"Did you know?" is a collection of statistical quirks, oddities, or simply interesting tidbits about the Tiger’s upcoming opponent.  After briefly making an appearance in the heydays of "Front Page Fridays" during the 2008 season, "Did you know?" is back for this game and (hopefully) all of conference play.
 
Did you know…
 
…that the RedHawks kicker made only seven of twelve field goals a year ago (58.3%, ranked 112th), but is hitting 100% so far this season (T-1st), and has already made five?  Only one team has shown a bigger improvement in percentage (Illinois hit 56% last year and is still perfect this year), and they have a new kicker.   This.. doesn’t really mean anything.
 
…that of the RedHawks fifteen longest plays (and all 20+ yard plays) from scrimmage this year, exactly zero of them came against Florida?  They have had thirteen plays longer than 20 yards against their previous two opponents, but only one longer than 27, a 62-yard TD pass against Colorado State.  If the Tigers prevent the RedHawks from any plays 20 yards or longer, then we can then conclude that Mizzou’s defense is as good as Florida’s.  Well, we can try.

…that nearly 40% of the RedHawks plays from scrimmage account for zero or negative yardage?  Both Missouri and Miami have had about 30% of their rushes go for zero or negative yardage (RABBLE RABBLE, FULLBACK!), though on those 30% of rushes Mizzou loses less than 2 yards average, while Miami loses closer to 4.   On passing plays, the RedHawks low completion percentage means that 48% of all plays where the QB drops back to pass end up gaining zero (or fewer) yards.  Hopefully they come out winging it!
 
…that the RedHawks have tallied 5 sacks on the young season, but only 1.5 of them have come from the defensive line?  That’s 30% (Warning: Small Sample Size!), which actually lines up with Miami’s numbers from 2009.  Last year 32% of their sacks came from the defensive line.  The other 70% (this year) and 68% (last year) of sacks came from linebackers.  This is usually characteristic of a team that can’t put good pressure on the QB with their front four. (Of the twenty teams with the most sacks so far in 2010, only four of them have gotten less than 50% of their sack production from their defensive line.)  Blaine, lookout for linebackers blitzing on passing downs, which for Mizzou is, like, every play (RAWR, BUBBLE SCREEN <> RUN!).
 
Special Mizzou Bonus!! (stumbled upon this while looking at the Tiger’s play by play)
Did you know that Missouri is one of six FBS teams that has not yet attempted a 4th down conversion this season?  Missouri has averaged about fifteen 4th down attempts the last four full seasons, but the lowest was 2007 (ten attempts), undoubtedly our best season in that time span.  Does this scarcity of 4th down attempts mean that Gary Pinkel has more confidence in our defense this year (as in 2007), and therefore that we’ll win twelve games?