HJTiger

This is almost the same group that was very good last year, with the same position coach ... what is missing is they aren't playing as a unit - there is no O-lineman that has stepped up in the leadership role like Maietti did last year. SEC battles are won and lost in the trenches. If the line is not executing as a unit you can call all the different plays you want - they will not succeed. It starts - and ends - with the O-line ... BTW there is a practical limit on how much BS spews from you, week in and week out, before most of us tune you out. Just so you know

Good Mizzou fans are realistic - most of us recognize a young program trying to find its footing vs. the monotonous litany of "they suck" that comes from a few frequent commenters on this page.

Another ‘Cub’ reporter repeating BS she heard instead of researched. What a waste of electronic ink and time

So far we've signed two of Missouri's Top 10 with a good shot at #3 and #4 (Burks and Reichert). That's a fair batting average for Mizzou - and a level that Pinkel never achieved. Burks seems to be choosing between Ol' Miss and Mizzou. Working for Mizzou is home advantage; working against Mizzou is the fact we just signed Isaac Thompson last year and have a deep position group at safety. As for Year 3 being a make-or-break ... not happening. Odom really left the cupboard bare and we've had to really start from scratch at almost every position on the team. Mizzou will have an excellent offensive line, which means we can run the ball and should have time to pass. The WR room is loaded with both speed and skill. Defensive line and LB will be much improved. CB lacks experience and safety is deep. Much will depend on QB play (and Horn staying put or going pro), but I can see seven wins on the schedule.

WarEagle342 - how's the temperature around the Auburn program and Harsin? Are they circling the wagons or are they thinking about bailing?

Last season’s defense was a tale of two halves – the porous, absolutely terrible unit that gave up 275 yards rushing to Boston College and 458 yards to Tennessee in the first half or the team that held Florida to 93; South Carolina to 57; and Georgia to 168 yards rushing in the second half. I’m not so worried about the run defense this season – we have better athletes and depth. Play calling is dictated, in a large part, by the talent on the field. Our WRs couldn’t stretch the field and had a lot of drops. Our QB played most of the SEC season hurt and, honestly, afraid of contact. Result? Shorter and shorter passes – defenses just didn’t honor the long ball and played tight and aggressive leaving nothing but flat passes and short outs. For the most part, Tyler Badie WAS the offense. Running the ball may be boring, but when you’re lead back is averaging 6.0 ypc … Also, the WR room this year is more than just Luther Burden – we have some real speed and the talent level to start making some noise. As for Coach Drink’s tenure in CoMo … you’ve got to be kidding me. In Gary Pinkel’s first four seasons he went 22-25 and didn’t recruit anywhere near the level of Coach Drink. The hole that Barry Odom left Mizzou football in cannot be understated. We will be better than a .500 team this year, but coaches need to get their recruits into their junior and senior years to truly be measured.

Buh-bye …

Vic Fangio molests collies

Some pro’s … some cons Pro - Bazelak was effectively playing on one leg and was largely immobile. Tremendously gutsy performance. - He did not make the decision to start - Coach Drink did. Right or wrong, he’s Drink’s starter. Cons - He is immobile. Defenses do not need to respect the RPO - He still makes bad decisions under pressure and throws off his back foot when under pressure. Ultimately it’s Coach’s decision

MIZthagoatZOU - when you sprain, much less tear, an ACL, you know it. He would have known on Saturday and headed for the sideline. Saturday he was dogging it out there. I feel bad for the young man, and hope he comes back stronger and healthy.

Oh really ... what we lack in size and depth we more than make up for in no speed or talent in the front seven.

Given the total domination by Kentucky's O-line it was amazing we were in a position to tie the game there at the end. No huge surprise on the WR's - Keke Chisum is a possession receiver and we have no real speed on the outside. Slot can be explosive, but the Wildcats did a very good job of taking away the deep ball. I thought Mizzou did a good job of adjusting and taking what the defense gave us.

AlltheSEC - the new defensive scheme run by Steve Wilks is a nominal 4-2-5 although given the performance of all our DE's not named Jeffcoat you'd have been hard pressed to say we had four down linemen. Currently Mizzou just doesn't have the horses in the front seven - we're caught between Odom's left-overs and Coach Drink's new classes. Going to be an interesting year unless we can get better line and LB play

Jay-zus… get a grip !! New system and new players + first game. Primary sin of the defense was over-pursuit and lack of gap control. Akaylab Evans is the real deal at the corner and Draines is looking good in the slot. Judging the season from the first game is a fools play

Yada yada yada ... Bazelak only threw 7 TD passes ... and Larry Rountree / Tyler Badie scored 16 on the ground. Last years' offense was extremely conservative because of a QB change in Week 3 and no Spring practice. It's a new year. Depth is always a concern to any school not named Alabama or Georgia. MSU game? Mizzou could only dress 54 players by the last game of the season and were missing a bunch of starters ... and the Bulldogs were an entirely different team by year end. Mizzou hired Wilks as D-coordinator in part because of the turnover differential. Not saying there aren't concerns, but trying to predict this year based on last year ... meh.

Nebraska is in the same place as Tennessee - believing that a national title in college football is their birthright and believing that anyone who can't win a national title is a failure. With that mantra, they proceeded to hire - and fire - a series of flavor of the month coaches. Scott Frost is just the latest in a long line of failures since Tom Osborne - a Nebraska legend that was a coaching flash in the pan. His early recruiting classes were all in the top 20, so he had the talent to work with. But he's driven off some quality players and now has tarnished his reputation with this sh#t. BTW - Nebraska's 2022 recruiting class currently ranks 63rd with nine commits - zero 5* and 4* players

Totally with you ... why is this news? Helluva job 'reporting' there, Mr. Farmer

Trust me ... I'm admin for a Mizzou fan site and there is a LOT of bad blood over admitting Texas in the SEC. I can't speak for the administration, though. Money generally talks. What I can say that Texas has been the root cause for the break-up of three conferences (SWAC; original Big 12; Current Big I-Can't-Count Conference) and untold heartburn as they demand special status and coddling (horns down, anyone?). They are a cancer and would be best left out of the deal and SEC

LynnBobTX - I've lived in Austin for the last 20 years ... if this is true I can hardly wait for Texas to get slobberknocked by the SEC teams ...

You're trying to talk reason with an asshat ... and, BTW, I like your response

@ bayou tiger. The schools too. There is a power load of bad blood between the Mizzou, Arkansas, and Texas / OU. First around the way the SWAC was handled, then around the BS seven years ago with Texas and OU demanding preferential treatment and much, much larger revenue splits (not to mention the Longhorn Network). Can't see A&M; Mizzou; or Arkansas voting 'yes' Also - don't forget conferences would have to be realigned, meaning LSU likely loses Alabama and Auburn as conference games ... you think the Bayou Bengals are going to vote 'yes' to that?

I think so too. It could be that most coaches are control freaks and he wants to do it HIS way.

Agree with most of the above points, but really Adam, not a lot of offenses had "tremendous success" against Alabama last year running their entire playbook. Given it was Coach Drink's first game and Shawn Robinson was the starting QB at the time I thought the Offense evolved just fine. A bigger concern is the overall lack of speed at WR. Mookie Cooper is a welcome addition, but a speedy long-strider on the outside is lacking.

For those thinking this is good news, last year Walters’ Defense was ranked #15 nationally; he and the staff were responsible for landing the bulk of the #20 ranked 2021 recruiting class (15 out of 22). This year, between COVID; opt-outs; transfer; and injury Mizzou’s defense was very, very thin. By the end of the season we were so thin we had a center playing DT; a WR playing CB; and our former starting QB playing safety just to have enough players on that side of the ball. For those thinking it’s bad news, I was never a fan of his system, lining up a yard off the line of scrimmage and playing hit-and-read. So - did he leave or was he pushed. Given the recruiting class and the fact the program is on the rise, I’d say he was pushed and Coach Drink already has a someone in mind to replace him.

Typical brain-dead analysis. Mizzou ranked below two teams they beat AND have a better W-L record than. Yet another reason to tune out and sign off from ESPN.

The Steck-led defense with D-line Zou for Mizzou is long gone. Ryan Walters remained the D-Coordinator for Mizzou from last year and he will be running the same 4-2-5 defense. That said, it's about the DE's and DT's we recruit and coach up at this point.

Keeping Haley, Gibbs, and Walters gives some continuity on recruiting and defense, but not sure where Walters fits back in. I hope he didn't hire Harbison to co-coordinate with Walters ... Either way, they're going to have to generate a pass rush next year

Well said, zoucat

Honestly, after watching the Alabama game, I expected a better contest from the Gamecocks. Like all USC-Mizzou games, there were a couple of weird plays but overall "Curb-stomped" is a pretty good summary. However, for all the statistical dominance from Mizzou, it took a 100-yard interception return to seal the deal. A couple of points to think about. 1. Hilinski was hurt and never should have played. What's worse is I think Hilinski got the needle at halftime - he came out in the 3rd quarter firing missile's and making throws he didn't (and couldn't) make early in the game, but as the half wore on and the shot wore off, he became more and more limited. Something to consider ... 2. Mizzou had the better team across the board ... except for D-Line vs. O-Line. You've got a good group out there, and they can keep you in games. 3. I can see three, probably four more wins for you in the next few games. Kentucky, Vandy, Tennessee and App. State are all winnable contests. 4. Not sure what you can do about Muschamp ... the buyout on him after January 1 is still $18.6M. That pretty much means one more year.

'Riots' might be a touch too strong, but it was a pretty disruptive demonstration and really trashed the school's rep for the next couple of years. I have a lot of respect for the job Odom's done rebuilding the program. We need to take the next step, however, to getting more and better recruits to CoMo and moving this program forward.