Mizzou Links, 11-25-13: Defense, volleyball, and a perfect weekend

Football still beat Ole Miss, Volleyball just obliterates a top-15 team on the road, and ... hand-held broiler? What could possibly go wrong???

By Bill Connelly@SBN_BillC Nov 25, 2013, 5:08am CST

In Rock M Nation's history, we've talked a lot about soaking in the good. Not every weekend or month or year is great, so when a perfect period of time comes along, no matter how short it may be, soak it in. Enjoy it and remember how it feels.

I'm mentioning this, of course, because this past weekend was nearly perfect. It began on Friday night with what I'll just call a relatively dusty-eyed celebration of an SEC title at the Hearnes Center, continued with a huge, semi-easy football road win over a top-25 team, and concluded with another volleyball win, this time a complete destruction of a top-15 Kentucky team on the road. (And in between, the basketball team also won, but we'll get to that in a separate post.) This was an incredible weekend to be a Missouri fan. I hope you enjoyed it. We don't know if these good feelings will seep right on into next weekend, or next month, or next year. But this weekend was pretty much perfect.

1. Saturday still happened

The Trib (Behind the Stripes): GAME REWIND: Missouri 24, Ole Miss 10

Ain't Happening: As in, "Oh, you made it into the red zone and now you expect to score? That's cute. Really." Opponents have come away with points on only about a quarter of their drives against Missouri this season. Ole Miss cracked the red zone three times and came away with only 3 points. The Rebels ran seven plays inside the Tigers' 10-yard line. Those netted 3 yards. Missouri ranks 15th in the FBS in opponent red-zone touchdown percentage (50%).

Ground Heavy: For the third game in a row, Missouri outran its pass game. That had only happened one time this season before Tennessee, Kentucky and Ole Miss -- the season opener against Murray State. After halftime, the split was even more jarring. Missouri passed 12 times for 53 yards in the second half and ran 35 times for 203.

Treading Water: Missouri had only one sack, its lowest total since posting goose eggs in back-to-back games against Toledo and Indiana. But its eight tackles for loss were right on the season average and Ole Miss got nothing or less than nothing on 28 of 72 plays.

ESPN.com: Missouri Tigers' magical run continues in Oxford
We Are Mizzou: PHOTOS: Mizzou 24, Ole Miss 10
Mizzou Network: HIGHLIGHTS: Mizzou defeats Ole Miss 24-10
Mizzou Network: FIELD CAM: Mizzou's 10th win over Ole Miss
KC Star: Video: Highlights of No. 8 Missouri's 24-10 victory at No. 24 Mississippi
We Are Mizzou: Behind the Scenes: Mizzou Football Travels
Mizzou Network: SPOTLIGHT: Mizzou Offensive Line