1. Drew Lock offers a plausible explanation for his struggles this season.

During his media day session reporters, Missouri quarterback Drew Lock gave one possible reason for his performance issues lately:

This would take more time to evaluate, but it certainly makes sense, doesn’t it? Derek Dooley’s offense — while still an uptempo spread system — is more complex than Josh Heupel’s, or so we’ve been told by players and the coaching staff (I think the number of routes being run by receivers shows that). It also explains why it seems like Lock has been less and less comfortable in the pocket as the season as gone on.

Of course, this doesn’t explain all the issues against good opponents over the last 2.5 years, so I don’t think it comes off as Lock making excuses. It will be interesting to see if Dooley tries to simplify the passing game going into Memphis to work through some of these issues and potential get Lock more comfortable in the pocket again.

2. Emanuel Hall officially out for Memphis

This isn’t unexpected, as Barry Odom said as much during a radio interview on Monday, but Odom again confirmed Hall will miss the Memphis game when he met with reporters on Tuesday.

It’s been an unbelievably tough year for Hall, who has first dealt with a groin injury and is currently dealing with the unexpected passing of his father.

Odom was asked about the possibility of a redshirt year for Hall, who has only played in four games this year. Odom said that the “redshirt issue” has not been discussed, and Hall is hoping to return as soon as possible.

Odom also said that Nate Brown’s recovery is “moving in the right direction” but again it’s unclear if he’ll play against Memphis.

3. Speaking of Memphis...

It’s going to be a walk down memory lane for Barry Odom this weekend, as the only thing that’s broken up his coaching career in Columbia were three seasons in Memphis, from 2012 to 2014.

Mitchell Forde of PowerMizzou.com has a nice look of Odom’s tenure as the Memphis defensive coordinator in his media day notebook.

4. Mizzou women picked to finish fifth in the SEC.

And the mayor of Columbia, Sophie Cunningham, was voted to the All-SEC preseason team.

Something tells me Robin Pingeton’s team is going to go on a run this year, though, and finish top-three in the SEC. Just a hunch.

Yesterday at Rock M

• Breaking down Missouri’s depth chart ahead of the Memphis game.
• SEC Opponents Previews: Taking a look at Texas A&M hoops
• Hey, here’s a positive! Missouri’s defense came alive in the red zone against Alabama
• Drew Lock praises true freshman receiver Jalen Knox

More Links:

• Missouri wrestling is ranked eighth in the InterMat Preseason Top 25 Poll.
• Tori Findley is the SEC freshman of the week for women’s cross country; the Blue Springs, Mo., native has four top-20 finishes this season.
• Former Missouri great Keyon Dooling visited Missouri last week to talk about mental health.