You know how you sometimes say a team "had their chances" when they lose a game after hanging tough for a while? Well last night, Mizzou Volleyball had its chance (singular) against Nebraska last night in front of 6,000+ at the Hearnes Center. They fought back from a 17-13 Game One deficit to take a 29-28 lead...and then Nebraska outscored them 63-32 the rest of the way. In the end, Mizzou hit pretty well in their 31-29, 30-18, 30-14 loss--they had 29 kills to just 8 errors in the first two games; the problem was, Nebraska hit unbelievably well. Like, .458, 66 kills, 11 errors well. Ouch. They're just too freaking good. As the Missourian points out, they've now won freaking 23 straight in Columbia. Luckily Sarah Pavan (18 kills, 2 errors) and Tracy Stalls (15 kills, 1 error) are finally seniors...not that they don't have some more studs waiting in the wings. Either way, Mizzou has made major strides since an 0-4 conference start, and The Trib's Matt Nestor has a nice article on why.
On to football: it's Cut to the Chase time!!
For the second straight week, a Mizzou tight end was named John Mackey Tight End of the Week. It is Chase Coffman's second ever win, to go along with three from Martin Rucker.
I love competition. Both Inside Mizzou and PowerMizzou raced to break the story that Blaine Gabbert was visiting Columbia this coming weekend (it even made the Post-Dispatch). I'm pretty sure Jeff Ermann won this battle, but afterward the PM boards quickly lit up with news of other interesting upcoming visitors. Let's just say it might be an entertaining couple of recruiting weeks.
Gabe says he doesn't fear the typical Mizzou letdown this year thanks to two guys--Chase Daniel and Martin Rucker. Here's to hoping he's right.
Dave Matter says Michael Crabtree has squeezed an entire career into just 7 games. Raving about him gets old after a while, but...good GOD are his numbers amazing. Stopping Crabtree means getting pressure on Graham Harrell...which is easier said than done. Then again, they managed to do it in Lubbock last year...
Vahe Gregorian takes on the spread offense.
You haven't officially prepared for a week's game until you've read the Good, Bad, and Sleazy.
So Bill Self says Mizzou Basketball's going to be pretty good this year. Interesting. I guess there's some pressure on Matt Lawrence to continue his improvement.
Finally, this weekend represents a major challenge for #12 Mizzou Soccer. Coming off of their first conference loss, they now go on the road to face #7 Texas and Colorado. Previous Mizzou Soccer teams would have faded about 2-3 weeks ago...this one seems to be different, but how well they will end up doing this year will be determined this weekend.