Disclaimer: Rather than the typical bullet point analysis, this post will be a long and meandering string of thoughts I forced into prose. Hang with me here as I give you a summation of my thoughts from four rows up in the Alamodome end zone.

Having been what appears to be one of the select few of RMN regulars who made it down to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl, there's not much that hasn't been said here that I can add. More than anything, for as disappointing as the season was, it seemed like a season of moderate disappointment was bookended in similar fashion. Missouri began the season with a shootout with a Big Ten team that was fueled by a Maclin return in the first half and Sean Weatherspoon's dominance in the second half. Substitute "shootout" with "slugfest," and you have the exact recipe of Mizzou's Alamo Bowl victory.

Before I delve too deeply into Missouri's end of the equation, I first want to send some love the way of Evanston, Ill. As the 2008 campaign progressed, I was highly enamored with the coaching jobs done by the men in charge of two of Missouri's opponents: Buffalo's Turner Gill and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy. You can now add Pat Fitzgerald to that list. I've always loved his fire, but after last night, I now respect the man's ability. It should have come as no surprise to me how disciplined NU was defensively and how solid the unit was in pursuit and in wrapping up ballcarriers.

Secondly, I think this game swings far more in favor of Missouri had Tyrell Sutton not been able to go. Before the game, it was clear from highlights that Sutton added a different dynamic to the NU offense, one I asked Lake the Posts to try and quantify last Thursday. Between outstanding balance, great hands (despite one being in a cast), a never-ending motor, and some quick burst, Sutton proved himself as the perfect scat back for NU's style of offense.

The atmosphere at the game seemed very reflective of the attitudes of each school entering the game. The Northwestern players and fans looked absolutely thrilled to be in San Antonio, while the Missouri players and fans looked somewhat determined to redefine the word "complacency." The warmups seemed uninspired, the drills seemed rusty. As ghtd36 passed on in the game thread, the team found motivation from the one man we knew we could count on to try to light a fire: Tommy Saunders (love that kid).

More rambling after the jump.

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You didn't think I forgot about the BTBS preview, did you?

Thoughts after the jump...

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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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Alright, we're combining the "MU-__ Beyond the Box Score" piece with the "Big 12 BTBS Box Scores" piece...I've bolded the super-duper interesting parts of each box score...

• How was Baylor able to see more offensive success than expected on Saturday?  Success on 2nd downs.  They were okay on 1st downs, but their 2nd down success (which has been a strength of theirs all year, for some reason) kept them out of tough 3rd downs.
• How was Baylor able to run so effectively on Saturday?  It appears the answer is in the trenches.  Baylor's 3.40 Line Yards per carry was higher than their 2.83 season average, and MUCH higher than Missouri's 2.18 season average allowed.  This is something to watch as pass rush specialists Brian "God" Coulter and Jacquies Smith start to see more playing time over run stuffer Tommy Chavis (it's also something to keep in mind next year, when God and Jacq become two of our defensive staples).  While the pass rush is improved by the addition of Coulter and Smith, they might not be as good at holding the line as Chavis is.
• It goes without saying that the first two quarters went more or less as expected.  Turnovers prevented Missouri from probably having a 17- or 21-point lead, but they were dominating in S&P.  And then came the third quarter, where Baylor turned the game on its ear.  Remember last year, when Missouri humiliated team after team in Q3 (sans the Big 12 title game)?  While the offense is still more-or-less holding up its end of the bargain (#2 in Q3 S&P+ in Big 12 play), the defense hasn't been as dominant (only #7 in Q3 S&P+ in Big 12 play).  Mizzou has been fine in Q3 in a lot of games--Texas, Colorado, Nebraska--but Q3 efforts against OSU and Baylor turned the game around against Mizzou.  Is that coaching?  Execution?  Luck?  No idea.
• Taking turnovers into account, the scoring margin actually favors Baylor.  OUCH.  Not at all what we expected to see here, but...survive and advance!  The North title still runs right through Columbia, and if NU beats KU on Saturday, the North title could actually be clinched before the trip to Arrowhead.

Alright, a bit more BU-MU analysis after the jump, then it's on to the other Big 12 games...

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I must say, I'm actually somewhat happy for the city of Philadelphia.  Let's face it--a Mizzou fan should be able to identify with any fanbase that is both a) tortured and b) a little unstable, right?  I'm impressed, though, that I managed to stay sympathetic to the people of Philly despite that their long "championship drought" simply wasn't that long, at least not to a Mizzou/Pirates/Dolphins/Blazers fan.

That, and I'm sorry, but Jeanne Zelasko is awful, just awful.  She's not interesting, she doesn't appear very smart, she says very silly things, and...I mean, she's not even attractive.  She was horrendous during last night's post-game celebration interviews.

Anyhoo...on to a monster edition of the Links...

Marcus Denmon: the next Kareem Rush?  Anthony Peeler?  Just kidding, but wow does he already have the superlatives flowing.  Guess that's what happens when you score 36 points on 14-of-17 shooting in the Black & Gold Game.  Some B&G links...

• Mutigers.com: official box score (pdf)
• PowerMizzou: A Dazzling Debut for Denmon
• The Missourian: Denmon shines in Black and Gold game
• KC Star: Bowers hits the boards for Mizzou

On to football...The Trib has a very well-done "Jeremy Maclin sure is great" article.

Having played just 22 games in a Missouri uniform, Maclin needs only 98 all-purpose yards to eclipse Brad Smith’s MU career record of 4,419, a figure that took four years for Smith to compile. Granted, all but 130 of Smith’s yards were rushing totals - the all-purpose category also counts yards for receiving and returns - but already this season, Maclin has passed Joe Stewart, Darrell Wallace, Zack Abron, Brock Olivo and Devin West on the career list.

So this is something, I guess: Fox Sports will "televise" the Baylor-Mizzou game Monday at noon and 9pm and Wednesday at 2pm as part of their "No Huddle" series.  Baylor links!

• PowerMizzou: Baylor defensive preview
• Dave Matter: Behind the Numbers...and more
• KC Star: This time, Brad Smith plays for Baylor, not MU
• Post-Dispatch: MU's Alexander has rivalry with Baylor's Sanders
• Waco Tribune-Herald: No time to rest for Baylor cornerbacks
• Waco Tribune-Herald: Matchup: Missouri

Jacquies Smith is going to end up at 265 pounds?  Yeah, that sounds really nice..

Chase Daniel: Draddy Trophy finalist.  (What's the Draddy Trophy?  Click the link!)

In last year's regular season, the Big 12 North was 10-8 versus the Big 12 South.  This year?  2-10.

The Post-Dispatch's Jeff Gordon does a nice job in laying out all the reasons why the Mizzou football job is more attractive than Washington or a lot of other jobs that might come open.

In football recruiting news, two MO kids will be playing in the U.S. All-American game--Sheldon Richardson and Ronnie Wingo.

Finally...ouch.  Mizzou Volleyball led Kansas 12-7 in the fifth set last night but fell, 12-25 25-18 25-15 13-25 14-16.  Not much to say about this one--it's gonna sting for a while.  Mizzou blocked much better than KU, but the 'Hawks just dug and dug and dug (92 digs for KU, 68 for MU) and wore Mizzou out.  It also didn't hurt that their passing was far superior (61 sets to 39).

For somebody who hasn't really made a big play yet, Jacquies Smith is creating some serious buzz just for looking like a soon-to-be big playmaker.

Spurred on by encouragement from seniors Chavis, Sulak and defensive tackle Ziggy Hood, Smith used his uncommon speed to catch the attention of MU coaches and earn a spot in the rotation at defensive end.

"Me and Stryker, we needed some help at the defensive end position. We can’t do it all by ourselves for 14 games," Chavis said. "We just talk, try to keep him relaxed and everything like that. He just goes out and performs. He’s doing a good job."

Eberflus echoed that sentiment.

"He’s been great," he said. "He’s learned the techniques from Coach Kul" (Kuligowski) "and plays really hard. I think being from a good program down in Texas, I think fundamentally, he’s strong. I think he’s doing great for us. I’ve been real impressed with him."

Oh yeah, and it's Ja-QWEES.  Good to know.

Former Mizzou players: impressed.

Mike Dearmond talks about the 'redshirts aflame' this year at Mizzou.

Buffalo Links!

• Mutigers.com: Weekend Football Fan Primer
• PowerMizzou: Three Tiger keys to win over Buffalo
• Dave Matter: Checking in on Buffalo
• Missourian: 'Bowl or of bust' for Buffalo quarterback
• College Football News: Fearless predictions

Pretty fun crowd for this game, but...not really a fun game.  In fact, it was a bit of a dud considering it was an OT game in front of a solid crowd.  But hey...go Big 12, I guess.  SI's Fan Nation has more...

Finally, I'm not sure why this came about now, but mutigers.com has released its Men's Basketball preview.

Entering year No. 3 of his rebuilding charge, Anderson is finally welcoming his first full recruiting haul to campus and will accent his heralded group of newcomers with a nucleus of players that led the Tigers throughout the final 12 games of the 2007-08 campaign.

Back for Missouri are forwards DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons, both of whom earned postseason accolades last season, as well as guards Matt Lawrence and J.T. Tiller. Also returning is athletic forward Justin Safford as well as reliable reserve guards Michael Anderson, Jr., and Nick Berardini to give the Tigers a veteran group to help balance the largest influx of new players in over a decade.

"I think we saw some good things take place with this team late last season," Anderson said. "The guys we had on the floor are coming back and they did some things to help us improve. Now that we have a new air of freshness coming in, there will be an opportunity to create depth. Once we have that depth in place, then we'll be able to more effectively play our brand of up-tempo basketball."

I have this done already, so I may as well post the BTBS a day early.

Another week, another set of mind-blowing BTBS numbers for the Mizzou offense.  But notice this too: against Texas Tech, Nevada put up a 0.779 S&P and 26.88 EqPts.  Against Mizzou, those numbers were 0.666 S&P and 19.97 EqPts.  So while Mizzou and Tech gave up roughly the same number of actual points, Mizzou's defense performed better as a whole.  And it's performing incrementally better each week.

To the numbers we go!  And for The Beef, I'm once again bolding the key points.  You're welcome.

Notice how quickly Mizzou put this out of reach.  Less than 30% of the game was played in "close" circumstances--that's almost as low as it was against SEMO last week.  Against Mizzou, you're under such pressure to score and score early that one mistake can feel like having your serve broken by Pete Sampras--you just don't know how you're going to make up the distance you've just given up on the scoreboard.

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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!

via images.pictopia.com.edgesuite.net (Joel Kowsky, MUTigers.com)

Overflow thread for immediate reaction. Analysis to come in the form of the postgame podcast some time in the next 24 hours.

**SUNDAY MORNING UPDATE, by rptgwb: Good, Bad, and Indifferent now added after the jump. And I promise it doesn't just say "Good: Mizzou, Bad: SEMO."

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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.