Jeremy Maclin fell to the turf late in the fourth quarter with an injury that put a scare into all Mizzou fans.
But it's apparently just a sprain of the peroneal tendon in his left ankle. Nothing major. He should be practicing and available to play this week, although Missouri doesn't necessarily need him.
Missouri should hang 70something on Southeast Missouri State.
It's a good game for stat padding for Maclin, who will get serious consideration for the Heisman if he continues to show up in the kicking game like he did on Saturday night. That's really the only reason he needs to play next week.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
This shoulda been a 60-20something laugher
It seems as though everyone wants to lament about Mizzou's shoddy defensive play on Saturday night.
This includes Mizzou's corners, who were consistently torched by Juice Williams and friends as though they actually enjoyed being in that proverbial barbeque pit.
The corners made Juice, who spent part of the off-season working out with Donavan McNabb, look like Donavan McNabb.
But I don't quite blame the corners. Put the blame on head coach Gary Pinkel and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, who kept putting the defensive backs in unnecessary situations in the second half.
Now before we dive further into the bashing that proceeds, remember this: Mizzou controlled this game against the No. 20 team in the nation. lllinois, which will compete with Ohio State for the Big Ten title, scored on the final play to make it 52-42. But they weren't playing to win after 45-20 near the end of the third quarter.
Still, that doesn't discount the problems in the secondary created by Pinkel and his top defensive assistant. Eberflus consistently put the corners on islands, and consistently watched them get beat over the top, especially in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Pinkel still thinks it's smart to close out games with the SuperFastball Offense.
Had the defense played Cover 2 or Cover 4 this wouldn't have happened. Although, a safety did blow a Cover 2 scheme and give up that ridiculously long touchdown pass (65-yard touchdown from Juice Williams to Will Judson) . Still, they played man coverage and blitzed way too much against a good team.
This will not work at Texas against Colt McCoy. Again, this will not work against Texas.
I also noticed how the SuperFastball Offense, in all its greatness, actually hurts Mizzou in closing out games. I'm going to post about this specifically a little later, but I blame Pinkel for not slowing the game down enough in the fourth quarter.
Mizzou's defense was on the field for nearly 40 minutes because of how fast its offense operates. That's not a good thing. It's great to wear down a defense by making it work quickly, but it creates a double-edged sword effect when your defense is left on the field for nearly twice as much time as your offense.
Pinkel could have kept his torched corners off the field, and spared them more embarrassment, by slowing the game down with his running backs. He could have kept that last meaningless Illinois touchdown off the scoreboard. He could have kept national prognosticators from questioning why anyone would call the defense improved.
But Pinkel played Pinkel, and gave Mizzou faithful reason to question his decision making. The game could have easily been a 66-20something laugher instead of looking eerily similar to Armageddon at Arrowhead, Part I.
Offensive POG: Derrick Washington. Made 'Zou fans ask Tony Temple who while rushing 19 times 130 yards and two touchdowns including a brilliant 40-yard scamper.
Defensive POG: Sean Witherspoon. 12 tackles, two picks including a pick-6 to ice the game in the fourth quarter. (Also Styrker Sulak had three sacks, eight tackles, five tackles for loss) .
Special Teams POG: Jeremy Maclin. Only gave Mizzou the lead back with a 99-yard kick return 13 seconds after Chase Daniel's pick-6 gave Illinois the lead.
This doesn't mention Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman, Jared Perry, Brock Christopher, Tommy Saunders or Jeff Wolfert. All showed why this Mizzou team is going to be dangerous this season. There is reason to believe the hype.
The Game's Goat (and that's not greatest of all time): The corners.
This includes Mizzou's corners, who were consistently torched by Juice Williams and friends as though they actually enjoyed being in that proverbial barbeque pit.
The corners made Juice, who spent part of the off-season working out with Donavan McNabb, look like Donavan McNabb.
But I don't quite blame the corners. Put the blame on head coach Gary Pinkel and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, who kept putting the defensive backs in unnecessary situations in the second half.
Now before we dive further into the bashing that proceeds, remember this: Mizzou controlled this game against the No. 20 team in the nation. lllinois, which will compete with Ohio State for the Big Ten title, scored on the final play to make it 52-42. But they weren't playing to win after 45-20 near the end of the third quarter.
Still, that doesn't discount the problems in the secondary created by Pinkel and his top defensive assistant. Eberflus consistently put the corners on islands, and consistently watched them get beat over the top, especially in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Pinkel still thinks it's smart to close out games with the SuperFastball Offense.
Had the defense played Cover 2 or Cover 4 this wouldn't have happened. Although, a safety did blow a Cover 2 scheme and give up that ridiculously long touchdown pass (65-yard touchdown from Juice Williams to Will Judson) . Still, they played man coverage and blitzed way too much against a good team.
This will not work at Texas against Colt McCoy. Again, this will not work against Texas.
I also noticed how the SuperFastball Offense, in all its greatness, actually hurts Mizzou in closing out games. I'm going to post about this specifically a little later, but I blame Pinkel for not slowing the game down enough in the fourth quarter.
Mizzou's defense was on the field for nearly 40 minutes because of how fast its offense operates. That's not a good thing. It's great to wear down a defense by making it work quickly, but it creates a double-edged sword effect when your defense is left on the field for nearly twice as much time as your offense.
Pinkel could have kept his torched corners off the field, and spared them more embarrassment, by slowing the game down with his running backs. He could have kept that last meaningless Illinois touchdown off the scoreboard. He could have kept national prognosticators from questioning why anyone would call the defense improved.
But Pinkel played Pinkel, and gave Mizzou faithful reason to question his decision making. The game could have easily been a 66-20something laugher instead of looking eerily similar to Armageddon at Arrowhead, Part I.
Offensive POG: Derrick Washington. Made 'Zou fans ask Tony Temple who while rushing 19 times 130 yards and two touchdowns including a brilliant 40-yard scamper.
Defensive POG: Sean Witherspoon. 12 tackles, two picks including a pick-6 to ice the game in the fourth quarter. (Also Styrker Sulak had three sacks, eight tackles, five tackles for loss) .
Special Teams POG: Jeremy Maclin. Only gave Mizzou the lead back with a 99-yard kick return 13 seconds after Chase Daniel's pick-6 gave Illinois the lead.
This doesn't mention Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman, Jared Perry, Brock Christopher, Tommy Saunders or Jeff Wolfert. All showed why this Mizzou team is going to be dangerous this season. There is reason to believe the hype.
The Game's Goat (and that's not greatest of all time): The corners.
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