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So here's something I missed when it flashed through my timeline on Monday:
SEC cornerbacks allowing the lowest QB Rating on passes thrown their way
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) October 18, 2016
Quincy Wilson, UF, 0.4
Tre White, LSU, 23.6
John Gibson, MIZ, 28.2
Hey there, John Gibson.
Granted, this doesn't count pass interference penalties, but adding a small handful of 15-yard "completions" to this rating wouldn't make just a ton of difference. We love Aarion Penton, and justifiably so, but the general fan reaction seems to be to get very frustrated with Gibson ... and he's been, by this measure, the third-best cornerback in the SEC. He sure did have one hell of a game against Florida, anyway.
I'm really curious by who covers whom against Middle Tennessee. MTSU will throw to its wideouts, obviously, but they have this weird inside-out passing progression, where the two most frequently targeted guys are the two slot receivers.
While Mizzou has moved Penton around, inside and out, Gibson has usually stayed on the outside (at least to my naked eye and shaky memory). That probably means he's spending most of his time on Saturday against either Patrick Smith (34 targets, 20 catches, 245 yards) or Dennis Andrews (25 targets, 14 catches, 210 yards). Andrew appears to be the guy most likely to leak open deep if you're distracted too much by the slot receivers, but Gibson's strengths are (again, to my eye) his physicality near the line of scrimmage.
No matter who these guys are covering, there will be pressure on the nickel backs and third cornerbacks of choice to play a really good game. But Mizzou has two weapons they can deploy at cornerback to make life pretty hard on Brent Stockstill.
(Meanwhile ... Drew Lock can breathe again. Quincy Wilson and Tre White are now both off the schedule. Nobody else on the schedule has been anywhere near as good as those two guys. Come to think of it, that means J'Mon Moore can breathe again, too.)
34 hours to MTSU
Post-Dispatch: It's a family affair for Middle Tennessee's Stockstills
KC Star: Three-minute preview: Middle Tennessee at Missouri football
The Missourian: Five things to watch when Missouri takes on Middle Tennessee
Fun "homecoming" read
The Missourian: Barry Odom's path back home
He's unique in one way: out of the Power Five conferences, Odom is the only head coach to have held a high school coaching job in the same city. He's also the youngest and most inexperienced head coach in the Southeastern Conference.
For Odom, Columbia is home. He has worked for the Missouri football team in nearly every role. Now, he has his dream job, in a city that he has lived in 16 of the past 20 years.
"In his position, and he is in a place he wants to be, that makes him an ambassador for Columbia," Rukstad said. "It’s a little different if your head coaches come from somewhere else and haven’t had time to plug into the community."
The O-line has been a pleasant surprise
Post-DIspatch: Elarbee has Mizzou O-line on fast track
KC Star: New Mizzou Tigers offensive-line coach Glen Elarbee strikes balance between fun, work
The Missourian: Glen Elarbee has the juice and the Missouri offensive line loves it
Meanwhile, in basketball recruiting...
PowerMizzou: Haase heads to Missouri this weekend
Our b-ball preview series begins next week, by the way
MUtigers.com: @MizzouHoops at #SECTipoff17
The Trib: Anderson finds silver lining as Missouri hoops last in SEC preseason poll
Post-Dispatch: Mizzou picked last in SEC basketball poll
The Trib (Daniel Jones): Twitter mailbag: Newcomer expectations, talking big men, etc.