This week, the M-I-Z Q&A fires up in time for us to trade questions with our SB Nation-brethren over at Crimson and Cream Machine in preparation for Saturday's showdown between No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 11 Missouri. My responses can be found here.
RMN: How do Oklahoma fans see Missouri heading into this weekend? Were perceptions changed at all by Missouri's manhandling of Nebraska last week?
"I picked Missouri to win the north so their play, even after the Nebraska game, hasn’t surprised me at all. The general feeling among Sooner fans is that this is the biggest game of the year, yes even bigger than Texas, and a win would certainly place the Sooners back in the BCS championship hunt while a loss leaves them hoping for many things to happen just to have a chance to win the Big 12.
As far as the Nebraska game goes we don’t think very highly of the Huskers football team this season and are much more impressed with the Tigers win over Illinois."
RMN: OU seems to pride itself on shutting down spread offenses. How do you see the matchup between the Missouri offense and the OU defense?
"Oklahoma has had success against the spread attack in year’s past but the thing that scares me this year is the linebacker’s inability to effectively cover the pass. That, in my mind, will be the key match-up Saturday night. Oklahoma’s linebackers are built to stop the run but have been burned through the air against Miami, Colorado and Texas.
The good news is that Oklahoma did make some adjustments in the second half to limit the Longhorns middle passing routes and they will certainly have to do it again this Saturday against a much better Missouri passing attack. That may mean bringing up the safeties to cover the Missouri tight ends which would leave Oklahoma susceptible to the deep ball.
The key, force Missouri to be one dimensional by shutting down the rushing game and then get tons of pressure on Daniels [sic]."
RMN: Justify my immense fear of the Sooner rushing attack.
"All you have to do is look at the stats to justify it. The Tigers are giving up over 140 yards per game on the ground at 4.0 yards per carry. They currently rank 7th in the conference at stopping the run while Oklahoma’s rushing attack gains 216 yards per game with an average of 5.3 yards per carry.
Perhaps the best way to slowdown the Missouri offense is by keeping them off the field. Oklahoma could do that if they are successful in the running game but they will have to protect the football and make sure that they finish long time consuming drives with a score."
RMN: What did the Sooners learn from the loss in Boulder?
"They learned that Colorado is good! There has been a lot said about the altitude, lack of preparation and Oklahoma not being able finish off the Buffs when leading 24-7 in the third quarter but the bottom line was that Colorado was good enough to make the plays to win the game and Oklahoma wasn’t."
RMN: According to the most comprehensive and most accurate source I could find, Wikipedia, the Sooners have been the feature game on College Gameday 16 times whereas Mizzou is enjoying its first appearance. Give us your favorite OU-related Gameday story and favorite Gameday sign.
"Going to Gameday isn’t all that its cracked up to be. If you actually want to listen to what the Gameday crew is saying then stay home and watch it on TV but if you want to get on television, tout your team, and make some noise then the Gameday set is the place to be. I would recommend that every college fan do it at least once but beyond that it’s really up to a person’s liking.
I guess my favorite Gameday experience was in 2003 when Oklahoma State thought they had a pretty good team and the boys from ESPN agreed thinking that Les Miles was going to back up all the trash he had been talking. Lee Corso made several remarks in favor of the Cowboys and may have even picked them to pull off the upset, I really can’t remember, causing the OU crowd to chant "Corso Sucks!" at several points of the game while the Sooners were thrashing the Cowboys 52-9."
RMN: Bonus - Your prediction and final score.
It’s early in the week for a score prediction but I would guess it to be around 35-24 Oklahoma.