#Mizzou's depth chart for Game No. 8 - Vanderbilt. pic.twitter.com/zot0qr6pwz
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) October 20, 2014
Offense
QB
Maty Mauk (6'0, 195, So.) (104-for-198, 1,227 yards, 14 TD, 9 INT, 11 sacks, 5.4 yards per attempt)
Eddie Printz (6'2, 215, RSFr.) (0-for-1)
Corbin Berkstresser (6'3, 220, Jr.)
The Beef and I were chatting on e-mail this morning, and I'm sure it'll shock you to read that the two of us basically agree on the current quarterback situation.
1. It made perfect sense to keep Mauk in the game late instead of bringing in the backup (Printz). You're desperate for an offensive spark, or for any kind of rhythm, and it doesn't hurt to have him in there.
2. It wouldn't have hurt to bring Printz in either. All the given quarterback was going to do was hand the ball off or throw short, safe passes. Six in one, half-dozen in the other.
3. Pinkel is an order-and-process guy. He uses the offseason and every practice to determine who he thinks will give him the best chance of winning. For better or worse, that means that the starting quarterback at the end of fall camp is probably going to be the starter barring a massive implosion. (What we've seen so far, I guess -- 27-for-73 for 249 yards, no touchdowns, and five picks in the last three games -- is a run-of-the-mill implosion.) If Mauk loses his mind and starts throwing picks against Vanderbilt, maybe you see a change. Otherwise, you probably won't. As long as Mizzou is surviving to punt to a really good defense, Mauk's probably your guy the rest of the way. I assume the way Pinkel see it is, when you take on the burden of naming a sophomore your starting quarterback, you're assuming growing pains along the way, and you have to give him ample opportunity to work his way out of them.
4. The offseason, on the other hand, could see a change. I believe when Pinkel says an open competition is an open competition, and I assume that this coming spring will see a completely open competition between Mauk, Printz, Berkstresser (unless he goes the graduate transfer route), Marvin Zanders, and Drew Lock. And honestly, I'd put my money on Mauk to win that competition. But if major change is coming, it probably won't officially come until mid-April.
5. If all of this is wrong and Printz is playing by the second quarter on Saturday, I'm totally okay with that. (One drive into the Florida game, I was quite okay with the thought as well.) If the staff decides to make a change and Pinkel gives it his "okay," then I'll trust that the requisite amount of pragmatism and thought went into the decision.
RB
Marcus Murphy (5'9, 190, Sr.) (79 carries, 374 yards, 1 TD; 12 catches, 109 yards, 1 TD) -OR-
Russell Hansbrough (5'9, 190, Jr.) (88 carries, 485 yards, 6 TD; 5 catches, 11 yards)
Ish Witter (5'10, 190, Fr.) (14 carries, 24 yards)
Tyler Hunt (5'11, 215, Jr.) (2 carries, 9 yards)
Murphy is still the leader of the two "OR* starters, and after the game he had in Gainesville, that's no surprise.
WR-X
Bud Sasser (6'2, 220, Sr.) (35 catches, 477 yards, 4 TD)
J'Mon Moore (6'3, 190, RSFr.) (2 catches, 33 yards)
WR-H
Jimmie Hunt (6'0, 205, Sr.) (19 catches, 229 yards, 5 TD)
Gavin Otte (5'10, 200, Sr.) (1 catch, -3 yards)
Lawrence Lee (5'10, 180, Fr.) (2 catches, 13 yards)
WR-Z
Darius White (6'3, 205, Sr.) (17 catches, 239 yards, 3 TD)
Wesley Leftwich (6'1, 200, Jr.) (3 catches, 36 yards)
Nate Brown (6'3, 205, Fr.)
TE
Sean Culkin (6'6, 245, So.) (8 catches, 89 yards, 1 TD)
Clayton Echard (6'5, 260, Jr.)
Jason Reese (6'5, 240, RSFr.)
No changes here. Barring anymore injuries, there probably won't be any changes. According to David Morrison's always-useful Snap Decisions post, we see that Sasser, White, and Hunt combined for 134 snaps on Saturday. Other wideouts accounted for 13. The absence of Wes Leftwich to a hamstring injury (I had no idea those were contagious) probably skewed it more toward the starters, but it's still going to be quite a skew.
But getting White back was, in itself, a step in the right direction.
LT
Mitch Morse (6'6, 305, Sr.) (32 career starts)
Nate Crawford (6'5, 290, RSFr.)
LG
Brad McNulty (6'4, 305, Jr.) (8 career starts)
Jordan Williams (6'3, 295, So.)
C
Evan Boehm (6'3, 320, Jr.) (33 career starts)
Alec Abeln (6'3, 290, RSFr.)
Stephen Carberry (6'5, 300, Sr.)
RG
Connor McGovern (6'4, 300, Jr.) (21 career starts)
Mitch Hall (6'5, 310, Jr.) (4 career starts)
RT
Taylor Chappell (6'5, 300, Jr.) (3 career start)
Clay Rhodes (6'5, 290, RSFr.)
No changes here. This is the line with which Missouri's offense will be riding or dying. It wasn't great on Saturday, but it was better. And I wish Mizzou had chosen to run between the tackles more, but you already knew that.
Defense
DE
Markus Golden (6'3, 260, Sr.) (26.0 tackles, 8 TFL, 4 sacks, 2 PBU, 1 FR, 3 QB hurries)
Marcus Loud (6'4, 260, RSFr.) (7.0 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 1 QB hurry)
DT
Matt Hoch (6'5, 295, Sr.) (11.0 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 2 PBU, 2 QB hurries) -OR-
Lucas Vincent (6'2, 300, Sr.) (15.0 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR)
NG
Harold Brantley (6'3, 280, So.) (19.5 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 PBU, 4 QB hurries)
Josh Augusta (6'4, 335, So.) (5.5 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 INT, 1 FF)
Rickey Hatley (6'4, 285, So.) (3.5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF)
DE
Shane Ray (6'3, 245, Jr.) (37.0 tackles, 14.0 TFL, 10.0 sacks, 2 FF, 3 QB hurries)
Charles Harris (6'3, 255, RSFr.) (10.5 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 PBU, 2 QB hurries)
Again according to Morrison, eight linemen played at least 25 snaps on Saturday -- Hatley came in as the tackle in obvious-pass situations -- and both Loud and Harris were active as backup ends. That's exciting. So is Brantley's emergence over the last two games. Mizzou is going to be loaded at tackle for the foreseeable future, especially if 2015 blue-chipper Terry Beckner Jr. chooses to join the Tigers next year.
WLB
Kentrell Brothers (6'1, 240, Jr.) (40.0 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 sack, 3 PBU, 1 FF, 1 QB hurry)
Darvin Ruise (6'1, 235, Sr.) (14.5 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU)
MLB
Michael Scherer (6'3, 230, So.) (48.5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU, 2 FR, 2 QB hurries)
Eric Beisel (6'3, 225, RSFr.) (9.5 tackles, 0.5 TFL)
SLB
Clarence Green (6'0, 225, Jr.) (8.0 tackles) -OR-
Donavin Newsom (6'2, 230, So.) (9.0 tackles, 1 TFL, 3 QB hurries)
With Mizzou spending most of its time in a nickel on Saturday, Beisel actually played more than Green or Newsom. But Scherer and Brothers continue to thrive here.
CB
Kenya Dennis (6'0, 195, Jr.) (27.5 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 3 PBU)
John Gibson (6'0, 190, So.) (9.0 tackles, 3 PBU)
CB
Aarion Penton (5'10, 185, So.) (21.0 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 INT, 5 PBU, 1 FF)
David Johnson (5'11, 195, Jr.) (5.0 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FF)
Logan Cheadle (5'10, 170, Fr.) (0.5 tackles)
Gibson and Dennis were nearly splitting time previously, but Dennis has taken over as the primary corner opposite Penton. I couldn't remember actually seeing Gibson out there, though Morrison counted 16 snaps.
SS
Braylon Webb (6'0, 200, Sr.) (32.5 tackles, 3 INT, 2 PBU, 1 FR)
Duron Singleton (6'1, 210, Sr.) (24.5 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 FR)
Anthony Sherrils (6'0, 190, RSFr.) (4.0 tackles)
FS
Ian Simon (6'0, 195, Jr.) (23.0 tackles, 1 PBU, 1 FF)
Cortland Browning (6'1, 205, Jr.) (2.0 tackles, 1 PBU)
Thomas Wilson (5'10, 190, Fr.) (9.0 tackles, 1 PBU)
Singleton is getting starter snaps at this point, but the most interesting part of Morrison's Snap Decisions was something I wasn't really catching onto until late: Thomas Wilson played 25 snaps. That's more than Gibson, more than Newsom, about as many as Harris/Loud, and more than a lot of others. I'm excited about this guy, and I think the staff is, too.
(That said, he probably won't play much against Vandy, as I assume Mizzou will be playing far more 4-3 than Nickel.)
Special Teams
K
Andrew Baggett (6'1, 215, Jr.) (27-27 PAT, 4-5 FG under 40, 2-4 FG over 40)
Nick Coffman (5'11, 175, So.)
Still Baggett.
P
Christian Brinser (6'2, 195, Sr.) (41 punts, 42.8 average, 13 fair catches, 14 inside 20)
Andrew Baggett (6'1, 215, Jr.)
Still Brinser.
KR
Marcus Murphy (5'9, 190, Sr.) (10 KR, 34.3 average, 2 TD)
John Gibson (6'0, 190, So.)
PR
Marcus Murphy (5'9, 190, Sr.) (14 PR, 15.6 average, 1 TD)
Aarion Penton (5'10, 185, So.)
Yeah, definitely still Murphy.