga: 3.
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Texas A&M: Marcel Reed to Mario Craver: 3.
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Vanderbilt: Jared Curtis to Junior Sherrill: 3.
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Tennessee: A collection of players with 1.
Auburn, Mississippi State, Mississippi, and Texas have only played five games, compared to the rest of the league's six. But Simmons and Lee are the only two to achieve the double-digit mark. Mizzou has converted 35 of its 82 third-down attempts this season (42.68%). Of those successful conversions, Simmons and Lee account for 28.6% of them.
"Austin is always looking for him," Drinkwitz said. "It doesn't matter what pass play is called, he's always the first look on third down. So, they got it working out and good for them."
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It's worked out for sure the past three weeks. The prettiest of the 10 conversions actually came last week, where Simmons delivered a beautiful ball on a wheel route on a 3rd-and-3 conversion.
This past Saturday was a different type of game for Simmons. While we've been thrilled with the willingness to have more success deep downfield, against Texas A&M, Simmons completed zero passes of 20-plus yards, and just four in the 10-19 yard range.
In the 0-9 yard range, he was 6-for-8 for 66 yards. He also went 4-for-6 on throws behind the line of scrimmage. It wasn't the prettiest of days, but the Tigers eventually found ways to play against a respectable SEC defense.
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"That Aggies team is very talented," Simmons said. "Coach Elko puts them in the right position..They give some exotic looks on third down, so I think they did a great job."
While Mizzou wants to avoid third-and-long situations, and perhaps generate more explosives downfield than it did on Saturday, the transfers from Mississippi have formed a dependable connection on third downs in the most important games of the season. Feeding into that, Lee has become one of the most productive wide receivers in the country, ranking fifth in yards. Simmons ranks 16th among Power Four quarterbacks in passing yards.
As we continue throughout SEC play, teams, defenses will evolve, but for a team that's found multiple ways to win games, it's awesome having a QB-WR duo that can attack you in many different ways. It"ll be fun to see how the duo performs as they return to Mississippi this weekend.
