Mizzou Football 2012: Thoughts From Scrimmage No. 1

Caught the last half of the scrimmage at not-so-chilly Faurot Field…

• Maty Mauk looked really good. His arm is stronger than you assume from his stature, and he has fantastic timing on his passes. DGB and others would turn around and raise their hands and the ball would hit the hands immediately. Stats already tell you this (Mauk was 25-for-36 for 152 yards, Berkstresser 13-for-31 for 121), but he was quite a bit better than Corbin Berkstresser today. It's just one day, of course.
• E.J. Gaines absolutely lit DGB up on a quick pass to the sideline. To DGB’s credit, a) he held onto the ball, and b) he didn’t seem to get alligator arms afterward. Almost made a one-handed grab shortly thereafter.
• Actually, "almost’" was the word for the day for DGB. Almost made a tough, one-handed grab over the middle from Berkstresser. Almost snared a long grab posting up on two guys on a bomb. Almost broke free on a short pass. Looked very comfortable with Mauk’s passes.
• Jimmie Hunt looked very strong and very physical today. Loved seeing that.
• I missed Kendial Lawrence’s heroics on the drive mentioned above and didn’t actually see much of him, but I loved what Marcus Murphy brought to the table. He’s quick and little but runs tough and doesn’t avoid contact by any means.
• Levi Copelin leaked downfield on 3’s vs 3’s, caught a nice, long touchdown pass (though looking at the box score, it doesn’t look like it counted for some reason).
• Will Ebner looked like Will Ebner (only healthy).
• Kony Ealy looked good.
• I noticed no safeties doing anything good or anything bad. Which … is fine, I guess. Other than the long play to Copelin, there weren’t any huge plays, so that reflects well.
• The punting was solid.
• Lots and lots of checkdowns to the running backs (Lawrence, McGriff-Culver, Murphy and Steward combined for 15 catches), though that was probably by design. Something tells me Mizzou isn’t going to start throwing half of its passes to the RBs.
• Defense dominated in short-yardage, which means that a) OUR DEFENSE IS TOUGH AND PHYSICAL AND READY FOR THE SEC, and b) OUR OFFENSE IS NOT PHYSICAL ENOUGH AND IS GOING TO GET KILLED IN THE SEC.
• Marcus Lucas wasn't asked to do much, but his lone catch was a nice one in the red zone.
• Franklin had already done most of his damage by the time we got there, but … 18-for-22 for 228 yards? Damn.
• Not the best hands day for Brandon Holifield.
• Ernest Payton destroyed a third-string receiver at one point, and we very much enjoyed our "That's the best play T.J. Moe has made this fall!" jokes.
• I am irrationally attached to Rock And Roll Max Copeland.
• We walked into the stadium, and Rally Baby got very excited. She knows.