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Mizzou Links, 8-16-11

By Bill Connelly
Get well, No. 72.
Get well, No. 72.

There are still enough MIZZOUEXPANSIONAPALOOZA™ 2011 links and hits that I'm thinking it still needs to be its own post. So below once again serves all your non-MIZZOUEXPANSIONAPALOOZA™ needs ... even though I did this yesterday and Mizzou's most experienced player was lost for the season. If somebody else gets hurt, it's my fault.

Mizzou Football Links

It's funny: Mizzou's depth is now at a point that, when an injury happens, I feel infinitely worse for the injured player than I do Mizzou. The Tigers proved themselves last year, losing about 18 linebackers and fielding their best defense in a long time ... losing Aldon Smith for a few games and seeing their defensive line improve in his absence. They are not immune from being hurt by injury -- hello, Dominique Hamilton -- but they can absorb quite a few losses and still field a great team. So far they've lost two players for the season, both from very deep units: Elvis Fisher and Marcus Murphy. Those units are now not nearly as deep, but if this is the end of the serious injury bug, then Mizzou will be alright. Justin Britt was perhaps the best backup on team (best backup not named Sheldon, anyway, I guess), and now he's a starter. (And, as was pointed out yesterday, now next year's line is much more experienced, which ... hooray?) Mizzou will survive this, though the Injury Bug can stop anytime now. Please.

  • Elvis
    The Trib (Dave Matter): Camp Chronicles: Injuries shuffle O-line

    Fisher stepped back to pass block on a 1-on-1 drill against Michael Sam and teetered over and instantly grabbed his left knee, screaming in what looked like excruciating pain. Two team trainers helped carry him off the field and into the team facility. I'll have more on the immediate aftermath of Fisher's injury in Tuesday's Tribune, but the immediate Plan B is Britt, as in sophomore Justin Britt.

    "The team needs me, and I feel like I should do this for Elvis," Britt said. "This is heartbreaking for the whole offensive line and the whole team really."

    Midway through Monday's practice, the No. 1 offensive line didn't look much like the line that started Saturday's scrimmage. Britt was on the edge at left tackle, next to Jack Meiners at left guard, Jayson Palmgren at center, Austin Wuebbels at right guard and Dan Hoch at right tackle. Only Wuebbels and Hoch were at the same position. Missing from the front five, besides Fisher, was center Travis Ruth, who strained his right Achilles' tendon late in Saturday's practice. Ruth could miss up to a week of practices. Palmgren shifted over a spot from left guard, while Meiners and Britt moved up from the No. 2 line handle the left side of the line.

    The offensive and defensive skill players were on other parts of the Kadlec Athletic Fields when Fisher was hurt but word of his injury quickly spread. Receiver T.J. Moe heard from wideout Jerrell Jackson, who's sidelined with a hamstring injury. "Jerrell kind of hit me on the butt and said, 'We might be hurtin' ' " he said. "But the good thing about our team right now is depth. You couldn't have really said that about past Mizzou teams."

    The Trib: Knee injury ends season for MU's Fisher
    The Trib (Dave Matter): Camp Chronicles: Heat is on
    PowerMizzou: Big injury hits Tiger O-line
    Post-Dispatch: Mizzou looks to replace Fisher's play, leadership
    KC Star: Mizzou loses tackle Elvis Fisher for season
    The Missourian: Elvis Fisher injures knee during Missouri football practice
  • Other Practice Links
    MUtigers.com: Camp Notebook: Offense Wins the Day Monday
    KBIA Sports Extra: Defense triumphs in Mizzou's first fall scrimmage, but the offense has some playmakers
    PowerMizzou: PMTV-HD: Coach's Corner
    PowerMizzou: PMTV-HD: Josh Henson
    We Are Mizzou: Mizzou Battle for the Black Jerseys
  • Defensive Line
    PowerMizzou: PHOTOS: Strong up front
  • Special Teams
    MUtigers.com: The Anatomy of a Perfect Field Goal
  • Freshmen
    PowerMizzou: Freshman Q&A: Taylor Chappell
    We Are Mizzou: Big Brothers - Conner McGovern
  • 2011
    SI.com (Stewart Mandel): Oklahoma, Texas A&M headline 2011 Big 12 conference report

Other Football Links

  • Football Porn
    Smart Football: The original one-back spread offense
  • Baylor
    Dr. Saturday: Debriefing: Baylor's a winner, at last -- with the new expectations to prove it
  • Texas
    Dr. Saturday: Texas' offensive redemption begins by tending its run-first roots

Mizzou Basketball Links

We've focused quite heavily on Rodney Purvis when it comes to 2012 recruiting, but Danuel House is the No. 26 prospect in the country and is also a five-star recruit, and he is set to visit just one school at the moment: Mizzou. It almost certainly won't be his only visit, but ... there's no doubting that House likes Mizzou quite a bit, which is lovely.

Other Basketball Links

One important thing to keep in mind when it comes to MIZZOUEXPANSIONAPALOOZA™ 2011: at the very least, Kansas State and Missouri are launching online networks. Obviously that would be 5% the sticking point that the Longhorn Network is when it comes to future conference re-structuring, but the simple fact is, the other programs in the Big 12 are attempting to take advantage of the "build your own network" freedom the conference allows. If nothing else, this does show that the other schools are thinking long-term with their Big 12 membership, and even a supposedly flirty school like Missouri isn't looking to leave. Not saying they won't leave ... just saying that none of this is nearly the no-brainer ("If A&M leaves, then Mizzou's totally applying for SEC membership") that fans think it is.

Other Mizzou Links

Other

  • Soccer
    Grantland: Brian Phillips on Sepp Blatter and the corruption within FIFA

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