We were out of sorts all game, Chase Daniel's never played worse, we were falling down in pass coverage, we couldn't run the ball, our "most accurate kicker of all-time" missed a game-ending FG, we were a step behind in our play-calling for much of the game...and we won our 10th game of the season.  How in the hell did this happen??

Thoughts after the jump...

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I'm sorry, but I just can't respect any movie that a) stars Tom Cruise, and b) stars Tom Cruise wearing an eyepatch.  Just can't do it.

Chase Daniel: chippy.

Quarterback Chase Daniel was in an extraordinarily chippy mood during his weekly turn at the podium. When asked about Oklahoma’s defense, Daniel came prepared with some offensive statistics for several of his teammates.

“They’re a great defensive team, but you want to talk about their guys,” he said. “What about our guys? I’ve got some stats right here.”

With that Daniel rattled off several season and career numbers for six of his teammates, reading off from a piece of paper — though he could probably recite them for memory. He mentioned numbers for Chase Coffman, Jeremy Maclin, Tommy Saunders, Jared Perry, Jeff Wolfert and Derrick Washington.

“You look at their weapons. Well, I want to look at ours and what we have to bring to the table,” he said. “I feel good about our guys.”

...

A couple things at play here: Daniel’s got something for the Sooners. That’s obvious. He grew up a Texas fan, so no surprise there. But over the last three years, Daniel’s been more than willing to discuss and dissect the defensive players for every other team on MU’s schedule. Just not Oklahoma.

“We want respect, and it’s not going to be given to us,” he said. “We just have to go out and get it.”

I love the attitude, but I'm scared enough about poking the bear that...yeah...back it up, Chase, and I'll love you to pieces...the KC Star has more.

Big 12 Championship Links!

• Mutigers.com: official release

  Oklahoma has won 18 of the last 19 games in the series, dating back to 1984, and if you take it back to 1970, they’ve won 30 of the last 33 meetings between the two schools. Since 1946, the series stands in OU’s favor by a whopping 49-7-1 margin – that’s when the separation really began by the Sooners from the Tigers, as in 1945, a Mizzou 14-6 win over OU evened the series at 16-16-1 at the time.

• Soonersports.com: Sooner Scouting Report
• The Trib: Tigers vs Sooners: The Sequel
• PowerMizzou: Tigers know few have faith
• Post-Dispatch: Missouri not distracted as it focuses on OU and Big 12 Title Game
• Bryan Burwell: Missouri has a chance to defeat Oklahoma, but it is a slim one
• Tulsa World: Sooners' depth will be tested
• Daily Oklahoman: Bob Stoops addresses Sam Bradford injury, Missouri
• Daily Oklahoman: Tigers way short of expectations
• Daily Oklahoman: Thumbs up for OU quarterback Sam Bradford

Naturally, Gary Pinkel is pretty happy about Dave Christensen's promotion (they've been working together since 1980!), as are Christensen's players...

In football recruiting news, it looks like Mizzou sent out a new offer for 2010: Blaine Gabbert's younger brother, Tyler.

Mizzou Basketball links!

• KC Star: Freshman Paul fits in at Missouri
• Mutigers.com: UA-Pine Bluff official release
• Steve Walentik: Goodbye Oral Roberts, hello Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Finally, it's time to get fully into 2003 Kansas State mode...live it, love it...

Two years ago, it was pretty easy to see what was in store for the Big 12 in football.  Colt McCoy was having a monster RSFr season.  Chase Daniel and Graham Harrell were having monster sophomore seasons.  Stephen McGee and Bobby Reid were young and looked like gamers.  Josh Freeman was a true freshman starter, and while he looked it from time to time, his upside was huge.  Even Bret Meyer and Blake "Blizzle Szyzzle" Szymanski had their moments.

Beyond that, the offensive lines (especially Oklahoma's) were young, as were the RBs and WRs.  Oh yeah, and just about every proven defensive end had run out of eligibility.  While there was still defensive talent throughout the conference, it was clear that the next couple of years were going to see some unprecedented offensive continuity and success in the Big 12.

Sure enough, that's what happened.  And it was an even bigger surge than anybody expected.  Todd Reesing and Zac Robinson outshone their promising counterparts (Dylan Meier and Reid) and thrived.  Jeremy Maclin and Michael Crabtree were All-Americans as redshirt freshmen.  Add to that the fact that half the league's starters are of the "3-year" variety, and this run of offense has just been ridiculous.  Josh Freeman is still talked about as a potential first rounder in the 2009 (or 2010) draft, and he's at best the #8 QB in the conference.

But it all changes in 2009.  Daniel and Harrell?  Gone.  Crabtree and Maclin?  Almost certainly gone.  McCoy, Bradford, Freeman?  Possibly gone.  Chase Coffman, Joe Ganz, Marlon Lucky, Nate Swift, Chris Ogbonnaya, Quan Cosby, Jordan Shipley, Shannon Woods and Eric Morris?  Gone.  Even the J-Train, Jorvorskie Lane, has finally exhausted his eligibility.  So many guys who have become household names in the midwest are leaving.

And that says nothing about William Moore, Brian Orakpo, all of KU's linebackers, Nic Harris, and the potential defensive exodus.  Or even Dave Christensen, Matt Eberflus, Brent Venables, Kevin Wilson, and the potential assistant coaching exodus.

The watchword for '08 was "offensive explosion."  For '09?  "New"  Through the clarity of 2007 and 2008 lies the fog of 2009.  We don't yet know all who will return and who will not, but one thing's for certain: everything changes in 2009.

It's still pretty hard to grasp this yet, as we don't know who will be leaving for the draft, but let's take a super-duper early look at who might be good (or not so good) in 2009.  We'll start with the North Division.  To do this, I'm not going to jump into BTBS numbers.  There will certainly be a time and place for that.  Today, we'll simply go unit-by-unit and make some early rankings.  And I'm not even going to think about redshirts or incoming recruits.  Making predictions about how newcomers are going to fit in and/or thrive can drive you crazy.  Plus, you'll probably be wrong.  Remember how Darrell Scott and Jocques Crawford were supposed to be total studs the moment they walked in the door at CU and KU?

In other words, the projections after the jump are strictly from this year's depth chart.

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Atch is out today...he sent in his contribution below...

1 - Three teams remain in the running for the Big 12 South--Texas, OU, and Texas Tech.  Of the three, who would you most rather face in title game, and who would you least rather face?

2 - Wants aside, who do you think we will face?  (And since your answer will be directly impacted by this game, who wins OU-TT this weekend?)

3 - Favorite moment from the 2008 season thus far?

4 - A week later, I'll ask it again: Any thoughts about your local basketball club yet?

5 - Both Missouri and Kansas have ridiculous numbers of freshmen on this year's basketball team...just a week into their respective careers, who's your favorite to this point?

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The basketball and all-sports talk has distracted us from this week's game, but I think the talk has been minimal for one other reason: the only way this game will be memorable is in a bad way.  If we take care of business, none of us will remember this game a year from now.  If we don't...yikes.  Let's not think about that.  Let's just go to the numbers.

Thoughts after the jump...

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So as I was entering play-by-play data yesterday, I had an extra spring in my step.  I was very curious what the BTBS data would say about this game...how it would explain the whole "outgained them, broke even on turnovers...still lost at home" thing.  Well...now I'm wishing I hadn't looked at this...wishing I had just skipped right over the BTBS piece this week.  Mizzou dominated in almost every statistical category except one: Passing Downs.  You know that whole concept of "leverage" that I've been pushing recently?  If you haven't hopped on board the Leverage train yet, you might want to do so now, as Leverage cost Mizzou an undefeated record.

• So Missouri outgained OSU in terms of yards and EqPts...
• They split in turnover margin...
• They out-leveraged them (in terms of how many Passing Downs they forced)...
• They won the field-position battle...
• They dominated the OSU O-line in terms of line yards (OSU was averaging over 3.6 line yards per carry)...
• They didn't miss their season S&P average by much...
• They held OSU to what was by far their lowest S&P of the season...
• And they lost.  Because they were absolutely horrific on Passing Downs.
• There were 6 turnovers in the game, and almost all of them were relatively huge.  Mizzou's were worth 4.68 points (Danario trips and falls), 5.89 points (Daniel bombs it to nobody in particular), and 4.37 points (Lavine steps in front of Maclin).  OSU's were worth 6.13 points (Baston recovers fumble at end of half), 3.66 points (Bridges INT) and 4.28 points (Moore sticks Bryant, Gettis recovers).  Any one of those doesn't happen, and the result is probably significantly different.
• Finally, I can't say enough about how well OSU tackled.  They were fast, and they didn't miss.  That was the biggest reason they held Mizzou to 0.40 Points Per Play.

More analysis after the jump.

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Thoughts...

• OSU's offensive leverage total is a little low to me, considering they haven't played many great defenses.  A 72% rate against iffy competition means Mizzou could force them into the high-60% range.  What that means is, a lot of passing downs for OSU.  Now, they've done well so far in Passing Downs this year, but still...the more PD's for OSU, the better for Mizzou.
• Both teams are obviously explosive on offense and decent on defense, but you see from the numbers that, against slightly harder competition, Mizzou's offensive and defensive numbers have both been a bit better.  That's encouraging.  However, in close games, OSU's defense has been mighty stout so far.
• OSU's 3.63 Line Yards per carry is simply astounding.  That's really, really good.  Combined with the meager two sacks they've allowed, you begin to think that OSU has a pretty damn stout offensive line, huh?
• Meanwhile, MU's only giving up 0.16 PPP rushing.  Even when they give up some yards, they're pretty empty yards.
• OSU and MU have pretty much identical S&P numbers in the passing game, but the sheer quantity of passing tells you something.  OSU appears to be an "establish the run, beat 'em deep" team...which is obviously a bit different than Mizzou's strategy.
• Mizzou's success rate is 62.1% on Non-Passing Downs.  Oy.
• Both defenses are good on Passing Downs, but Mizzou's has been a smidge better.  Take out the horrific breakdowns against Illinois four games ago, and Mizzou's Passing Down breakdowns have been minimal at best.
• Both offenses are great in every quarter (I'm ignoring Q4 numbers, as neither teams have played many meaningful plays in Q4), but they're best in Q3.  Meanwhile, Mizzou's defense seems to be iffy in the 'gameplan' quarters (Q1/Q3) and dominant in the 'talent' quarters (Q2/Q4), while OSU's defense gets a little worse each quarter.  Keep that last point in mind if they're actually slowing Mizzou down early.

Projections after the jump.

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It's great that the Big 12 has four Top 10 teams and all, but as ESPN's Pat Forde points out...it's time for the Big 12's 'have's to start playing each other.

It's Cut to the Chase time!

On the time of possession stat …
“I just saw a stat that we were dead last in the NCAA, which is totally fine with us. We’re the second-leading scoring offense in the nation. I think time of possession is the least overlooked stat in America. I’m glad we’re 119 or 118th. That doesn’t mean anything for us. The only thing that means is our defense is out there a lot more.”

On the pro potential of his teammates …
“That’s a hard one to look at. I think everyone in their own right can play in the NFL. I was out at a camp with T.J. Houshmandzadeh, He was at the Elite 11 camp. He was no faster than Tommy Saunders and no bigger than Tommy Saunders. So, I think Tommy can play. Chase” Coffman “can play. Jared Perry can play. J-Mac. Colin Brown, Kurtis Gregory. It’s ridiculous the amount of people on our offense who can play. You look at Danario Alexander, and I’m sure I’m missing some. So, sorry, if your name gets overlooked. On our offense and our defense, there’s so many higher level players than in the past. And we’re doing a good job in college. That’s not my call for the next level; that’s the GMs around the nation.”

Oklahoma State Links!

• PowerMizzou: Sneak peek at the OSU offense
• Post-Dispatch: Clash of (new) titans
• KC Star: OSU's high-scoring offense mirrors Missouri's
• The Missourian: OSU won't change offensive approach against Missouri

Looks like PowerMizzou's on the same page as our BTBS voters yesterday--Derrick Washington was the NU game's best player.  And the Trib has some good news: Washington's only getting started.

Bo Pelini: still irked.  And still not a very good coach.

Not much to be argued with in regard to Stewart Mandel's latest SI power poll...

Finally, be sure to catch Mizzou Volleyball on Fox Sports at #16 Kansas State in Columbia and Kansas City tonight.  It probably won't be too pleasant an experience, but...hey, they'll be on TV.

I forgot today was Wednesday (it's been that kind of week), but ZouDave came through with Roundtable questions.  Hoooorraaaaaay, ZouDave!

1 - On a scale of 1-14, with 1 being "not even a little" and 14 being "Jenna Haze on Ecstasy", how bad does Mediacom's service suck in the Columbia area?

2 - Which was it, a bad game from Mizzou or a good game from Buffalo?

3 - Now that your team's non-conference schedule is complete (see what I did there, Doug?), what are you most happy about? What are you most concerned with?

4 - It's a bye week. What will you be doing on Saturday in place of watching your favorite team?

5 - Big 12 picks!

Colorado at Florida State
Louisiana-Lafayette at Kansas State
Virginia Tech at Nebraska
TCU at Oklahoma
Troy at Oklahoma State
Army at Texas A&M

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Alright, we'll see if I can sustain an internet connection long enough to write this post this morning...it's been an annoying 48 hours at the Boy household...

Dave Matter says a bye is not always a good thing.  While that's true--and he has some evidence to back it up--I must say I really, really like the timing of this bye week.

Repeat after me: the Heisman is Chase Daniel's to lose.  Has a nice ring to it, no?

The Missourian recaps Gary Pinkel's trip to Bristol.  Good stuff.

On a lighter note, "ESPN First Take" host Jay Crawford asked the coach about his motorcycling habits, a hobby he forbids any of his players from engaging in.
“Well, I’ve got wind issues,” Pinkel said. “It’s very relaxing for me. I’ve got a Jeep, I’ve got a boat. I like wind.”

Making perhaps the most prominent appearance on the national media stage of his career, one might expect Pinkel to be the one with the fidgety mannerisms and camera-shy demeanor. After his interview on "First Take," though, it seemed to be the opposite.

“I don’t mean to imply that Michael Kim doesn’t pay attention to other interviews that we’re doing,” co-host Dana Jacobson said before the show’s next segment. “But when I say that he was just kind of glued listening to that one, it would sort of be an understatement.”

Kim is an MU alumnus from Fulton who recently returned to Columbia for the School of Journalism’s centennial celebration. Later, he caught flack for his wardrobe choice as well: a black tie outfitted with gold diagonal stripes.
Kim playfully dismissed the notion that his newfound attention span and fashion sense happened because of the morning’s guest.

“Oh, Missouri’s here?” Kim said. “I hadn’t noticed that.”

Jared Perry: comeback kid.

Big Head goes to the tale of the tape: Mizzou vs Chiefs vs Rams.

On the recruiting front, it appears that Mizzou has lost one of its targets--4-star TX RB Knile Davis--to Arkansas.  PowerMizzou takes a look at what's left on the RB front.

Kyle Gibson: Mizzou Baseball's next ace.

Finally, if Mizzou Volleyball loses tonight in Lubbock and falls to 0-3 in the Big 12 and 5-7 overall, the NCAA Tournament streak is all but dead...you just can't lose to Tech in volleyball....