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Mizzou Links, 8-23-12

By Bill Connelly
Kony Ealy has had himself a great camp. (Photo via Bill Carter.)
Kony Ealy has had himself a great camp. (Photo via Bill Carter.)

Yesterday's football practice was just a walkthrough of sorts in advance of today's final scrimmage, and there aren't quite as many links about it as normal, so we're just going to cram it all in here.

Mizzou Football Links

So in yesterday's SBN preview, I laid out Missouri's prospects for 2012 like this: five probable wins (SE Louisiana, Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Syracuse, though Vandy could obviously be salty as hell), three probable losses (@South Carolina, Alabama, @Florida, though I only included Florida there because of their high Football Outsiders Almanac 2012 projection), and four relative tossups (Georgia, @UCF, @Tennessee, @A&M). Throw Florida into the "relative tossups" pool if you want, but that sounds about right, doesn't it? Mizzou could certainly win one of the probable losses and lose one of the probable wins, of course, but those would be relatively surprising results.

So I split the different in the tossups and set the bar around 7-5 or so. This didn't necessarily mean I was "predicting" 7-5; I just meant that anything above it would be seen as a strong success, anything below it a minor (at least) failure. I could go on and on about how I think 9-3 is a distinct possibility, but that wasn't really the point of the exercise.

Anyway, both in comments there and at Senator Blutarsky's place (link below), this was described as somewhat pessimistic. So I want to ask you: was it? Would you view 7-5 as disappointing (no matter the circumstances)? And remember, try to differentiate between what you hope will happen and what the actual midpoint is on what you expect to happen.

  • Brief Practice Reports
    The Trib (Dave Matter): Wednesday Camp Report: Tigers prep for final scrimmage
    The Trib: Moe finally among the healthy, but injuries still haunting Tigers
    PowerMizzou: PMTV-HD: Josh Henson
    PowerMizzou: PMTV-HD: Andy Hill
  • Hoch
    The Missourian: Matt Hoch thrives after position change
  • Ealy
    Post-Dispatch: Kony Ealy playing for keeps
  • DGB
    Post-Dispatch: DGB learning fast
    The Trib (Dave Matter): Answering the Twitter Satchel

    @dicksmith188: Whom should SEC defenses fear more this season? DGB or MLucas?

    I don’t think SEC defenses fear anyone. They might devote more attention to one player over another in their game plan, but I wouldn’t consider that fear. Lucas is a first-year starter and Green-Beckham has yet to play in a college game, so I’m not sure any coordinator is going to focus his strategy on either player — unless one of them produces like an All-American the first few weeks of the season. Coaches spend more time preparing for formations and tendencies, not so much individual personnel. For example, when Missouri’s defensive staff studied SEC film this offseason, they didn’t focus on individual players. Personnel changes from season to season, even week to week. They concentrated on formations, plays and tendencies in certain situations. That said, if Lucas consistently beats single coverage on the outside the first few games, opponents will have to consider giving him extra attention with an another defender. In theory, that could free up the inside receivers with more single coverage. Green-Beckham is going to play inside where there’s more traffic and potential mismatches. Will teams stick a smaller but faster player on him or defend him with a slower, more physical safety or linebacker? What made Missouri’s offense so potent in 2007-08, besides having an elite quarterback, was its loaded receiver corps. Defenses could only assign extra defenders in so many directions. Eventually, Chase Daniel was going to exploit a weakness. That would be an ideal situation for this team if both Lucas and Green-Beckham, and the other weapons, can all produce.

  • Rookies
    We Are Mizzou: Mizzou Rookie Spotlight: Rickey Hatley
    PowerMizzou: Freshman Q&A: Rickey Hatley
    We Are Mizzou: Donavin Newsom Mic'd Up
  • Max Copeland Gets A Scholarship
    KC Star: Walk-on lineman awarded scholarship
  • 2012
    Senator Blutarsky: Let's talk about Missouri
  • 2013 Recruiting
    Post-Dispatch: Summit's Beisel looking to leave legacy
    PowerMizzou: Jamone Boyd sets first official visit

Mizzou Basketball Links

No word on whether Zach Coleman disliked St. Louis or not.

/having too much fun with that to let it die just yet

While I do a better job than some of tuning out recruiting rankings as a whole, I kind of hate that my first reaction to Coleman's decommitment was "Eh, he's not very highly rated anyway." Mizzou liked him enough to offer, so he must be pretty good, but ... haven't been able to get worked up about this. We'll see what happens.

Mizzou Diamond Sports Links

  • In The Pros
    SimmonsField.com: Missouri Baseball in the Minors & Majors: Outstanding on Their Fields
  • Winter Camp
    MUtigers.com: Mizzou Baseball Announces Winter Camp Dates

Other Mizzou Links

Yep, Molly Kreklow and Lisa Henning are dorks. Which, of course, is very endearing to me.

  • Mizzou Volleyball
    Mizzou Network: Molly Kreklow & Lisa Henning Have A Message For You
    MUtigers.com: Volleyball Opens Season with Tiger Invite
  • Mizzou Soccer
    The Trib: MU soccer team enters national rankings warily
    MUtigers.com: Alyssa Diggs Earns National Honors
    The Missourian: Missouri's Alyssa Diggs earns honors after opening weekend

Other

Man oh man, did Joe Posnanski end up in an impossible situation in deciding to write a Paterno book when he did. There was just no way to get the tone right for this one, even for Posnanski, and I knew the reviews would be devastating even though I haven't read a word of it. Guess I'll have to read it for myself at some point and decide how I think he did.

  • "I Award You No Points, And May God Have Mercy On Your Soul"
    The Atlantic: 'Paterno': A Relentless, Failed Defense of Penn State's Disgraced Coach
  • I Have Used This Word Reflexively For Years Now
    DoobyTrain.com: Dan Castellaneta explains Homer SImpson's "D'oh!"
  • The Theismann Made Me Cry
    SB Nation: Bobbleheads From Our Dreams, Animated And Brought To Life

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