As mentioned yesterday afternoon Mizzou locked up a potential stud JUCO LB over the weekend, Joshua "Drederick" Tatum. He was Rivals' #40 player in the country in 2006 and committed to USC before ending up at JUCO.  If I understand correctly, he will have two years to play two.

It was an unexpected commitment, as he hadn't made a peep since his visit here a month or so ago. He spoke with Gabe at PowerMizzou last night.

Tatum said he had known for a while that Missouri was where he wanted to play, and even cancelled three other official visits. But last week, something occurred that sealed the deal.

"Coach E was up for that position at Toledo, I was thinking this might not be the place and I prayed on it," Tatum said. "Last Thursday he told me he was gonna stay at Mizzou and I could come in and be coached by him. I thought maybe that was a sign and I decided this was the place for me."

A little bit of nice PR for Matt Eberflus there as well...which is nice for him, as he's had what you would call "not a good couple of weeks"...

In other recruiting news, it's in-home visit season for the Tiger coaches, and PowerMizzou has been compiling a list of known visits.  (As if you couldn't tell, now is precisely the time to give PowerMizzou a taste if you're interested in subscribing.  The two months between end-of-season and signing day are jam-packed.)

Want more from the man we call Walljasper?  Check out the latest Trib podcast with him and Steve Walentik.

The addition of Tatum means Mizzou's in line to produce three starters from the pool of Tatum, Sean Weatherspoon, Luke Lambert, Will Ebner, Andrew Gachkar, Tyler Crane, and incoming freshmen like Andrew Wilson, Adam Burton, maybe Chris McAllister, and possibly Ronnie Wingo (who could play any of about 12 different positions).  That's not bad.  Lots of inexperience there, but lots of potential...of course, that's assuming 'Spoon comes back.  He's testing the draft waters like about 17 Mizzou juniors did last year.

Bummed out about the last two weeks of Mizzou football?  Let Jack Lengyel talk you down...

The Missourian's got a pretty neat article about Dave Christensen's trip to meet his players/boosters/fans in Laramie...he talks about the potential benefits of playing a hurry-up, no-huddle spread at 7,200 feet...hadn't really thought of that...

To basketball, where Joe Walljasper takes a look at the signs of life being emitted from Mizzou Arena.

"They were faster, longer and more aggressive than anybody we’ve seen thus far," first-year Cal Coach Mike Montgomery said.

Montgomery said Missouri was a nightmare matchup for his team because the Tigers have athletic players across the board and negated Cal’s size advantage when Leo Lyons drew the 7-foot Jordan Wilkes away from the basket. Montgomery called MU’s 20 offensive rebounds an "extraordinary" number.

...

It’s dangerous to draw too many conclusions from what happens in a nonconference home game. Missouri handled Arkansas in 2006 and Purdue in 2007 - both opponents went to the NCAA Tournament while the Tigers didn’t get a sniff of the postseason - but at least we’re seeing some encouraging signs.

Unfortunately, Cal was the most attractive nonconference opponent that will visit Mizzou Arena this season, so the Tigers might remain a well-kept secret in their own town until Big 12 play begins.

Finally...well THAT didn't take long...you knew at some point somebody would pull a "Let's profile the walk-on!" story...and the Missourian stepped to the plate.

1 - Question about coaching philosophy: Gary Pinkel and his staff have made clear over the years that their defensive philosophy is what it is, and they're going to basically blitz on every third (and fourth) down.  If they don't blitz on 4th-and-7 with 0:30 left, Todd Reesing almost certainly completes an easy 8-yard out for a first down--he was in too much of a zone not to.  If they do blitz, they either get to him and win the game, or they don't get to him and he passes to whoever Justin Garrett is attempting to cover for a TD (giving Mizzou enough time to maybe get into FG range). 

One problem: the blitz has sucked all year.  Knowing that apparently you don't have the personnel to blitz successfully, but knowing that calling a blitz is the right call philosophically...what do you do?  Stick with your philosophy and hope it finally pays off, or try something different on the biggest play of the game?

2 - How much did you drink Saturday night?

3 - What % chance does Mizzou have of beating OU this weekend?

4 - Who has bigger juevos huevos: Chase Coffman or Chuck Norris?

5 - Favorite thing you ate last week?

Continue reading this post »

Yesterday, it was North Offenses.  Today, North Defenses.

Defensive Lines

1. Nebraska (DT Ndamukong Suh, DE Pierre Allen)
2. Kansas (DE Jake Laptad, DT Richard Johnson, DT Caleb Blakesley)
3. Missouri (DT Jaron Baston, DE Brian Coulter, DE Jacquies Smith)
4. Kansas State (DE Brandon Harold, DT Daniel Calvin)
5. Iowa State (DE Rashawn Parker, DT Nate Frere)
6. Colorado (DE Jason Brace, ?)

That's right, Ndamukong Suh still has eligibility left--feels like he's been having an up-and-down season for Nebraska since about 2003--and he and Pierre Allen should make a pretty solid DL for the Huskers.  KU returns a decent amount, and while their unit will be far from spectacular, it will be steady and reliable.  Missouri has a lot of potential at DE with Coulter and Smith, but they still have to replace a lot of career starts.

Linebackers

1. Missouri (Sean Weatherspoon--for now, Luke Lambert)
2. Nebraska (Phil Dillard, Blake Lawrence)
   
3. Colorado (Jeff Smart, Shaun Mohler)
4. Iowa State (Jesse Smith, Fred Garrin, Cameron Bell)
5. Kansas State (Olu Hall, Ulla Pomele)
6. Kansas (?)

I think Sean Weatherspoon will return, but I could be wrong.  If he doesn't...well, MU probably doesn't fall very far because NOBODY will have tremendous LBs in 2009.  Jeff Smart is solid, but that's really all CU has.  Smith and Garrin have had their moments at ISU, but...yeah, they're still only average.  NU returns Phil Dillard and some youngsters with potential, and if 'Spoon is in the NFL in 2009, that should give NU the best unit.

Defensive Backs

1. Kansas State (CB Joshua Moore, CB Blair Irvin, S Courtney Herndon)
2. Iowa State (CB Leonard Johnson, S James Smith)
3. Nebraska (S Rickey Thenarse, S Larry Asante)
4. Kansas (CB/S Chris Harris, S Darrell Stuckey, CB Daymond Patterson)
5. Missouri (CB Carl Gettis, S Kenji Jackson)
6. Colorado (CB Cha'pelle Brown, ?)

Oy.  If there's one reason why North offenses should still be pretty successful in 2009, it's because nobody in the North returns a quality secondary.  I'm probably underrating the Missouri secondary here--Iowa State game aside, Castine Bridges hasn't been anything special in '08, and there won't be a huge dropoff to Kevin Rutland or one of the RSFrs.  Meanwhile, Missouri fans are loving them some Kenji Jackson.  But only Carl Gettis will be proven.

Also, I might be overrating Iowa State, but I love me some Leonard Johnson.

North Defenses, 2009

1. Nebraska (15)
2. Missouri (12)
3. Kansas State (11)
4. Iowa State (10)
5. Kansas (9)
6. Colorado (6)

As with the offenses, each North defense will have its strengths and weaknesses...but not a lot of strengths.  Nebraska scores the best, and they're returning only about six starters.  Missouri loses William Moore and most of its D-line, and they still might have the best North defense.  Iowa State's D was brutal in '08, and they actually score pretty well here.  Big-time tossup.  A lot will come down to matchups and schedules...so after we look at special teams, we'll look at that.

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Hmmm...I just do not see that getting old any time soon...Big XII North Champions.  Not saying it is my destination, but saying it is nice to see this team accomplish it in back to back seasons when other seasons have had the same expectation. 

At any rate, this was a REALLY busy weekend for Mizzou sports, as the winter sports are geared up and the fall sports are winding down.  Lots of stuff to cover and some random thoughts on football and NASCAR.

Football:

Thanks to DirecTV (all the more ironic since I work for a competitor),I was only able to see that last three quarters of action.  At any rate, I have not read or heard enough to know if the team knew the fate of the UT/kU game when they took the field.  In all honesty, I kind of hope they did know and were able to go out there and take care of business like they did.  Chase looked comfortable again, save for the two interceptions (one which did not count, and the one that did.  Speaking of the one that did not count, I think it is funny that a roughing the passer can negate an INT. To me, the ball is gone, it should be change of possession and 15 yards off...but that is just me).  What I hope happened this past week was that while we continued to pay lip service to the fact that Chase Coffman COULD play, we went ahead and game planned that he would not.  I am not entirely sure we did that for the kSU game, and I think it showed in the offense's efficiency.  This time around, Jones looked more than ready to step in and things clicked better.  As it pertains to Coffman, all the more reason he is the most important cog (except for Daniel) out there and why he needs to be 100 percent for the Championship game.  I will be honest, I think we can beat kU without him, but we do not likely stand a chance against any of the four from the south without him.

On defense...gosh..I wish we could just wrap up and tackle.  WAY too many shoulder tackles which do not work at this level. Saw one from Willy Mo, another from Lambert and others where I do not remember the people specifically.  Nice game by Chavis (even if the announcer could not say his name correctly) and nice to see Gettis further earn his rep as a lock-down corner with an interception.  And I am still looking for the superior effort on D. Wash's long TD run, but the more I see it, the more it just seems to be a product of the system and Washington's really wonderful vision.  He just glided around and took the correct angles which resulted in ISU guys getting naturally sealed off of him and went from there.

As for "hate" week and what-not, you will find I will probably not participate too much in it.  To me, these next two weeks are just a long two weeks without Mizzou playing, with a stop-over for the OU/TTech game next Saturday.  As for some perspective on the season and this accomplishment...maybe next week...we'll see.  I think I am of the opinion that if I do not talk about the closing of this season, it just wont end :-)

Soccer:

Not too much left to cover on this one, as it was pretty well hashed out on the pages of Rock M over this past weekend.  The ladies went right out and stomped on the throat of Evansville on a terrible Friday night with goals in the 3rd minute and the 33rd minute.  A win of 2-0, along with a 2OT thriller between Memphis and Illinois (which Illinois won) figured to have the Tigers in a good spot.  But, after a scoreless 1st half, Illinois got on the board early in the 2nd.  The Tigers fought back on a goal from freshman Mallory Stipetech and evened it at one.  They went all the way to penalty kicks (some would argue a terrible way to finish a game) and were even at 4 goals each on the 5th kick when back-up goalie and occasional field player Mallory Forst stepped up to take the kick.. She was unsuccessful, and the Tigers finished their season with another 2nd round of the NCAA tourney loss, again in 2OT (or more).

Continue reading this post »

Press conference quotes!  "5:30 on Saturday" was not a gimmick, you hear me?  Now where was I?  Oh yeah...2:00 on Saturday.

"('5:30 Saturday') wasn't a gimmick. It was probably my frustration. We didn't play very well and we played a great team (Texas). You're not giving your best effort, we weren't a very focused team. My concern was that they would lose focus. We had to put an abrupt stop to that. So we took it very, very seriously. We don't ever talk about a future opponent around here ever ... All that's out there now with watching themselves on ESPN, and walking around campus, my big thing was working with the seniors and the staff that we need every ounce of your focus on that moment. We're going to try and do the same thing this week. I didn't ask the players to win. I asked them to play hard, with a great effort. It wasn't a gimmick in any way, it was to get everyone on my staff and the team focused on one moment in time and put all our attention on that. "

PowerMizzou's got audio.

Brian Coulter: related to Robert Griffin.  Seriously?  Is it possible to have that much sheer greatness in one family?

[Griffin's] arrival has gained their attention.

Especially that of Missouri junior defensive end Brian Coulter, who just recently found out that he’s a distant cousin of the Baylor quarterback. Coulter got a phone call from Griffin’s dad earlier this week and plans to get in touch with Griffin sometime this week before the game.

“Now what I’d really like is for someone to get a really good picture of me sacking him in the game,” he said, laughing. (Note to Baylor, that wasn’t bulletin board material. Coulter was obviously kidding.)

Baylor Links!

• Mutigers.com: Official Release ("[Jeff] Wolfert is on pace to break an NCAA career record for best accuracy for combined field goals and PATs. Wolfert’s combined career mark of 95.5% is currently ahead of the record of 93.3% set by UCLA’s John Lee from 1982-85 (116-of-117 PATs, 79-of-92 FGs).")
• The Missourian: Tigers blocking out distractions
• Waco Tribune-Herald: Baylor OL Jordan Hearvey to miss rest of season
• Dallas Morning News: Injuries leave Baylor defense backed into a corner

As always Monday meant Dave Matter's Big 12 Notes and Like Father, Unlike Son...

Luke Lambert: NOT a baby daddy.

Jeremy Maclin: better than last year.

The Missourian has a nice article on two Mizzou pitchers who have separate rooting interests in the World Series...Kyle "Drafted by Phillies" Gibson and Brad "Drafted by Rays" Buehler.

Finally, a shoutout to some pretty impressive investors who are helping to make SB Nation the most financially sturdy of the sports blog networks...thank you much...

1 - I'm not going to mention Spit-Gate here (whoops, I just did...scratch that!), but instead I'll ask you this: what was your single favorite moment from last Saturday night's excorcism in Lincoln?

2 - Can OSU slow down Missouri enough on Saturday night to keep it a game late into the fourth quarter?

3 - Kansas-ISU: nice recovery and win by KU or warning sign of bad things to come for the Beakers?

4 - Name me the teams you think could beat Missouri right now (on a neutral field).

5 - Big 12 Picks!

Colorado at Kansas
Nebraska at Texas Tech
Kansas State at Texas A&M
Iowa State at Baylor

And the marquee matchups...

Oklahoma vs Texas
Oklahoma State at Missouri

Continue reading this post »

Behold Postgame Podcast #3!  It's an abbreviated session, as the skies opened up at the 14-minute mark.  Not that we had anything left to say at that point anyway...MizzouRobot Ridiculous Matt, you were missed...

Oh yeah, and Mizzou has scored ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-THREE POINTS IN THREE GAMES.  Just thought I'd throw that out there.

While we can maybe worry about the redshirts being torn off of a couple of Tigers, one thing's for certain: the future at LB is all sorts of bright.

Of all the young linebackers, [Will] Ebner’s already put together a few highlight-worthy tackles, showing the same flair for exploding through ball-carriers that MU coaches saw on his game film at Friendswood, Texas, High School. Once the pads came on during preseason camp, Ebner (6-1, 230) convinced the coaches he was ready to contribute.

"He was striking people," MU Coach Gary Pinkel said. "Some people when they hit, they jolt a player. Other players, when they hit, they go through the player. It’s a different type of explosion. He’s one of those guys he snaps you when you hits you."

Just ask SEMO running back Robert Watley, whom Ebner smoked a yard behind the line of scrimmage in the third quarter. Ebner later dropped him for a 5-yard loss in the fourth quarter, then hurried quarterback Matt Scheible into a poor throw that was deflected.

The Missourian has a similar take.

Of course, the LB present is not too shabby either.

Nevada Links!

• Powermizzou: Three Tiger keys to victory
• Dave Matter: Checking in on the Wolfpack (a discussion with a Reno Gazette-Journal writer).  "Yes, Nevada can be effective throwing the ball, but they don’t have the kind of passing attack that’s going to make a defensive coordinator sweat bullets. Last season they were good at big plays (only Oklahoma had more plays of 25 yards or more) but the efficiency was an issue (about 53 percent completion). At least so far this year they seem more intent on a ball-control passing game. Marko Mitchell is off to a good start and could play on Sundays."
• Reno Gazette-Journal: Pack will have its hands full with Chase Daniel.  Yes, yes they will.

Tommy Saunders: Awesome.

The KC Star takes a look at the Mizzou secondary and the improvements that need to (and probably will) be made.

The Big 12: the ultimate passer's conference.

Finally, Steve Walentik has a nice write-up on JT Tiller's upcoming third year in a Mizzou basketball uniform.

"I guess you guys are blind because I’ve always loved him," freshman Kimmie English said when asked about Tiller. "But I guess with Keon here, he had to be in his shadow."

No more.

Tiller, always a favorite of Anderson’s because of his intensity and never-slow-down determination, is sure to get first shot at stepping into Lawrence’s spot at the Tigers’ top shooting guard.

The P-D's Vahe Gregorian talks a little Mizzou basketball as well.

Here are some of the better SEMO wrap-up links from the weekend...

• The Trib: No doubt about it
• KC Star: Mizzou smacks SEMO
• Mizzourah: Day after reflections
• SE Missourian: Southeast fans soak up atmosphere in Columbia
• SE Missourian: Check in hand, Redhawks turn attention to OVC

And some Blaine Gabbert links...

• The Trib: A Missouri Compromise with an eye on future
• Post-Dispatch: Gabbert meets goal of playing this year
• Missourian: MU reserve QBs show promise

And on to Nevada we go...

• Nevada Appeal: Starting RB Luke Lippincott out for season with a torn ACL
• Reno Gazette-Journal: The Monday Review
• Reno Gazette-Journal: Strange game indeed

Dave Matter empties the notebook...

• Gabbert wasn’t the only newcomer to see the field for the first time Saturday night. Freshman safety Kenji Jackson and left tackle Dan Hoch also made their MU debuts against SEMO. Jackson played on the kickoff unit and got significant reps at safety in the second half. Hoch replaced Elvis Fisher in the fourth quarter. Ten freshmen have already seen the field for MU this season, twice as many as Pinkel has played in one season in his previous seven years at MU.

The most impressive freshmen were undoubtedly receiver Jerrell Jackson, who caught a team-best six passes for 70 yards, and linebacker Will Ebner, who had 5 ½ tackles, including two behind the line of scrimmage. A couple nice recruiting finds for Pinkel’s staff.

• Speaking of Ebner, the linebacker corps of the future was on display for most of the second half. Ebner, Andrew Gachkar and Luke Lambert are going to make a lot of tackles over the next three to four years. The Men of Stec might be the most promising position group on the team.

Seriously...the LBs looked sooooo goooooood on Saturday.

The Missourian takes a nice look at the continued Aaron O'Neal tributes, as does the Post-Dispatch.

The Missourian also looks at one of the negatives from the weekend: parking.  Early reviews on Lot X?  Not great.

To basketball recruiting: Michael Snaer did not commit to Mizzou this weekend, but apparently Mizzou set the bar pretty high.  The crowd at Mizzou Arena for the Saturday afternoon scrimmage was quite large, which is good to hear.  The KC Star has a bit more about the scrimmage crowd.

Finally, to volleyball...Mizzou is getting quite battle-tested, quite quickly...after two four-setters and a five-setter last weekend, Mizzou moved to 4-2 by taking St. John's in five on Saturday in a match that included 59 ties.  Strange.  Next up is another trip out west...they begin play in the Nevada AT&T Invitational on Friday.

We're back with Week Two of the Postgame Podcast.  This time with twice the content!  Listen to rptgwb, The Beef, Uribe Auction, and me talk about Mizzou's take-the-foot-off-the-gas-25-minutes-in 52-3 win over SEMO!