Welcome to Four Down Territory which is a spin-off of Ten Thoughts.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. SEC Media Days for Missouri was short and sweet. After the SEC spring meetings where head coach Eli Drinkwitz found his name in the headlines, it was expected that he would probably keep any controversial comments to a minimum. And he did. Which was a surprise to some, like Paul Finebaum, who was wondering who this version of Drinkwitz was.
Drinkwitz is known for being a bit snarky and witty with some of the things he says, and when TCU head coach Sonny Dykes mentioned Missouri last week at Big 12 Media Days, many people wondered if Drinkwitz would respond.
He didn't say anything about that or anyone, frankly. Although, he doesn't care for AI in college football.
So, he didn't say anything controversial, but he gave an update on the state of the program.
Without copying and pasting the transcription of what he said on stage, here are some of the main talking points.
1. Brady Cook is the starting quarterback entering fall camp.
2. The quarterback competition will go into the season if it must.
3. The team isn’t as concerned about the defensive end position as many people think.
4. Drinkwitz, defensive coordinator Blake Baker and cornerbacks coach Al Pogue will assist special teams coordinator Eric Link.
5. Sam Horn’s acclimation to college last year.
I went more in-depth on these topics in my takeaways and notebook from Monday, so please check those out if you haven’t already.
2. We’re now at my least favorite part of the entire event. Voting for the preseason All-SEC teams. It’s just hard to do when you’re really in tune with one school.
Like Gabe said in Ten Thoughts, it’s hard to do these preseason honors because it's hard to make an informed decision on players you don’t really know.
But I’ll do some homework and decide.
The players I expect to see once they release the teams are left tackle Javon Foster, linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper and cornerbacks Kris Abrams Draine and Ennis Rakestraw.
I do feel kicker Harrison Mevis is worthy of getting the honor, but I’m not so sure people are going to recognize he made about 90% of his field goals in his first couple of seasons and that this past season (78%) was probably an anomaly.
Honestly, some people may just remember his missed field goal at the end of regulation versus Auburn and use that as the determining factor.
Wide receiver Luther Burden may make the list, but I don’t know. He’s talented and everything but his stat line from a season ago won’t scream All-SEC to voters who may not have been keeping tabs on Mizzou.
People know he's talented but I wonder without proper context if he garners enough votes.
Plus, this league is always stacked with receivers.
I haven’t done my research yet (I think I have to submit my ballot by Thursday) but I know picking the wide receivers will not be easy.
The same thing can be said for defensive lineman Darius Robinson. He’s worthy, but Missouri is under the radar, so I don’t think people know how many talented players are on the team.
3. Let’s transition to the SEC East division and where I believe Missouri will place in the league’s final year with division standings.
Georgia 8-0
Tennessee 7-1
Kentucky 5-3
Mizzou 4-4
South Carolina 3-5
Florida 2-6
Vanderbilt 0-8
I have Missouri finishing fourth and going .500 in conference play with wins over Vandy, South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas.
I think it'll lose to Georgia, Tennessee, LSU and Kentucky as of now.
Anything more than 4-4 means the Tigers beat a team that I believe will probably finish with at least nine total wins. It would also mean that the Tigers are likely to finish at 8-4 or 9-3 if they happen to beat Kansas State.
I’d do the SEC West, but again, I legitimately don’t feel well-informed on that side of the league yet to justify making a prediction (yet).
4. It was a busy week for me this week, including Sunday, and it's only Wednesday.
I posted the story on the 2013 team on Sunday, and I’ll have to admit it was a fun project to do. That same day, I headed down to Nashville for what was my third straight SEC Media Days appearance, but this was a different experience.
In 2021, I went as an intern for the Sports Journalism Institute and I was working for the Tuscaloosa News that summer. When you’re an intern at most places and you get to cover things like SEC Media Days, it's a lot of short stories or quick hitters. You're not writing anything too serious.
However, I did make it on to the Paul Finebaum Show as the last media member standing.
But here’s a quick story on how that really went down.
So, Nick Kelly and Jerell Rushin were the reporters I carpooled with since that was the year the event was in Hoover, Alabama which is about an hour away from Tuscaloosa.
I probably finished a couple of hours before them. The hotel where the event was being held also had a mall and food court in it.
I went down there, ate, and took a quick 30-minute nap. Jerell texted me that they were finishing up and then that’s when he and Nick briefed me on the last media member standing thing.
I never heard of it prior, but we stuck it out and won. And since we carpooled together we convinced them that all of us should be on the show and they agreed.
However, due to COVID-19 policies, only one of us could go on set with Finebaum while the other two would be in the background.
I want to say one of the producers told us three to guess a number between 1-30 and the number was 25 and I guessed 26. So, I got to go on. Good thing they didn’t say you couldn’t guess more than what they were thinking.
So, technically I was the last media member, but honestly, if Jerell didn't text me I probably would've never gone back up to the media room.
I would’ve just waited for them to come down and go to the car.
I think that appearance plus how aggressive I was that week by asking most of the coaches and players questions helped me get my first job.
Anyway, I shadowed Mitch last year, so I was more of a fly on the wall. Plus, my car was on its last legs. It stopped on an exit coming off of the highway in Atlanta, and sometimes whenever I was in traffic or at a red light the car would stall and then eventually turn off.
So, most of that day I spent thinking about my car and how I was going to get home without dying.
To bring it full circle, I did the Finebaum Show again on the radio on Monday, and this time I was actually invited. I also hopped on a podcast with SEC Mike, and Neal McCready, who covers the Rebels for Rivals’ Ole Miss site.
Then, the main event was, of course, PowerMizzou Live with Gabe which is the most fun (and I'm serious because it's one of my favorite things to do on this beat).
So sandwich those four podcast appearances in between a lot of writing and that was my 17-hour day on Monday, but I had fun.
And to be clear, the joy for me isn't really about whose podcast I'm on. Like, it’s cool to be on shows and podcasts that people have heard of and stuff.
But for me, the fun is people wanting me to come on their podcast or show because they’ve read something I wrote or someone (probably Gabe) told them that I would be serviceable.
Then, it’s up to me not look stupid.
Well, the work continues. My offseason is over and I'll be posting something almost every day until the end of the season.
Guess it’s time to study for the preseason awards.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. SEC Media Days for Missouri was short and sweet. After the SEC spring meetings where head coach Eli Drinkwitz found his name in the headlines, it was expected that he would probably keep any controversial comments to a minimum. And he did. Which was a surprise to some, like Paul Finebaum, who was wondering who this version of Drinkwitz was.
Drinkwitz is known for being a bit snarky and witty with some of the things he says, and when TCU head coach Sonny Dykes mentioned Missouri last week at Big 12 Media Days, many people wondered if Drinkwitz would respond.
He didn't say anything about that or anyone, frankly. Although, he doesn't care for AI in college football.
So, he didn't say anything controversial, but he gave an update on the state of the program.
Without copying and pasting the transcription of what he said on stage, here are some of the main talking points.
1. Brady Cook is the starting quarterback entering fall camp.
2. The quarterback competition will go into the season if it must.
3. The team isn’t as concerned about the defensive end position as many people think.
4. Drinkwitz, defensive coordinator Blake Baker and cornerbacks coach Al Pogue will assist special teams coordinator Eric Link.
5. Sam Horn’s acclimation to college last year.
I went more in-depth on these topics in my takeaways and notebook from Monday, so please check those out if you haven’t already.
2. We’re now at my least favorite part of the entire event. Voting for the preseason All-SEC teams. It’s just hard to do when you’re really in tune with one school.
Like Gabe said in Ten Thoughts, it’s hard to do these preseason honors because it's hard to make an informed decision on players you don’t really know.
But I’ll do some homework and decide.
The players I expect to see once they release the teams are left tackle Javon Foster, linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper and cornerbacks Kris Abrams Draine and Ennis Rakestraw.
I do feel kicker Harrison Mevis is worthy of getting the honor, but I’m not so sure people are going to recognize he made about 90% of his field goals in his first couple of seasons and that this past season (78%) was probably an anomaly.
Honestly, some people may just remember his missed field goal at the end of regulation versus Auburn and use that as the determining factor.
Wide receiver Luther Burden may make the list, but I don’t know. He’s talented and everything but his stat line from a season ago won’t scream All-SEC to voters who may not have been keeping tabs on Mizzou.
People know he's talented but I wonder without proper context if he garners enough votes.
Plus, this league is always stacked with receivers.
I haven’t done my research yet (I think I have to submit my ballot by Thursday) but I know picking the wide receivers will not be easy.
The same thing can be said for defensive lineman Darius Robinson. He’s worthy, but Missouri is under the radar, so I don’t think people know how many talented players are on the team.
3. Let’s transition to the SEC East division and where I believe Missouri will place in the league’s final year with division standings.
Georgia 8-0
Tennessee 7-1
Kentucky 5-3
Mizzou 4-4
South Carolina 3-5
Florida 2-6
Vanderbilt 0-8
I have Missouri finishing fourth and going .500 in conference play with wins over Vandy, South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas.
I think it'll lose to Georgia, Tennessee, LSU and Kentucky as of now.
Anything more than 4-4 means the Tigers beat a team that I believe will probably finish with at least nine total wins. It would also mean that the Tigers are likely to finish at 8-4 or 9-3 if they happen to beat Kansas State.
I’d do the SEC West, but again, I legitimately don’t feel well-informed on that side of the league yet to justify making a prediction (yet).
4. It was a busy week for me this week, including Sunday, and it's only Wednesday.
I posted the story on the 2013 team on Sunday, and I’ll have to admit it was a fun project to do. That same day, I headed down to Nashville for what was my third straight SEC Media Days appearance, but this was a different experience.
In 2021, I went as an intern for the Sports Journalism Institute and I was working for the Tuscaloosa News that summer. When you’re an intern at most places and you get to cover things like SEC Media Days, it's a lot of short stories or quick hitters. You're not writing anything too serious.
However, I did make it on to the Paul Finebaum Show as the last media member standing.
But here’s a quick story on how that really went down.
So, Nick Kelly and Jerell Rushin were the reporters I carpooled with since that was the year the event was in Hoover, Alabama which is about an hour away from Tuscaloosa.
I probably finished a couple of hours before them. The hotel where the event was being held also had a mall and food court in it.
I went down there, ate, and took a quick 30-minute nap. Jerell texted me that they were finishing up and then that’s when he and Nick briefed me on the last media member standing thing.
I never heard of it prior, but we stuck it out and won. And since we carpooled together we convinced them that all of us should be on the show and they agreed.
However, due to COVID-19 policies, only one of us could go on set with Finebaum while the other two would be in the background.
I want to say one of the producers told us three to guess a number between 1-30 and the number was 25 and I guessed 26. So, I got to go on. Good thing they didn’t say you couldn’t guess more than what they were thinking.
So, technically I was the last media member, but honestly, if Jerell didn't text me I probably would've never gone back up to the media room.
I would’ve just waited for them to come down and go to the car.
I think that appearance plus how aggressive I was that week by asking most of the coaches and players questions helped me get my first job.
Anyway, I shadowed Mitch last year, so I was more of a fly on the wall. Plus, my car was on its last legs. It stopped on an exit coming off of the highway in Atlanta, and sometimes whenever I was in traffic or at a red light the car would stall and then eventually turn off.
So, most of that day I spent thinking about my car and how I was going to get home without dying.
To bring it full circle, I did the Finebaum Show again on the radio on Monday, and this time I was actually invited. I also hopped on a podcast with SEC Mike, and Neal McCready, who covers the Rebels for Rivals’ Ole Miss site.
Then, the main event was, of course, PowerMizzou Live with Gabe which is the most fun (and I'm serious because it's one of my favorite things to do on this beat).
So sandwich those four podcast appearances in between a lot of writing and that was my 17-hour day on Monday, but I had fun.
And to be clear, the joy for me isn't really about whose podcast I'm on. Like, it’s cool to be on shows and podcasts that people have heard of and stuff.
But for me, the fun is people wanting me to come on their podcast or show because they’ve read something I wrote or someone (probably Gabe) told them that I would be serviceable.
Then, it’s up to me not look stupid.
Well, the work continues. My offseason is over and I'll be posting something almost every day until the end of the season.
Guess it’s time to study for the preseason awards.
