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Mizzou Links, 10-27-10

By Bill Connelly

Another commit!

Add another lineman to the ledger: Gilmer (TX) lineman Michael Boddie, a 3-star former Houston commit and high school teammate of Tristen Holt and Braylon Webb, visited this past weekend and was predictably blown away.  He committed last night.  He is Mizzou's 13th commitment for what it expected to be a small 2011 recruiting class, and he is the third offensive lineman.  Welcome, Michael!

Mizzou-Nebraska Links...

  • The Trib: No time to rest on laurels as MU preps for Nebraska

    By Sunday morning, he was back in the office grading film of Missouri’s first win over the Sooners in 12 years, reviewing the highlights and corrections with players and prepping for the next challenge: No. 14 Nebraska, the team that torpedoed MU’s 2009 season.

    This time, though, the seventh-ranked Tigers (7-0, 3-0 Big 12) — up to No. 6 in the BCS standings — head to Lincoln armed with a revamped weapon that Yost uncovered Saturday: a downhill running attack. And it didn’t happen by accident.

    With alignments designed to take away Missouri’s bubble-screen passes to its slot receivers, the Sooners left the middle of the field exposed. And that’s where Yost attacked with runs, resulting in 178 rushing yards on a season-high 39 attempts.

    By Yost’s count, four or five of those attempts used a vintage run from MU’s playbook, a tighter zone play designed to slam the tailback between the guards rather than the looping horizontal runs that take longer to hit the point of attack.

    "Really, that was the original zone we ran before we moved to the spread," Yost said. "That was the Brad Smith zone play."

    That wasn’t the only twist to Missouri’s running attack. In some short-yardage situations, quarterback Blaine Gabbert took the snap from under center with two extra linemen in the backfield as extra blockers. Several times the Tigers used an unbalanced line, adding Jack Meiners as a third tackle to block for the run, including MU’s first play from scrimmage, a 20-yard dash by De’Vion Moore. Other times, MU motioned a second tailback into the backfield, faked a handoff to one and gave the ball to the other on a misdirection play that had the Sooners lunging in the wrong direction. That play sprung Moore on a 39-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, on which Moore carried safety Quinton Carter for the final 15 yards.

  • The Missourian: Nebraska quarterback poses big challenge for Missouri
  • MUtigers.com: Surging Tigers Head North for Big 12 Battle
    While the Missouri Tigers will face one of the toughest road tests in all of the nation this week, playing at venerable Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., Mizzou has shown an ability to find success on the road in recent years.

    As Head Coach Gary Pinkel’s program has taken roots over the last several years, his team has learned how to win on the road. Mizzou has earned three road wins each year in the previous three seasons, and after claiming a 30-9 win at Texas A&M in the first road game of 2010, Pinkel’s teams have an overall record of 10-3 in road games since 2007.

    In fact, all three losses during that string came to the hands of top-16-ranked teams (No. 6 Oklahoma in 2007, No. 4 Texas in 2008, No. 16 Oklahoma State in 2009).
  • Omaha World-Herald: Will Compton says no tears for end of Husker-Tiger rivalry
  • Omaha World-Herald: Carl Pelini expects Missouri to attack with ground game
  • Omaha World-Herald: Bo: Taylor Martinez will only improve
  • Omaha World-Herald: Mizzou's D a key test for Watson's offense
  • Lincoln Journal-Star: Carl Pelini: Respect MU's run game
  • Corn Nation: Getting Ready for Blaine Gabbert
  • Tulsa World: Missouri to defend top spot in Big 12
  • KC Star: Jerrell Jackson has stepped up to give MU another target
  • Post-Dispatch: Lacking one true star, Mizzou shines as team

    Every week, someone new on the Tigers roster seems to step to center stage. Who thought Brad Madison would be playing a key role in the defense, or Henry Josey in the running game? Linebacker Zaviar Gooden is so well known that in one recent TV broadcast, the play-by-play announcer kept calling him Zaviar Gordon. On Saturday, his diving interception set up a fourth-quarter field goal for the Tigers.

    Coach Gary Pinkel said after the Texas A&M game that his is a team without superstars, but the talent on the team may be as deep as Mizzou has seen. When Smith, who along with quarterback Blaine Gabbert is the closest thing the team has to a superstar, broke a bone in his leg, Madison stepped in and Mizzou's defense went right on rolling. When running back Derrick Washington was kicked off the team at the start of the season, it was feared the running game, already a question mark, would suffer. It hasn't, as De'Vion Moore, Kendial Lawrence and Josey have taken turns getting key yards, especially against Oklahoma, as the team showed a new willingness to run straight ahead.

    And that's just lately. Some of the players who are now accepted as stars of the team and major contributors, such as receiver T.J. Moe and tight end Michael Egnew, who are both in the top 10 in the nation in receptions per game, were little known at the start of the season. In the past two weeks, other members of the receiving corps, Wes Kemp and Jerrell Jackson, have had breakout games. Jackson's nine catches against Oklahoma were a career high and came after he had 18 catches in the first five games.

  • Post-Dispatch: Nebraska seeks to recapture magic at home
  • PowerMizzou: Tuesday Tiger Notebook
  • PowerMizzou: Tuesday's Top Tigers
  • BCS Evolution: How good are Michigan State and Missouri?
  • MUtigers.com: Ticket Special Offered For MU-KSU Matchup

...and a few more Mizzou-Oklahoma Links

  • KC Star (Campus Corner): Where is the OU-MU Peace Pipe Trophy? (They don't know where it is????)
  • SI.com (Andy Staples): Blame BCS, not Bob Stoops, for Oklahoma's puzzling punt (I asked Staples on Twitter why a playoff would be any better than the BCS when it comes to coaches trying to avoid big losses -- since in a playoff you'd be trying to stay in the top 5 or 10 instead of just the top 2 -- and he had a pretty decent response.  He said a playoff could be better with a selection committee that would pay heed to things like Stoops' actions.  I have my own problems with the NCAA selection committee in basketball ... but I have so, so, so, SO many fewer complaints about the committee than I do football polls.  If we ever see a playoff, I do hope that polls aren't overused in the process.)
  • Post-Dispatch (Bryan Burwell): Harpo's makes goal-line stand against goal posts
  • The Missourian: Surprise kickoff return for touchdown set stage for Missouri's big win
  • KBIA Sports Extra: VIDEO: Jerrell Jackson discusses fourth quarter plays
    KBIA Sports Extra: VIDEO: Aldon Smith talks about his interception return

Big 12 Links

Basketball Links

Other MIzzou Links

  • Mizzou Baseball
    MUtigers.com: Former Tiger Kinsler Seeks World Series Ring
  • Mizzou Volleyball
    The Missourian: Spot on Missouri volleyball team fulfills dream for Bodenstab

Other

  • Bring On the Cats: Of Bloggers and Bias (Nice read about "unbiased" talk radio members and "biased" bloggers)

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