Get Hype!
Mayor's Cup up for grabs
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) October 4, 2018
Let's bring it home. #MIZ #ShowMe pic.twitter.com/heLFbKqO7Y
So Fresh and So Clean, Clean
Road whites ❄️
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) October 5, 2018
Brand new helmet #MIZ #ShowMe pic.twitter.com/fcEW1HrC66
I’m still partial to the all-whites, but the black pants with gold accent is pretty slick.
What the “Experts” Are Saying
- Pete traded Q&A pieces with Kody over at Garnet and Black Attack, and their staff made predictions — they’re not feeling too confident.
- Jack previewed South Carolina’s units, noting their excellent secondary and how the offense could be a problem for Mizzou (Editor’s Note: This was written before the news Bentley would not start.)
- PowerMizzou dug into the matchups using PFF grades, if you’re into that sort of thing ($$).
- Alex Schiffer did a Q&A for The State. He answered questions about Drew Lock’s standing with the fanbase and whether or not Barry Odom is on the hot seat.
- Dave Matter previewed some big-name matchups for this game. Deebo Samuel comes up a lot. Shocking!
There’s no game to recap, but the bye week did offer a clearer picture of what’s facing Mizzou as they head into the next portion of their schedule. What are your expectations for this team’s record now that we’ve had five weeks to see what’s ahead?
Chris Bohkay, Featured Writer: Not much has changed in my mind, only because I did not foresee a win in the game, and what I did see was a team that was able to battle back from so many self inflicted wounds, which was good. What I’m seeing going forward is a tougher Kentucky game than originally anticipated (as much as I hate to admit it), a weaker than anticipated SC and a Florida that I don’t fully understand yet. Oh and Bama, they are terrifying. I don’t see some of the larger win numbers, but 7 or 8 seems very reasonable.
AlaTiger: This still looks like an 8 or 9 win team to me. Bill’s numbers put Mizzou at 7.3 wins, so I’m being a little optimistic. But as I always say, if you can’t be optimistic, why be a fan? The way the Tigers get to those wins may be different than we thought at the beginning of the season, though. South Carolina and Memphis look worse than expected, and Kentucky and probably Florida (I’m still not sold on them, though) look better. Alabama, Vandy, Tennessee, and Arkansas are what we expected, but one of these is not like the others.
Josh Matejka, Editor: This is a strange question to ask because what Mizzou does against South Carolina is going to tell us a lot about who this team actually is. BUT if you’re buying that Mizzou is a team that beats opponents that they should — which I am — you’re looking at 7 wins at the very least. I think 8 or 9 wins is probably likely.
The South Carolina/Kentucky/Florida games will swing the season between 7 and 10. South Carolina looks weaker than we thought. Florida looks good, but it’s a legitimate question if they could keep up with Mizzou offensively. And Kentucky looks legit... but that game is in Columbia. If you’re asking me, I think Mizzou can find a way to win two of those games, and I can’t see them dropping all three.
South Carolina and Mizzou have a friendly competition of bickering over which Columbia is better. So let’s settle this: pitch us why Columbia, Missouri, is the superior Columbia in three sentences or less.
Chris Bohkay: At Williams-Brice stadium they have a “pee wall” in the men’s room...you pee against a wall instead of a toilet. Columbia, MO has toilets, and that is why Columbia MIssouri is far superior to the urine-soaked Columbia South Carolina our Tigers will visit this weekend.
AlaTiger: I’ve been to the other Columbia several times for business, so I can tell you from experience that it’s a fairly generic city that happens to have a state university. Our Columbia has grown, but is still very much a college town with the character of a college town.
Josh Matejka: I recently moved to North Carolina, and made a comment to a local about wanting to visit Columbia, South Carolina. The person gave me the below look, solidifying CoMo’s superiority in my mind.
The Georgia game gave us a very different look at this Tiger team, as the defense held Mizzou close while the offense struggled to get going. Are you buying or selling stock on the offense and defense?
Chris Bohkay: After the Georgia game I’m buying stock in the D for sure. They stepped up and took a big step from the fiasco that was the Purdue game. The D did their job.
The offense I’m not selling, but the excitement I felt after week 1 where everything looked so easy is a bit muted. Hall’s hurt, Johnson and Albert Okwuegbunam can’t hold onto the ball, but the running game seems to be coming around. So I’m buying the D, and holding on the O.
AlaTiger: Offense is a buy. The running game is looking better and a return to health by Mizzou’s best receiver will get the passing attack back on track.
Defense is a buy. DB’s were in position but failed to make the play, which is far better than the “let them run free” defense we saw earlier this year. Rush defense is still solid, holding Georgia a yard per carry under their season average. There are still challenges (pass rush, anyone?) but it is trending upward.
Josh Matejka: I’m buying stock in the offense, because this is definitely a buyer’s market (he said never having traded a stock in his life.) Mizzou struggled against Georgia, and I can guarantee you that has left a lot of doubters on the outside. This is still a deep, explosive unit, and that’ll show up against one of the shakier teams in the SEC.
As for the defense, I’m holding. I’m optimistic that the Georgia game is more indicative of their talent level, but those first few games have still left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. There’s no way to know how consistent they are until we see more than one good performance — and get them consecutively.
PICK EM. Let’s get a score and which offensive player has a bounce back week from Georgia.
Chris Bohkay: Mizzou 24 - South Carolina 23. It’s going to be close game but our Tigers come back from the bye week ready to get things done. The easy answer on who will bounce back would be Drew Lock (it is Locktober after all), but I’ll go with Albert Okwuegbunam securing the ball and getting into the endzone a couple times.
AlaTiger: 34-21, Mizzou. A healthy Emanuel Hall will have a very productive day.
Josh Matejka: 38-28, Mizzou. We know Mizzou is going to score at least 30 points against everyone they play not named Georgia and Alabama — and they got to 29 against the former. At this point, the name of the game is keeping up with them. South Carolina won’t make it easy, but I think the backup/late entry starter QB magic won’t get to Connor Shaw levels this time around.