Mizzou Links, 8-6-08

Bring on the jinx!

Day two of practice means...more practice reports!  PowerMizzou...

Part of that may be the crop of freshman defensive backs the Tigers have in camp. Zaviar Gooden, Kenji Jackson, Robert Steeples and Kip Edwards are as physically impressive as a young crop of defensive backs I have seen in the last five years here. Gooden especially just jumps out as a huge physical specimen, but he's got a lot of athleticism about him as well. I'm hoping to talk to all these guys and have more on them later in the week.

Dave Matter...

During 1-on-1 pass-rush drills, offensive linemen are having a tough time blocking Jacquies Smith, a sneaky defensive end whom some Missouri coaches compared favorably to former Tiger Brian Smith back on signing day. I can see why. Smith, the new version, slid up and under a block from Dan Hoch, easily getting to his target before Hoch could get a hand on him. The big freshman right tackle got a re-do and stonewalled Smith on the second try.

And the KC Star...

Missouri sophomore Derrick Washington appears to be in for a big year as the starting tailback.

On a pitch play Tuesday, Washington, a former Raymore-Peculiar star, was through the right side and downfield so quickly that four of five defenders in the area didn’t seem to know Washington had passed their way.

"Go get him!" yelled several angry defensive coaches.

Washington seems confident he can give the Tigers what Tony Temple did in gaining 1,000 yards each of the previous two seasons.

"Like the coaches have been telling us," Washington said, "we don’t rebuild, we reload."

Beyond the practice reports, The Trib has a nice story on new DE Brian Coulter and a quick conversation with Blaine Gabbert.  Plus, Dave Matter has a video interview with Gary Pinkel...

Very cool feature there from the Trib...

Gabbert also shared some time with The Missourian...and the KC Star.  Hey...whatever he can do to clear up Chase Daniel's schedule a bit...

Van Alexander may be injury-prone, but hey...at least he's also good at the miraculous recovery...

Noooooo!  Stepfan Taylor committed to Stanford yesterday.  Damn.  His film was my favorite of the RB prospects on our list.  I can never blame a kid for picking Stanford--if he's that smart, go for it--but this one still stinks.  He said he might still take his visits, but we'll see...

 And last, but not least....Mizzou golfer Julia Potter (a junior this coming season) has advanced at the U.S. Women's Amateur Championships, coming through the 2 days of stroke play in a tie for 6th place.  She advances to the match play portion of the tournament, teeing off today at 2:30 p.m. PACIFIC time against Dottie Ardina of the Philippines.  Potter carded a 143 over the two days, Ardina a 151.  This is a field of 64 played down, kind of like the NCAA tournament, but not exactly.  Potter starts as the #11 seed (they are seeded 1-64), and has a decent draw it seems.  We will continue to follow this as hopefully Ms. Potter advances along, and you should be able to follow the progress yourself here