Kansas 24, Virginia Tech 21. Turnovers ruled the day for the Jayhawks, who proved that a) they belonged in a big game, and b) we'd have beaten Virginia Tech pretty badly. :-)
#7 Mizzou Wrestling (4-0) hosts Bucknell (3-4) in its home opener tonight at 7pm. Be there!
Two off-the-radar football recruits could become very much on the radar soon, according to Inside Mizzou. Virginia QB (and Mizzou legacy) Tommy Reamon Jr., who was known to be considering Mizzou quite a long time ago, is still giving the Tigers consideration, while total sleeper Jerrell Jackson (Houston WR) has appeared out of nowhere with an offer. LOVE his stats, though. Meanwhile, last week's out-of-nowhere name, Kentucky WR Aaron Boyd, will be visiting in a couple weeks as well. Suddenly January 18 is becoming a pretty big weekend...it also just happens to be MU-KU weekend at Mizzou Arena. Good timing.
Gabe Dearmond gives out his Mizzou position-by-position grade card for 2007.
Dave Matter takes his turn as today's "2008 could be awesome!" story writer...
The Tigers have to replace some important pieces on offense - tailback and Cotton Bowl hero Tony Temple, tight end Martin Rucker, wide receiver Will Franklin and linemen Tyler Luellen and Adam Spieker - but there is plenty firepower left to expect another championship run. Daniel indicated after Tuesday’s game that he and tight end Chase Coffman will let the NFL wait for their services. They’ll be surrounded by experienced skill players at tailback in Jimmy Jackson and Derrick Washington and receiver in Jeremy Maclin, Tommy Saunders, Jared Perry and Danario Alexander, who is recovering from December knee surgery.
Across the trenches, there is no reason to think Missouri won’t have one of the Big 12’s elite defenses. Missouri’s No. 1 defense actually got younger as the season continued as two true freshmen earned starting positions: Carl Gettis, who was named MU’s cornerback of the year, and outside linebacker Luke Lambert, who made his first career start in the Cotton Bowl. Nose tackle Lorenzo Williams was the only senior starter for a group that held Arkansas to one scoring drive. Junior free safety William Moore probably helped his NFL profile with another dynamic performance but continued to suggest he’s leaning toward returning for his senior season unless he’s projected as a first-round selection.
...and empties the Cotton Bowl notebook.
ere’s a great stat from Tuesday’s game: On first down, the Tigers ran for 224 yards on 24 attempts. That’s 9.3 yards per run, nearly a first down every time the ball was carried on first down.
Arkansas, meanwhile, ran 20 times for 105 yards on first down, a respectable 5.1 yards per carry but no match for the Tigers’ explosiveness.
That’s also a credit to offensive coordinator Dave Christensen, who stuck with the run while it was working. For its first 13 games, Missouri ran the ball 55 percent of the time on first down; against Arkansas, that percentage jumped up to 69.
"I thought the offensive staff, leaning on the run, doing some right things in the running game, obviously was a huge, huge advantage for us," Pinkel said. "We stuck with it with patience."
Alright, let's talk about basketball. I've put it off long enough. First off, the Trib's Steve Walentik finds a Forbes study that says Mizzou is one of the most profitable basketball programs in the country (despite horrendous attendance).
- University of Missouri, Tigers
Value: $14.5 million
Profit: $9.8 million
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Mike AndersonPriority ticket donations for Mizzou basketball totaled $4.3 million last season, nine times more than football.
Walentik also goes into detail about the myriad of mental mistakes the Mizzou basketball team is making at the moment (6 m-words in that sentence!). They haven't proven they're ready to make some noise now that the grind of conference play is upon us.