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1. Pinkel makes the rounds
The Missourian: Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel wants Border War with Kansas to continue
KC Star: Mizzou’s Gary Pinkel: Playing KU at Arrowhead early in season would be ‘ideal’
KC Star: Video: Gary Pinkel talks Missouri football with The Star's Blair Kerkhoff
Post-Dispatch: UFR: One on one with coach Pinkel
Fox Sports MW: Gary Pinkel talks to FSMW about targeting, Mauk and more
BF: Sophomore receiver Dorial Green-Beckham looks more comfortable on the field. Do you agree?
GP: Michael Egnew (former Mizzou tight end). Remember him? His sophomore year no one remembered him because he was just average. Then all of a sudden the maturity level kicks on. We see that happen to so many players. All of a sudden they are different guys. We are seeing glimpses of him (Green-Beckham). He's working hard. He's a lot different. Much more mature. He gets it.
BF: Who is one young player people should watch out for this year?
GP: Harold Brantley, our defensive tackle. We moved him up to the starter position. Number 90. Movement like Sheldon Richardson. He's 6-foot-1 but moves like a linebacker. But he is only a redshirt freshman, a young, young guy. He's a guy who is really standing out right now.
It's Week 3. Mizzou is 2-0. Just as the hot seat talk should probably be tabled until there's a reason to bring it up ... Mizzou and Kansas are not playing this season, no matter how many times we choose to talk about it. Can we please talk about something else? Like, the present tense, maybe? Like Harold Brantley, evidently?
2. More Week 2 recaps
The Trib (Behind the Stripes): STAT SPOTLIGHT: Evaluating Lucas Vincent, Harold Brantley at DT
* So far this season, Missouri has been much better at pass defense when Vincent is in the game and at run defense when Brantley subs in.
* Brantley, however, has been on the field for four of the Tigers' six interceptions.* Vincent, however, has been on the field for none of the four touchdowns Missouri has given up. Brantley has been on the field for all four.
* The overall yard-per-play averages are very similar, with Brantley's a little higher.
* Oh, and since you asked -- even if you didn't -- Vincent has been on the field for both of Missouri's non-garbage-time sacks this season, accounting for one of them.
PowerMizzou: Tuesday's Top Tigers
Mizzou Network: Tiger Top 5: Mizzou's wins over Murray St & Toledo
And next week
KC Star: Mizzou’s Kentrell Brothers, E.J. Gaines expected to play next week
3. Recruiting, past and future
PowerMizzou: In-state recruiting and on-field success
4. Hey, how's volleyball doing?
MUtigers.com: Volleyball Takes National-Best Record to Rice Invite
The Trib (Beyond the Box Score): A 'pleasant surprise': With 3 true freshmen, volleyball's 8-0
The Maneater: For Molly Kreklow, home and the road
5. WHATNOT
Cross Country
MUtigers.com: Roe, Fischer Earn SEC Freshmen of the Week
Women's Golf
MUtigers.com: Gohn Earns Top-30 Finish at Cougar Classic
Women's Basketball
MUtigers.com: On the Prowl: Inside the Weight Room
6. #USMNT
SB Nation: USA vs. Mexico, 2014 World Cup qualifying: Dos a cero
SB Nation: USA vs. Mexico: A history of 'Dos a Cero'
Pro Soccer Talk: Dos a Cero again! … United States qualifies for World Cup 2014 after another 2-0 win over Mexico
Dirty Tackle: U.S. beat Mexico 2-0 in Columbus for the fourth time in a row, seal World Cup qualification
Sounder at Heart: Eddie Johnson scores game winner in another Dos a Cero
So on October 11, Mexico will host Panama in perhaps its most important World Cup qualification match in 30 years. A draw or a loss in that match would put them in position to miss even the qualification playoff versus New Zealand. That's nuts considering how much El Tri was dominating the U.S., both in past and perceived future, just two years ago. Meanwhile, that second half last night was enjoyable a half of USMNT action as you could hope to see. It was a shame Dempsey didn't make the penalty at the end, if only because 3-0 is 50% more fun than 2-0, but of course beating Mexico in Columbus by a 2-0 margin for the fourth straight qualification cycle is pretty poetic.