Mizzou Links, 9-4-12

Mizzou Football Links

Well ... at least Sheldon Richardson's comments have given us the opportunity to see headlines other than varieties of the same old patronizing "Can Mizzou hang in the brutal, physical, athletic, tough, everybody's-an-NFL-draft-pick, big-boy-football SEC?" So there's that.

(I highly enjoyed Pinkel's Richardson quote below, by the way. Succinct, a hair annoyed, and completely over it.)

• Georgia Week
  MUtigers.com: Tigers Welcome Bulldogs to Columbia
  MUtigers.com: Mizzou Media Day Quotes

  On how the offensive line looks after the first game…

  "I think we gave up a couple of sacks, or just one I believe, there were some things I thought, I actually felt better after watching the film than I did during the game, so obviously we are playing a different level of personnel, no disrespect to anyone, but it’s obvious to everybody, so we are going to have to play well against a really good football team and that’s certainly our challenge."

  On the challenges OLB Jarvis Jones presents to the offensive line…

  "Well they are good up front all across the board so, if you look at their defensive line and their line backing core, they are outstanding. He is a great player off the corner, can do a lot of different things with him, but they have a lot of good players, you can’t zero in on one, but you game plan like we always play, we play against high level players and you game plan best you can, but you also have to go out there and do those kind of things, block and tackle, those are fundamentals of playing and you have to do those on both sides of the ball."

  On preparing for a player vs preparing for a scheme…

  "You prepare for the scheme, obviously I don’t know if they are going to be back or not. We can’t worry about that, we have to enough things to be concerned about that we have control over. If they play, they play. I don’t know what else to tell you."

  The Trib (Dave Matter): Missouri's Week 2 depth chart for Georgia
  The Trib (Dave Matter): Tigers Meet the Press

  As expected, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson was not available for interviews after he made some bold comments about Georgia following Saturday's win. Pinkel said he’ll handle the matter with Richardson internally. "We certainly want to say the right things, do the right things," Pinkel said. "I think he got carried away a little bit."

  "We want to say the appropriate things," Pinkel added. "He felt sorry for saying it. He just got excited. He's got a great respect for Georgia, as I do. We'll learn lessons and move on."

  Ebner, a fifth-year senior and co-captain, said he figures Georgia will use Richardson's comments as motivation. "We're obviously going to be prepared for that," he said. "For us, we're not making as big a deal out of it as the social media world is."

  The Missourian: Georgia might start freshman tailback Todd Gurley during Missouri match-up

  After one game, Richt still wants to see more of Gurley (6-foot-1, 218 pounds) as a blocker. He has already seen enough to be impressed with Gurley's runs.

  "There weren't a whole lot of opportunities for him to pass protect, but obviously he impressed me as a runner, and he's been impressing me and the rest of our staff and the team with how he's been doing," Richt said Sunday.

  "He pretty much played in this game the way he played in the scrimmages. He's got a knack for breaking tackles. He's got more speed than you think for a big man, and he's just a big, fluid athlete. You saw that on the kickoff return."

  Richt said Saturday that Gurley's average of 12.5 yards per carry matched his average in preseason scrimmages.

  KC Star: MU notebook | Ebner says he'll play

  • Senior starting guard Jack Meiners is also questionable because of a sprained knee. Pinkel has said he hopes Meiners will be ready to play this week, but that determination will ultimately be made later this week.

  • Pinkel said freshman tight end Sean Culkin could play Saturday. Culkin suffered a broken finger after impressing early in camp, but Pinkel added Culkin may also redshirt if he doesn’t come along fast enough.

  • Missouri did not make defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson available for interviews this week. Richardson caused a bit of a stir when he told reporters Saturday that he turned off Georgia’s win over Buffalo because it was "old-man football," a swipe at the Bulldogs’ style of play.

  Post-Dispatch: Talkative Richardson held out of media day
  Post-Dispatch: Players twitch, coaches downplay Missouri's first game against SEC foe
  Post-Dispatch: Ebner listed as questionable but insists he'll play against Georgia
  Post-Dispatch (Bryan Burwell): Tough talk suits Mizzou's new rougher neighborhood, the SEC
  PowerMizzou: First Look Notebook

  The major question at this point is just how many hands will be on deck for the Bulldogs. Cornerback Sanders Commings and linebacker Chase Vasser are out for sure after off-season arrests. All-American safety Bacarri Rambo and standout linebacker Alec Ogletree were suspended for the season opener. Richt wasn't letting anyone know if either would be back.

  "We'll know when the time comes," he said.

  PowerMizzou: PMTV-HD: Week Two Media Day
  Fox Sports MW: Richardson's bravado should motivate Mizzou

  Some say the Tigers have shown a lack of respect in their transition. But fans in the Show-Me State would have more reason to worry if comments like Richardson's hadn't filled their computer screens.

  We don't know what result the smack will produce. However, no one can call Missouri submissive. That, itself, is the Tigers' first SEC victory.

  Meanwhile, Richardson has lived this situation before. Last November, he said he hated people from Texas before Missouri beat the Longhorns for the first time since 1997. He's honest, and he speaks without self-censorship. That should be praised, not criticized, when far too many players and coaches tiptoe around microphones in this image-conscious era.

  Were his Georgia observations the smartest thing to say? Not from a competitive standpoint, but this game won't be won on a bulletin board.

• Murph
  MUtigers.com: Marcus Murphy Wins SEC Special Teams Award
  The Trib (Dave Matter): Murphy wins SEC special teams award
  The Missourian: Marcus Murphy shows he's the right player for Missouri's kick return job
  KC Star: MU's Murphy is something special
• Kendial God Lawrence
  Mizzou Network: 1 on 1 with Kendial Lawrence
• Last Week
  PowerMizzou: PMTV-HD: Weekend Rewind
• SEC! SEC!
  The Trib: SEC enthusiasm runs high for fans
• DGB! DGB!
  Post-Dispatch: DGB: 'I felt I was always being watched'

  Any nerves were eliminated after the first catch, as uneventful as it might have been.

  "I never visualized my first catch. I didn't think that far into it. But I felt like when I made that first play the nervousness would go away," he said. "I felt after that first play I should be pretty good to go. I felt real lose [sic] after that. I thought, 'There's plenty more of these catches coming.' "

  Green-Beckham added a 29-yard catch along the sideline. To make the reception, which coach Gary Pinkel called a "real nice, athletic move," he had to adjust to a slightly underthrown ball.

  He hopes to make a bigger impact when the Tigers face Georgia on Saturday in their first Southeastern Conference game.

  "I had a lot of playing time and hopefully this week I'll have a lot more time, a lot more balls thrown my way and a lot more plays like that," he said.

• Freshmen
  We Are Mizzou: Mizzou Rookie Spotlight: Sean Culkin
  We Are Mizzou: Russell Hansbrough Mic'd Up

Mizzou Diamond Sports Links

• Pros
  SimmonsField.com: Missouri Baseball in the Majors: Max Newhouser
• SEC
  SimmonsField.com: SxSE: Coach John Cohen's Mississippi State Bulldogs

Other Mizzou Links

• Truman
  MUtigers.com: Truman the Tiger Up for Capital One Mascot of the Year
• Mizzou Volleyball
  The Missourian: VolleyZou gears up for SEC play
• Mizzou Men's Golf
  MUtigers.com: Mizzou Golf Wins 2012 Turning Stone Title