Make sure you see Pete's story on Rohrk Cutchlow's work in the background
WVSports.com says this weekend's game could be decided by the Mountaineers OL vs Mizzou's DL
Later this morning, I'll break down three matchups to watch when Mizzou has the ball.
One of the matchups I thought I might be writing about is Marvin Zanders vs the West Virginia defense. All camp, it's been kind of a foregone conclusion Zanders was going to get some time against the Mountaineers. Even on Monday, Barry Odom said that he would play anyone who had shown he could help Missouri win a game and "Marvin is one of those guys."
As of Tuesday night, I've got some doubts about that.
I had planned to write a feature story on Zanders this week. Was going to write about how he could easily have transferred, how a lot of people in his situation would have transferred. But he didn't and it paid off because Missouri was openly talking about using him as a weapon and getting him on the field.
But after practice on Tuesday, in talking to a couple of assistant coaches, I'm less convinced that's the plan. I first asked Andy Hill what difference he had seen in Zanders from last season, when Hill was the QB coach.
"All the guys are getting better. A year of experience everybody's better," Hill said. "And Marvin's no different than the receivers, the guys that played a little bit last year. When you're involved in the game plan, you know, you feel the need to be ready. He did that all of last year. He's matured. Great kid. It's all good."
By itself, that's a pretty generic quote and reading into it might be folly. But then I talked to offensive coordinator Josh Heupel and asked him whether Missouri would game plan specifically how to use Zanders during the week or whether it would be determined during the flow of the game each Saturday.
"Kind of as the week unfolds how does he earn it? If he earns it," Heupel said. "Drew's been named the starter, he's taken the majority of the reps with the ones for a while now, so that's kind of the direction."
I followed up by asking if it would be a situation similar to what we've seen with a lot of Mizzou quarterbacks over the years, where there's a predetermined time to get them a series.
"I don't know that that will happen," Heupel said.
Again, it's not Heupel definitively saying Zanders isn't playing. But he's not saying he is. And more than just what they said, it was the way they said it. I just kind of got the feeling that they were really pumping the brakes on the two quarterback system we've all been assuming is going to occur. Combine that with the fact that Zanders was "excused" from interviews during media day on Monday and I'm not sold he plays this weekend. If that's the case, I think there are a few possible explanations:
1. All the talk through camp has been just that. Missouri saying something to make West Virginia spend practice time on something that's never going to happen (and according to reports I've read, the Mountaineers have been preparing for Zanders as a QB).
2. Something has changed in the last week or so of practice to create significantly more distance between No. 1 and No. 2 on the depth chart.
3. They're just tired of us asking about the second-string QB and now that everybody's said he will play, they're throwing a wet blanket on that publicly, but still plan to play them both.
Like I said, it's possible that No. 3 is true and I'm just reading too much into this. But I talked to a couple of the guys that were there when I talked to Hill and Heupel and they had the exact same reaction. We walked away thinking, "I'm not sold they're going to actually play two quarterbacks."
The mysteries continue leading up to the opener.
*On recruiting, Mizzou sent out a couple of new offers yesterday. Here are the ones we know about:
Defensive tackle (2017 or 2018 depending on which link you look at, but I'll get some clarity on that soon) Tola Banjoko
Arizona Western CC corner Keisean Nixon
A source tells me Missouri feels it's in a pretty good spot with Nixon.
*Three non-Mizzou links for you to read today:
Military veteran and football player Nate Boyer writes a letter to Collin Kaepernick
Florida State's Travis Rudolph is a guy you should root for
Joan Niesen on how female fans of Baylor football feel as the season looms
1039 AM UPDATE
A look at three matchups that will be keys to the game when Mizzou has the ball
I will update this post as the day goes along
1126 AM UPDATE
A summary of Barry Odom's teleconference
WVSports.com says this weekend's game could be decided by the Mountaineers OL vs Mizzou's DL
Later this morning, I'll break down three matchups to watch when Mizzou has the ball.
One of the matchups I thought I might be writing about is Marvin Zanders vs the West Virginia defense. All camp, it's been kind of a foregone conclusion Zanders was going to get some time against the Mountaineers. Even on Monday, Barry Odom said that he would play anyone who had shown he could help Missouri win a game and "Marvin is one of those guys."
As of Tuesday night, I've got some doubts about that.
I had planned to write a feature story on Zanders this week. Was going to write about how he could easily have transferred, how a lot of people in his situation would have transferred. But he didn't and it paid off because Missouri was openly talking about using him as a weapon and getting him on the field.
But after practice on Tuesday, in talking to a couple of assistant coaches, I'm less convinced that's the plan. I first asked Andy Hill what difference he had seen in Zanders from last season, when Hill was the QB coach.
"All the guys are getting better. A year of experience everybody's better," Hill said. "And Marvin's no different than the receivers, the guys that played a little bit last year. When you're involved in the game plan, you know, you feel the need to be ready. He did that all of last year. He's matured. Great kid. It's all good."
By itself, that's a pretty generic quote and reading into it might be folly. But then I talked to offensive coordinator Josh Heupel and asked him whether Missouri would game plan specifically how to use Zanders during the week or whether it would be determined during the flow of the game each Saturday.
"Kind of as the week unfolds how does he earn it? If he earns it," Heupel said. "Drew's been named the starter, he's taken the majority of the reps with the ones for a while now, so that's kind of the direction."
I followed up by asking if it would be a situation similar to what we've seen with a lot of Mizzou quarterbacks over the years, where there's a predetermined time to get them a series.
"I don't know that that will happen," Heupel said.
Again, it's not Heupel definitively saying Zanders isn't playing. But he's not saying he is. And more than just what they said, it was the way they said it. I just kind of got the feeling that they were really pumping the brakes on the two quarterback system we've all been assuming is going to occur. Combine that with the fact that Zanders was "excused" from interviews during media day on Monday and I'm not sold he plays this weekend. If that's the case, I think there are a few possible explanations:
1. All the talk through camp has been just that. Missouri saying something to make West Virginia spend practice time on something that's never going to happen (and according to reports I've read, the Mountaineers have been preparing for Zanders as a QB).
2. Something has changed in the last week or so of practice to create significantly more distance between No. 1 and No. 2 on the depth chart.
3. They're just tired of us asking about the second-string QB and now that everybody's said he will play, they're throwing a wet blanket on that publicly, but still plan to play them both.
Like I said, it's possible that No. 3 is true and I'm just reading too much into this. But I talked to a couple of the guys that were there when I talked to Hill and Heupel and they had the exact same reaction. We walked away thinking, "I'm not sold they're going to actually play two quarterbacks."
The mysteries continue leading up to the opener.
*On recruiting, Mizzou sent out a couple of new offers yesterday. Here are the ones we know about:
Defensive tackle (2017 or 2018 depending on which link you look at, but I'll get some clarity on that soon) Tola Banjoko
Arizona Western CC corner Keisean Nixon
A source tells me Missouri feels it's in a pretty good spot with Nixon.
*Three non-Mizzou links for you to read today:
Military veteran and football player Nate Boyer writes a letter to Collin Kaepernick
Florida State's Travis Rudolph is a guy you should root for
Joan Niesen on how female fans of Baylor football feel as the season looms
1039 AM UPDATE
A look at three matchups that will be keys to the game when Mizzou has the ball
I will update this post as the day goes along
1126 AM UPDATE
A summary of Barry Odom's teleconference
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