A common theme came up in Missouri’s postgame comments following the Tigers’ win over UConn, especially among defenders: It’s really good to have A.J. Logan back from academic suspension.

There was another ingredient to MU’s dominant play along the line of scrimmage: nose tackle A.J. Logan. The fifth-year senior returned last week after serving a six-game suspension. From Odom to defensive tackle Terry Beckner Jr. to defensive end Marcell Frazier, all three insisted the 330-pound Logan was the difference-maker in the trenches.

“Now I’ve got someone in there with me and I don’t have double teams any more,” said Beckner, who had 2.5 tackles for loss, including a sack.

Logan wasn’t credited with a single tackle on Saturday, but his teammates couldn’t stop talking about him.

Logan’s return to the defensive lineup was the first thing defensive end Marcell Frazier brought up when asked about what’s changed about Missouri’s defense over the last two weeks. The question was hardly even out by the time he’d made up his mind.

“AJ Logan’s back,” he said matter-of-factly. “He takes up double teams. He knows his assignment, he’s a fifth-year guy. He knows his assignment every time. ... It helps. Terry” Beckner Jr. “had two big games in a row. His two biggest games of the year, I think.”

He’s making up for lost time.

He urged Tigers coach Barry Odom to put him on special teams, even the kickoff return unit — not the place you find a 330-pound human being.

“He wants to play as many snaps as he can play,” Odom said, “because he knows he doesn’t have much time left.”

I maintain that the pass defense was pretty lucky in East Hartford — UConn dropped a lot of passes it probably shouldn’t have. That deprived us of some 72-31 shootout or something. But the Huskies’ run game didn’t have a chance, just as Idaho’s didn’t a week earlier. Mizzou’s run defense has passed the tests given it. And if it keeps it up, Mizzou’s going to have a legitimate shot at reaching six wins.

It’s a lovely thought, anyway. The recruiting news keeps getting worse.

Video:

More Football Links:

• I had already blocked out the long snap issue. I think I’ll go back to blocking it out now.
• Another week, another career performance for Drew Lock.

More Links:

• Champ stay the champ. Karissa Schweizer won the SEC for the second time on Saturday. As if there were any doubt.
• You can’t say Mizzou Hoops isn’t getting tested in the preseason. A week after playing Kansas, Cuonzo Martin’s Tigers took on a Wisconsin team that won 27 games and reached the Sweet 16 last year. As tends to be the case for most Wisconsin opponents, the Tigers didn’t shoot particularly well: they were just 17-for-57 in a 74-66 loss. Michael Porter Jr. was just 5-for-16 but still scored 24 points, presumably with a hell of a lot of free throws. (By the way, JYD talked to MPJ. That makes me very happy.)
• Survive and advance: Mizzou Soccer got revenge on Alabama with a 3-1 win in the first round of the SEC Soccer Tournament in Orange Beach (Ala.). Savannah Trujillo scored on a rebound in the very first minute of the game, then second-team all-conference Sarah Luebbert scored about 26 minutes later. The Tigers’ reward: playing No. 2 seed Texas A&M on Tuesday. The Aggies tore up Mizzou 5-1 in Columbia in late-September.

• Playing Georgia for the second time in two weeks, Mizzou Volleyball avenged a home defeat against the Dawgs with a four-set win in Athens. The win moves the Tigers to 14-9 overall, 7-3 in the SEC. Mizzou was 50th in RPI at the beginning of the week and should expect to move up a bit.

• Sophie is sassy.
• Hope you bet on Gold. In Mizzou’s Black and Gold Dual, Willie Miklus’ pin fall win paced a 28-16 Gold win over Black.