Dave Matter, Gabe Dearmond and others have confirmed yesterday's rumor--RSFr Michael Keck has quit the football team for "personal reasons".  From most accounts, it appears that it was just a case of "this isn't as easy as it used to be".  Maybe there's more to it than that, maybe not.  I wish him well.

In all, this appears to be a "hurts our depth" problem more than a "hurts our immediate product on the field" problem.  Keck seemed competent out there, but he wasn't a big playmaker, and true freshman Jacquies Smith seemed to have already surpassed him for PT.  It hurts because you always want the big-time in-state kids to succeed here so that other big-time in-state kids see them succeeding, but I can't get myself too worked up about this one.  Defensive End is a position of decent young depth for Mizzou, so we should be okay there.  Next year we'll be choosing a starter from a pool of Jacquies Smith, Brian Coulter, Marcus Malbrough, Chris Earnhardt, Aldon Smith, and whatever other recruits we sign (Sheldon Richardson, etc.).  No matter what, there will probably be a dropoff from what we're accustomed to this year--Stryker Sulak and Tommy "Perpetually Underrated" Chavis have served us quite well, and Keck was not going to change that whether he was in uniform or not.  But again, I wish him well.

 Mizzou's last Olympian is one more win from a medal: Linas Kleiza put up a 15 & 7 as Lithuania thumped China and moved to the semifinals.  They'll face Spain on Friday, right before the US plays Argentina.

 Practice reports!

• mutigers.com - "Senior CB Castine Bridges returned to practice after resting Tuesday, and he participated in most everything, despite donning the red injury bib still. Bridges broke up a pass intended for WR Jeremy Maclin at one point early on in 11-on-11 work. Later in the session, freshman LB Will Ebner intercepted a ball over the middle as the reserves went against each other..."
• PowerMizzou - "Chase Coffman and Danario Alexander both participated in practice with red pullovers on. They were held out of full contact drills, but both caught passes. Jared Perry is still out with a shoulder injury. Brian Coulter, whose MRI was negative according to Mizzou, was also in a pullover."
• Dave Matter (who also throws in a Jaron Baston Q&A) - "Freshman defensive end Aldon Smith practiced for the first time on Wednesday after getting clearance from the NCAA Eligibility Center on Tuesday. He lined up behind fellow freshman Marcus Malbrough on the stretch lines. It’s safe to say Smith will redshirt this season after missing the first two and a half weeks of camp."
• KC Star - "Because of injuries to Danario Alexander and Jared Perry, no position could reveal more today than receiver, where true freshmen Jarrell Jackson and Gahn McGaffie could get extra playing time."
• Post-Dispatch - "Having missed one of his main targets for a week, Chase Daniel wasted no time finding Chase Coffman during Wednesday’s practice. During 7-on-7 drills in the red zone, Daniel hit Coffman for two consecutive touchdowns, eliciting cheers from the offense. Still wearing a red jersey because of the little finger he broke two weeks ago, Coffman was held out of other drills."

 The kids, they grow up so fast...

 Here's a quick Q&A with Thurman Murman Jimmy Burge.  Meanwhile, the Missourian checks in on Wes Kemp and the P-D raves about Jerrell "Young Grasshopper" Jackson.

 MAILBAG!!!

 Finally, Ben Askren?  Still crushed.  Last time he was this down on himself was his redshirt freshman year, and he emerged from that with an eventually-unbeatable new style of wrestling.  Pretty sure he'll emerge from this in somewhat the same way, if he doesn't move on to MMA or something.  ESPN has a really nice story as well.