New Era of Mizzou Football Set to Begin in 2011; Predictions for First 6 Games
Faurot Field in Columbia will once again be packed on Saturdays with all eyes on the Missouri Tigers football team. But under center won't be #11, the now NFL quarterback Blaine Gabbert. This year the quarterback of the Mizzou Tigers will wear #1, and his name is James Franklin. Even with all the change this year will bring, anticipation is high among the players, coaches, and fans. Some feel like this is the strongest team Mizzou has had in a while, and there is plenty of reason to feel good about them following a 10-3 season last year in what was supposed to be somewhat of a down year.
Mizzou football is rising up into a perennial powerhouse under the leadership of Gary Pinkel, and the program has amassed 40 wins in the past four season along with six straight bowl game appearances. Here's my prediction on the first half of the Tigers regular season games:
September 3 vs. Miami (OH): The Redhawks finsihed 10-4 last season, good for first in the MAC East division. Miami Ohio is finally starting to get the attention of other NCAA teams, with Minnesota, Army, and Cincinati all having games against the Redhawks. But given Mizzou's elite offense and stingy defense, Miami (OH) simply has no chance in this game. My money is on: Mizzou winning by at least 20 points.
September 9 at Arizona State: All college road games are tough, especiallywhen they occur early in the season. Which is why this game will be a gauge of what to expect from Mizzou this season. ASU is a team Mizzou should definitely beat. The Sun Devils finished with a 6-6 record last season, and finished in the bottom half of the PAC 12 standings. They were 0-3 vs. ranked opponets, and Mizzou enters the year at #21 nationally. One thing to watch out for when playing ASU is the passing game; they finished 15th in FBS last season in passing yards per game. My money is on: Mizzou pulling away in the second half to win by at least a touchdown.
September 17 vs. Western Illinois: The WIU Leathernecks finished with an 8-5 record last season and scored over 430 points. But to be quite frank, no team playing in the MVC and not dominating is going to come close to competing against a team like Mizzou. My money is on: Mizzou winning big and taking out their starter midway through the second half.
Septemver 24 at Oklahoma: Yikes. Oklahoma enters the season ranked #1 overall, following a 12-2 campaign in which they scored 521 points. And most of their team is back from last year. I understand we beat pretty much this same team at home before, but on the road is an entirely different story (ie: @ Nebraska last year). As much as I would like to see the Tigers prevail in this one, I can't realistically say I believe it will happen. My money is on: Oklahoma pulling away after Mizzou's offense suffers through some ineffective drives and winning by 7-14 points. But wouldn't it be great to pull another upset?
October 8 at Kansas State: The Wildcats are coming off a relatively disappointing year that ended with a 7-6 record and 1-3 record vs. AP top 25 teams. Add to the the loss of RB Daniel Thomas to the NFL and you get another disappointing year for KSU fans. Even though this is a road game, Mizzou should be in complete control. My money is on: Mizzou winning by at least 10 points, never in doubt.
October 15 vs. Iowa State: The Cyclones finished the 2011 season with a record of 5-7, failing to make a bowl game appearance. ISU only won 3 out of their eight conference games last season, and this year will be without leading rusher Alexander Robinson who graduated. I expect ISU to be better this season. And last season, if you reflect, they only let the powerful Mizzou offense score 14 points total. The problem? They scored 0. So however much improved they will be, they will still have trouble hangin with Mizzou, who themselves are improved from last year. My money is on a close game, which most people probably don't expect, but in the end Mizzou will prevail and win by at least 7 points.
My prediction for first six games total: 5 wins, 1 loss
Second half games: Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas
What are your thoughts? I welcome arguments and disagreements. And feel free to check out, comment on, and rate my blog on STL sports teams: www.everythingstlsports.wordpress.com
| Sat, Sept 3 |
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12:00 PM ET | Tickets |
| Fri, Sept 9 | 10:30 PM ET |
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| Sat, Sept 17 | 7:00 PM ET | Tickets | |
| Sat, Sept 24 |
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8:00 PM ET FX | Tickets |
| Sat, Oct 8 | TBD | Tickets | |
| Sat, Oct 15 |
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TBD | Tickets |
| Sat, Oct 22 |
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TBD | Tickets |
| Sat, Oct 29 |
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3:30 PM ET | Tickets |
| Sat, Nov 5 |
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TBD | Tickets |
| Sat, Nov 12 |
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TBD | Tickets |
| Sat, Nov 19 |
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TBD | Tickets |
| Sat, Nov 26 |
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12:00 PM ET |
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Comments
Gabbert went to the NFL?!?!!
Our QB’s name is James Franklin!?? When did this happen?
by Transmogrified Tiger on Aug 22, 2011 7:23 PM CDT reply actions
we've been to 6 straight bowl games?
"If I ever saw an amputee getting hanged, I'd probably just start calling out letters" - Demetri Martin
"Eggs this guys overdone, then I hit the slope on them call it rise over run"- Chiddy
O I E M I Z Z O U
R U joking?
2005 – Independence Bowl
2006 – Sun Bowl
2007 – Cotton Bowl
2008 – Alamo Bowl
2009 – Texas Bowl
2010 – Insight Bowl
"When among evil companions, try to fit in." - Wild Bill Donovan
yes I am joking.
"If I ever saw an amputee getting hanged, I'd probably just start calling out letters" - Demetri Martin
"Eggs this guys overdone, then I hit the slope on them call it rise over run"- Chiddy
O I E M I Z Z O U
No need for us to be dicks
He made a nice fan post even if it is filled with stuff we know already. We don’t have to be snobbish just cause we have likes of Bill writing content for the site.
by mizzousundevil on Aug 23, 2011 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions
It's clearly an attempt to drive people to his blog
and by simply copy-pasting he ends up with poor formatting and telling his new audience a bunch of things they’re already well aware of. If User A makes the same fanpost without the advertising connotation, there’s no problem. But it’s insulting to the community to try to drum up traffic by using a) Content that is word for word the same of what’s at his site and b)Content that comes off borderline condescending in tone because the audience is so well versed in the things he’s saying
by Transmogrified Tiger on Aug 23, 2011 12:16 PM CDT up reply actions
He's a high school junior
and while I agree with the spirit of your comment, he probably has not had marketing yet :-)
Advocating for the "Spreadbone" since 2010
Rock M Nation
Agreed.
You just look like a dick. How many high school kids do you know with that kind of ambition?
by Tigersintheheart on Aug 24, 2011 8:01 AM CDT up reply actions
i, myself know of 12.
"My friend! My friend!" You big crybaby. Go bury him in the yard before he stinks up the place.
by threadkiller on Aug 25, 2011 8:59 AM CDT up reply actions
I give people the benefit of the doubt.
I didn’t even notice the link to his blog. If he started spamming in fanshots over and over again that were just copy and paste jobs from his blog that’s one thing but…
C’mon. It’s not that big a deal to ignore this kind of shenanigans.
by mizzousundevil on Aug 25, 2011 1:26 PM CDT up reply actions
Actually...this was cut and paste from his blog :-)
Advocating for the "Spreadbone" since 2010
Rock M Nation
Oh, there's a blog attached?
I filtered that out.
"When among evil companions, try to fit in." - Wild Bill Donovan

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