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Shane Ray: SEC Defensive Player of the Week
It would be a mistake to think this will be Shane Ray's last award. In his own words, "I feel like I want to be an all-around better player. I wanted to be good at not just doing one move, I wanted to be great at doing all moves."
#SECHonors: @MizzouFootball Shane Ray named SEC Defensive Player of the Week: pic.twitter.com/pqpdSVgfCK
— SEC Sports (@SEC) September 15, 2014
.@SEC Defensive Player of the Week... #Mizzou DE Shane Ray! RT to congratulate @X_RAYted56! pic.twitter.com/7L16D5POGS
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) September 15, 2014
Missouri Notes: The "Shane Ray Rules the World" edition - Columbia Daily Tribune
You probably also know that Ray leads the SEC and is tied for the national lead with 7.5 tackles for loss on the season, and he is second in the SEC to Texas A&M's Myles Garrett and tied for third in the FBS with 5.0 sacks.
The Players
Maty Mauk
#GarkJokes:
Pinkel calls LeBron James the 3rd-best athlete to come out of Ohio: "Maty Mauk is No. 1. People tell me Gary Pinkel is No. 2."
— David Morrison (@DavidCMorrison) September 16, 2014
Josh Augusta
Missouri defensive tackle Josh Augusta displays athletic ability | The Kansas City Star
Tigers junior defensive end Shane Ray hasn’t seen it with his own eyes, but he’s heard stories that Augusta, a 6-foot-4 and 335-pound sophomore backup defensive tackle, regularly dunks during games at MU’s rec center. "I can do everything on the court," Augusta said with an ornery smile after Missouri’s 38-10 win last weekend against Central Florida.
"Anything. You name it, and I can do it."
Must Reads
The Running Backs
Mizzou tailbacks expected back for Indiana : Sports
"The medical staff handles that very well and they make a determination," Pinkel said. "Their determination was he could have gone back in for the fourth quarter. We just didn’t think it was necessary." Hansbrough did not attend Monday’s interview session.
"We’ve got to get him to not take guys on like that," Pinkel said. Hansbrough leads MU with 258 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Murphy said he knew his injury wasn’t serious Saturday and doesn’t expect it to affect him this week. "I just tripped up and rolled my ankle," he said. "It was a minor injury. I’ll be ready. … I wasn’t worried about it."
Levi Copelin Dismissed
WR Levi Copelin dismissed from MU football program - Columbia Daily Tribune
Wide receiver Levi Copelin, who the NCAA already suspended from competition this season after failing a drug test, has been dismissed from the Missouri football program, Coach Gary Pinkel said Monday. When asked for the reason behind the dismissal, Pinkel said, "I don't discus personnel issues."
Media Day
Gary Pinkel Speaks, Week 4 - Columbia Daily Tribune
Running backs Marcus Murphy and Russell Hansbrough should be back this week, as well as defensive tackle Matt Hoch and wideout Lawrence Lee.
Moe's Mizzou Breakdown: Central Florida > insideSTL.com
Click through to listen as Moe breaks down Missouri's 38 - 10 victory over Central Florida.
MUTIGERS.COM Mizzou Football Media Day Quotes - Sept. 15
On Michael Scherer's play so far this season... "Michael's getting better. He's improving and every start you learn things. He's no different than anyone else. If you're a linebacker and good up front then that really helps you be a better linebacker. There's no question about it. Sean Weatherspoon would tell you the same thing. I think it starts up front. He's learning and very athletic. He's physical and competitive and we expect him to get better as we go along."
Offensive Line
FullbackU: After seeing a bad snap vs UCF I've been wondering if maybe Ricker's tinkering might be cause for some of the issues we'd been seeing during non-con play. I'd come close to breaking down what the offensive line was doing differently and how that was affecting the run game and pass protection but per Morrison's tweet it sounds like we'll be reverting to a more familiar system. I anticipate some adjustment during the Indiana game, just in time for the real challenge of South Carolina.
PowerMizzou.com - Media Day Notebook
While the consistency may not be there just yet in the ground game -- Missouri is averaging nearly a yard less per rush than it did a year ago -- the rebuilt offensive line is performing admirably in pass protection. Through three games, Maty Mauk has been sacked three times, with two coming against Toledo. Mauk's elusiveness has surely saved some sacks, but there were also some coverage sacks (it seemed) in the game against the Rockets.
OL coach A.J. Ricker said MU's going back to its previous way of snapping, with Boehm looking back for the signal rather than Gatti.
— David Morrison (@DavidCMorrison) September 15, 2014
Snap Counts!
If you read one thing every week, it should probably be Morrison's snap count article.
SNAP DECISIONS: H-backs and speed sweeps, false blitzes, oh my! - Columbia Daily Tribune
Alright, let me explain that last thing first. On probable passing third (and, one time, fourth downs), Dave Steckel had his two Nickel linebackers settle in right behind the defensive tackles before the snap. Seven times, both dropped back in coverage. That yielded five first-down completions, a sack and an incompletion. Twice, only the Will backer blitzed, both times leading to an incompletion. Once, both Scherer and Ruise blitzed, which ended in Ray's sack and strip of Justin Holman.
Steckel's done that before, most recently against Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl.
Indiana at Mizzou
You mean to tell me that Mizzou has a losing record to those Hoosiers?
Must Reads
MUTIGERS.COM Mizzou Set to Host Indiana on Family Weekend
MIZZOU / INDIANA SERIES HISTORY The Tigers and Hoosiers have met 11 times previously on the gridiron, and they’ve played to an interesting set of results over the years. Indiana enters Saturday’s contest holding a 6-3-2 edge in the series, which began with a home-and-home in 1953 and 1954. The Tigers won both of those games (14-7 in Bloomington and 20-14 in Columbia), but it was all Hoosiers after that, as Indiana went 6-0-2 in an eight-game home-and-home series from 1985 to 1992. During that stretch, IU was 2-0-2 at Faurot Field, winning in consecutive years (36-17 in 1985 / 41-24 in 1986), while ties were the end result in the last two games played in CoMo (28-28 in 1988 / 27-27 in 1991).
Football scouting report: Indiana - Columbia Daily Tribune
Last time out: Bowling Green 45, Indiana 42. Bowling Green scored a touchdown with nine seconds remaining, and the Hoosiers fell on the road despite gaining 582 yards of total offense. Bowling Green piled up 571 yards. Indiana's Tevin Coleman had 190 yards rushing on 24 carries, and Nate Sudfeld was 31-of-41 passing for 347 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Shane Wynn caught 10 passes for 139 yards.
Mizzou at South Carolina gametime
"Y'all wanted a night game, right? Oh, you wanted one AT Faurot? Sorry pledges." - Mike Slive
Mizzou at South Carolina will be 6 p.m. kickoff : Sports
Tigers open SEC play Sept. 27 on ESPN.
TV ALERT: #Mizzou's Sept. 27 game at USC will kick at 6 p.m. CT and air on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/qpManEDEJa
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) September 15, 2014
Tiger Prowl: Week 4 > insideSTL.com - Mizzou Tigers
As you may remember, Mizzou, which was coming off of an unprecedented win at Georgia, had South Carolina and Florida in back-to-back weeks. Despite both games being crucial to the SEC East race, neither were picked up by CBS.
Why?
Because as Jon Solomon pointed out, selecting Missouri/South Carolina would have "carried a risk CBS usually doesn't take". That risk involved selecting two non-traditional SEC power schools (Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee). According to Solomon, 47 of the past 50 regular season SEC games on CBS have involved at least one of those schools: Missouri at South Carolina (2012, 2.5 rating); South Carolina at Arkansas (2012, 1.8 rating) and Mississippi State at Arkansas (2011, 1.9 rating). Those three rank among the lowest-rated SEC games during that period. So, the network obviously has some solid justifications for shying away from certain games.
Basketball Recruiting
I expect Antonio Blakeney to take other visits. He had one scheduled to LSU. I'd say Missouri & Kentucky next in line for visits.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) September 16, 2014
Must Reads
#Mizzou recruiting target Antonio Blakeney has reopened his recruitment 11 days after committing to Louisville, per @ReggieRankin.
— Steve Walentik (@Steve_Walentik) September 16, 2014