ADVERTISEMENT

The view from the BC side

I just recorded our opponent preview show with a guy that covers BC and also have been reading their board a little bit. The overwhelming message is "This is the best team BC plays all year and it's not particularly close. Team should be sky high because this is their biggest non-con game in about a decade." The guy I talked with said for lack of a better term it's BC's Super Bowl and they know how good Mizzou is.

Gonna be a desperate search for bulletin board material this week, but I'm sure you guys will dig up something disrespectful.

Mizzou Defense #1

Let’s enjoy it while we can. Mizzou’s defense is currently #1 nationally in Scoring Defense, Total Defense and Pass Defense.

Scoring Defense

Total Defense

Pass Defense


Also #1 in Opponent 1st Downs and Opponent Long Scrimmage Plays. Gonna be impossible to stay at the top playing in the SEC but hope they can keep the defense rolling.

FOOTBALL WHAT DRINKWITZ SAID ON TIGER TALK EPISODE 3

Happy with secondary play. Burks, DeLoach, Pride and Charleston all of the secondary had pretty good coverage.

Was happy with Luke Bauer and Blake Craig even though the latter missed a couple of long FGs. He gave the impression earlier he’s not tripping on Craig’s misses as long as he can hit from 40 yards and in.

Mitch Walters had an ankle injury on his own and was supposed to only play special teams. He only got two days of practice to play guard. Drink called him the toughest player on the team. He said it’s easy to root for him. He starts on the shield and he’s the best shield guy in the country.

Mitch's playing led to Tristan Wilson being able to play as that sixth OL. Usually, it’s Walters in that role. Drink said Wilson is going to be a good player for them.

Cam'Ron Johnson and Norfleet are questionable. Norfleet had a non-contact jersey at practice. Ja'Marion Wayne (hamstring) was a full go and Drink is confident he will play. They just have to ramp him up on special teams to get Wayne ready to go. Wayne is someone who can play in the prowler third down package. He's going to need some more practices to see consistent defensive reps.

The Prowler package is a 3-1-7 quarters package. Allows defense to be multiple in pressure and be multiple in coverage while being able to stop the run because of the speed on the field.

Jahkai Lang had a sack last week. "All he does is get a little better each day and now he's a guy you can count on."

Joked that Carroll and Noel do everything right but line up correctly.

Kewan Lacy is explosive but he's fumbled in back-to-back games. If he cleans it up he can play meaningful snaps. Lacy looks for contact. He has "contact courage."

Drew Pyne has been so good. He said some fans on Twitter have told him to play Pyne over Cook. He joked that Pyne has more athleticism than you think and less than you hope for. Feels fortunate to have Pyne on the roster.

BC has elite OL and DL. "They have our full attention." They do a great job of creating different pictures with formations and motions. They use the fear of the QB running to do some things.

BC has created some plays Drink has never seen before with versions of jet sweep that allow the team to be able to run triple option at times.

Called BC "Wheel Central" for how much the Eagles run wheel routes with RB.

Mizzou fans have been so loud the defense has been using a silent count because of fans and he's happy about that.

How many losses will OU have by the time Mizzou plays them?

Honestly, OU has looked pretty terrible by their standards. They play Tulane this weekend, who pushed kSU to the limit. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and call that a win. Otherwise....

Tennessee - LOSS
@Auburn - WIN
Texas - LOSS
South Carolina - TOSS UP
@Ole Miss - LOSS
Maine - WIN

I was hoping the OU game would bring SEC or ESPN Gameday to Columbia, but a three loss (maybe 4 losses if USCe continues to improve) OU team isn't going to be the draw they normally are.

BASKETBALL RECRUITING Chuck Love commits to Loyola-Chicago

Login to view embedded media Login to view embedded media
Mizzou had early interest on Love (offered him when he attended a camp here and hosted him on an official visit in March 2023). He'd told me at an EYBL session a few months ago he was hoping to schedule an official visit sometime this summer but it never materialized. The team's focused on bigger fish at the wing

FOOTBALL ELI DRINKWITZ'S PRESSER ENTERING WEEK 3

Need a great home-field advantage.

BC is a good football team. Very polished as a team. Bill O'Brien has transformed all three phases of the game, especially offense.

He said Scott Van Pelt's comparison of Thomas Castellanos to Kyler Murray is accurate.

He thinks their OL is dominant.

A good group of WRs. Highlighted former Vandy WR Jayden McGowan as a player with game-breaking speed.

4 DL starters return for BC. Linebackers play downhill and the secondary is decent.

Have to sustain blocks without holding, be physical in the trenches, and create explosive plays.

Called the BC loss in 2021 hard because of comments he made around the game. The emotional swings of the game was hard. An interception on the first play of OT and then the crowd stormed the field.

Castellanos's game has slowed down. BC is treating him as he should be, which is a good player at the quarterback position."

Can play man and spy Castellanos or play zone and be down a man in the box. It's something Mizzou will have to watch out for.

The resurgence on defense has always been player-driven. The standard is being upheld from the players of the last couple of seasons.

Johnny Walker continues to get better physically. He's at 255 lbs. He's still progressing positively as a pass rusher. He's done a good job mentoring Nwaneri and Brown. In the spring, he called a players-only meeting when the defense wasn't doing well.

The team is top five in the country in first down. The offense is efficient even though they want explosive plays but that's maturity. Teams don't want to give up explosive plays.

Lessons learned from playing Jayden Daniels last season and how it relates to Castellanos. The DL can't rush past the QB. The game plans are different. BC is a 12 personnel based team and LSU played 11.

Luther Burden and Theo Wease are feeling good. They're both probable. Norfleet is questionable he will practice. Cam'Ron Johnson is questionable.

Feel very good about the top four corners. Hopes Ja'Marion Wayne (hamstring) can play. I think he's the No. 5 CB. Drinkwitz has "total confidence" in Nic DeLoach. They like Cam Keys and Jaren Sensaubaugh.

Not worried about FG operations on 49 and 52-yard misses. "Has all the confidence in the world" in Craig.

"Alignment penalties are embarrassing and that's on me (Drink)." The holds (drink paused and smirked). They have to learn to let go of players. There were three holds last game that were easy. They will figure the other ones out.

FOOTBALL Fun advanced stats site

Might be worth a book mark for those of you who enjoy this stuff.

Mizzou first in EPA/play allowed on defense, 30th in EPA/play on offense, 4th in EPA/play overall. I find it amusing that teams are effectively losing 1 expected point every time they drop back against the Mizzou defense. lol.

Login to view embedded media
Expected Points Added (EPA) is a football analytics metric that measures how much a play contributes to a team's likelihood of scoring points. It's calculated by subtracting a team's expected points from the number of points they actually score.

EPA is a play-by-play metric that takes into account a variety of factors, including:
  • Down
  • Distance to go
  • Field position
  • Home-field advantage
  • Time remaining
  • Being closer to the opposing goal line

NEW STORY TEN THOUGHTS ON THE WEEKEND IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL

We've covered Buffalo vs Mizzou six ways from Saturday night so let's look at the rest of the weekend.

1) The game of the week wasn't even a game. Texas humiliated Michigan. The Longhorns won 31-12 and it wasn't that close. I've got news you guys aren't going to like: Quinn Ewers is legit. Like leading Heisman candidate, No. 1 overall legit. He moves well in the pocket, he has a cannon right arm and he's a stud. And the Michigan offense isn't anything to write home about, but the Longhorn defense was all over the place. Texas did enough yesterday to convince me to put them in the conversation with Georgia and Ohio State as "take this group against the field to win the title and you should feel good about it." On the other side, Michigan is a shell of what it was last year. No surprise when 20 players get drafted and the coach heads to the NFL, but they're why preseason rankings are dumb. We were ranking off last season and a program name. This team? It's maybe a top 25 team. Maybe.

2) We saw the beginning of the end in South Bend. I was listening to the Cover 3 podcast today and Tom Fornelli said "Marcus Freeman got fired today." He's not getting fired this week. He might not get fired this year. But whenever he does, you're going to look back and say today was the day you knew. You can't lose at home to Northern Illinois as a four touchdown favorite. Especially when you've done this before. I've shown numbers that show Notre Dame is not overrated every year. But it's overrated this year. The Irish should be out of the playoff conversation. I don't care if you go 11-1. I don't care if you win every other game by 30 points. You can't lose at home to NIU and make the playoff. You blew it. You stay at home and watch teams that didn't blow it. The MAC is now 1-51 all time against top five teams. This game also made me wonder if Texas A&M just isn't any good.

Login to view embedded media
3) Arkansas is much, much improved over last year. It just still doesn't know how to finish a game. To be honest, Oklahoma State didn't deserve to win that game either. It was a hot potato contest with both teams just throwing it back and forth saying "No, please take it. We don't want it." The Razorbacks jumped out 14-0 and 21-7. And gave it all back. The Pokes left the offense on the field to try to waste time before a field goal and drew a penalty, which allowed the Razorbacks an extra 10-15 seconds they used to get in position to tie it in regulation. Then in OT, Mike Gundy settled for a 42-yard field goal instead of trying to actually attack and make it a shorter kick and they missed it and went to double OT. Eventually, Arkansas wanted it a little less than Oklahoma State. The Razorbacks might win enough games to save Sam Pittman's job...or they might finish a second straight season talking about how close they were to winning a lot more games and send Pittman packing because of it.

4) Illinois won the Mizzou fan's game of "Can't they just both lose?" Jaylon Daniels threw three interceptions and the Fighting Illini beat Kansas 23-17, their first win over a ranked non-conference opponent since 2011. I don't know if Illinois is any good. This game doesn't materially change anything for the Jayhawks. They weren't getting in the playoff as an at large team anyway. They'll either win the Big 12 or go play in some meaningless exhibition game. But losing in Champaign sure makes the second seem a lot more likely than the first.

5) Connor Bazelak spent a half absolutely torching the vaunted Penn State defense. And then he gave it back. At one point, Bazelak was 13/15 for 186 yards and two touchdowns. He finished 25/39 for 254 and two touchdowns. Not a bad line, but he threw two back breaking interceptions in the final eight minutes and the Nittany Lions escaped 34-27. It's a result that definitely gives you some pause jumping on the PSU bandwagon, but it's also one that keeps the train on the tracks. At a time when a lot of teams are losing, Penn State didn't. That's going to count for more than some will think it should. Penn State is still a likely playoff team...but it's also not a team you see breaking through and beating any of the big boys. Another James Franklin 10-2 special seems pretty likely.

6) Speaking of, well, yeah, you won, but....Oklahoma beat Houston 16-14. The Sooners scored two whole points in the second half. One of their two touchdowns came on a short field after Houston dropped a punt. Jackson Arnold called it "a bad night in general." Brent Venables said in his on-field postgame interview that OU "deserved to lose." It didn't, but it now hosts a Tulane team that was a terrible OPI call away from taking Kansas State to overtime and then a Tennessee team that looks flat out scary before hosting Auburn. The Sooners could well be 2-2 and more or less out of the playoff conversation by the time the Tigers get to town. Because I have nowhere else to put this, but just mentioned Tulane, my favorite play of the day came from that game.

Login to view embedded media
That's a hell of a hurdle with a huge price to pay at the end.

7) SEC stock up: Tennessee, South Carolina. The Vols hung 51 on North Carolina State and handed the pack one of its worst losses in program history. Maybe NC State is overrated, but it's not terrible. Tennessee gets headlines for its offense, but the defense is really, really good. The quarterback is a freshman, but he's really talented and has all the pieces around him. The Vols will probably be favored in every game except one at Georgia (yes, that includes a home game against Alabama) and it's time to start taking them seriously as a playoff threat. I thought they were a year away when the season started. I do not think that anymore. With the Gamecocks, I'm not sure how good they are, but they embarrassed Kentucky yesterday. It's the kind of game that determines the season you have. It was a true swing game and it swung South Carolina's way in a big way. Again, maybe this is more about the opponent being bad than South Carolina being good, but it's a big win for Shane Beamer.
8) SEC stock down: Auburn, Kentucky. The Tigers lost to Cal 21-14. I briefly flipped that game on before heading to Faurot yesterday. My first thought was "Cal has pretty cool uniforms." Which led to my second thought of "I don't know the last time I watched one single snap of Cal football." Honestly, I don't know if I ever have. Either way, this isn't the year for Hugh Freeze. I picked Mizzou to lose to Auburn in my "nobody's gonna see this coming" upset. I would not pick that game that way now. Kentucky is what Kentucky always is. They're a team that's going to beat most of the bad teams, lose to almost all of the good teams and end up somewhere in the fat middle of the SEC. They're going to do that because they have no offense whatsoever, especially when asked to pass the ball. Here's a mindblowing stat I heard yesterday: Kentucky started a transfer quarterback for the 8th straight season opener. If you want to be good, eventually you've got to find a guy out of high school and be right about him. Mark Stoops never has. And he really hasn't been right about most of the transfers either. Will Levis wasn't as good as the hype (or the draft position), Devin Leary did little last year and Brock Vandegriff went 3/10 for 30 yards and a pick and got benched for Gavin Wimsett who went 3/7 for 14 yards and a pick yesterday.

Login to view embedded media
9) The coolest thing in Colorado college football yesterday had nothing to do with Deion Sanders and the Buffs being completely non-competitive in a 28-10 loss to Nebraska after which Matt Rhule said "it wasn't really a contest in the second half." Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are a lot of people that took a lot of joy in that one. But I try to find at least one thing none of you guys will have seen for this column every Sunday morning. This week's submission is from the Colorado School of Mines.

Login to view embedded media
More of this please.

10) Five games I'll watch next week besides Mizzou/Boston College:

UNLV at Kansas, 6 pm Friday, ESPN
: The Rebels have a chance to be the G5 rep in the playoff. They're also good enough to win this game in whatever stadium it's being played.

Arizona at Kansas State, 7 pm Friday, FOX: Arizona is actually my pick to win the Big 12. Here's a stat that's going to blow your mind.

Login to view embedded media
Nine games is the longest active winning streak in the country

LSU at South Carolina, 11 am, ABC: Not super interested, but want to see if the Gamecocks are actually decent or if Kentucky is that bad.

Tulane at Oklahoma, 2:30, ESPN: With a schedule that is just absolutely awful, this is one the Sooners have to win. If they don't, you might be talking about making a bowl game as the only reachable goal.

Texas A&M at Florida, 2:30, ABC: It's not a great week of games. This one could be telling. Are both of these teams bad? Did one of them just have a bad week one? Big swing game for the middle of the league.
ADVERTISEMENT

Filter

ADVERTISEMENT