1. The health of Hansbrough/Boehm will likely determine game plan. Like I’ve been saying for the last few days, I expect Boehm to start and play today. I was told he got his cast off Tuesday, and improved in practice throughout the week. Hansbrough, however, seems to be more of a game-time decision. If both of those guys can play today, I’d expect Missouri’s offense to open up a bit more early on. If one — or both — can’t go, I could see this becoming a very conservative evening on the offensive side.
2. Contain, contain, contain. That was really the only negative aspect on defense for Missouri’s season-opener. The cutbacks on runs got SEMO a good amount of their yardage, and with Fredi Knighten being a much more accomplished runner than Tay Bender, that could really hurt the Tigers if it’s not fixed. A big part of that comes from being over-eager on the defensive line, which makes sense considering it was the first start (and game, period) for a lot of those linemen. I’d expect some improvement in that regard, but I still think Knighten gets a few nice runs because they lose contain.
3. Same ol’ for Lock? I’d expect Missouri to bring in Drew Lock for that first series of the second quarter, much like they did against SEMO. But it will be interesting to see how (if) they use him in the second half, especially if the game is close. If they do bring him back for another series (if the game is close, again), it’s likely going to mean that he gets much more experience as a true freshman than either James Franklin or Blaine Gabbert before him. Kind of a “duh” thing to say, I know, but still an interesting story line to follow
2. Contain, contain, contain. That was really the only negative aspect on defense for Missouri’s season-opener. The cutbacks on runs got SEMO a good amount of their yardage, and with Fredi Knighten being a much more accomplished runner than Tay Bender, that could really hurt the Tigers if it’s not fixed. A big part of that comes from being over-eager on the defensive line, which makes sense considering it was the first start (and game, period) for a lot of those linemen. I’d expect some improvement in that regard, but I still think Knighten gets a few nice runs because they lose contain.
3. Same ol’ for Lock? I’d expect Missouri to bring in Drew Lock for that first series of the second quarter, much like they did against SEMO. But it will be interesting to see how (if) they use him in the second half, especially if the game is close. If they do bring him back for another series (if the game is close, again), it’s likely going to mean that he gets much more experience as a true freshman than either James Franklin or Blaine Gabbert before him. Kind of a “duh” thing to say, I know, but still an interesting story line to follow
