1) It was what we thought it was. Missouri was up 21-0 in 5:19. Literally every play went the Tigers’ way in the opening three drives save maybe a 7-yard run on the Racers’ first play from scrimmage. We knew it wasn’t a fair fight coming in. But all you can do is line up and play the team across from you. Missouri came out ready to do what it should do against this team. Can you learn a ton from it? Not really. But I’m not gonna wet blanket a game that was over before some of the people were in their seats. Missouri had a job to do and did it well.
2) Missouri’s running backs are gonna be fine. Again, I’m not going to draw overarching conclusions from this game. I’m not going to tell you they’re going to match or exceed Cody Schrader’s numbers. But I’m not going to tell you they aren’t. Nate Noel has some real speed. And Marcus Carroll isn’t just a lumbering short yardage back either. Both scored a first quarter touchdown. Maybe just as important, both had a first quarter reception. I like the early returns from the 1-2 punch. Jamal Roberts came in and scored too. Kewan Lacy flashed. Missouri had two running backs score a rushing touchdown last season. Three scored tonight. The Tigers had four different players run for a touchdown tonight. They had three all of last season.
3) The second quarter lull is understandable. Freak out about it if you want. I won’t. This game was over. I knew it. You knew it. They knew it. If you want to get distressed about it, go ahead I guess. But you just can’t ask college kids to keep the same level of focus and intensity for 60 minutes when it’s clear all they have to do is get the game over because there’s no world in which it will be close. Could it have been 87-0 if they had played well the entire game? Probably. Does it matter that it isn’t? Not a single solitary bit. It also provides Eli Drinkwitz with some ammo in practice: You think you’re great, but you really only played one quarter. Do that again, we’ll get beat.
4) This defense is going to play a lot of players. Obviously not quite as many as they did tonight on a regular basis, but the fourth drive of the game featured only five guys who started the game. Eddie Kelly, Joe Moore, Sidney Williams, Corey and Caleb Flagg, TreVez Johnson are all guys that probably won’t start, but will play a lot. Sam Williams, Sterling Webb and Jalen Marshall all got first half reps at defensive tackle. We don’t’ yet know if Mizzou has the star power it had last season defensively, but Corey Batoon has a lot of options. And, oh by the way, Murray State didn’t cross midfield until the 9:24 mark of the fourth quarter and averaged 1.6 yards per play.
5) It’s nice when a camp prediction comes true. I said I thought Josh Manning could be in the top four in snaps on this team at wide receiver. He was out there a fair amount and made the first three catches of his career. There are a lot of options out there, the number three receiver behind Luther Burden and Theo Wease will probably rotate from time to time during the season, but I think there will be times that Manning is number three. He’s a more complete receiver than Marquis Johnson right now and he was more productive tonight than Mookie Cooper.
2) Missouri’s running backs are gonna be fine. Again, I’m not going to draw overarching conclusions from this game. I’m not going to tell you they’re going to match or exceed Cody Schrader’s numbers. But I’m not going to tell you they aren’t. Nate Noel has some real speed. And Marcus Carroll isn’t just a lumbering short yardage back either. Both scored a first quarter touchdown. Maybe just as important, both had a first quarter reception. I like the early returns from the 1-2 punch. Jamal Roberts came in and scored too. Kewan Lacy flashed. Missouri had two running backs score a rushing touchdown last season. Three scored tonight. The Tigers had four different players run for a touchdown tonight. They had three all of last season.
3) The second quarter lull is understandable. Freak out about it if you want. I won’t. This game was over. I knew it. You knew it. They knew it. If you want to get distressed about it, go ahead I guess. But you just can’t ask college kids to keep the same level of focus and intensity for 60 minutes when it’s clear all they have to do is get the game over because there’s no world in which it will be close. Could it have been 87-0 if they had played well the entire game? Probably. Does it matter that it isn’t? Not a single solitary bit. It also provides Eli Drinkwitz with some ammo in practice: You think you’re great, but you really only played one quarter. Do that again, we’ll get beat.
4) This defense is going to play a lot of players. Obviously not quite as many as they did tonight on a regular basis, but the fourth drive of the game featured only five guys who started the game. Eddie Kelly, Joe Moore, Sidney Williams, Corey and Caleb Flagg, TreVez Johnson are all guys that probably won’t start, but will play a lot. Sam Williams, Sterling Webb and Jalen Marshall all got first half reps at defensive tackle. We don’t’ yet know if Mizzou has the star power it had last season defensively, but Corey Batoon has a lot of options. And, oh by the way, Murray State didn’t cross midfield until the 9:24 mark of the fourth quarter and averaged 1.6 yards per play.
5) It’s nice when a camp prediction comes true. I said I thought Josh Manning could be in the top four in snaps on this team at wide receiver. He was out there a fair amount and made the first three catches of his career. There are a lot of options out there, the number three receiver behind Luther Burden and Theo Wease will probably rotate from time to time during the season, but I think there will be times that Manning is number three. He’s a more complete receiver than Marquis Johnson right now and he was more productive tonight than Mookie Cooper.
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