Tigers in need of a little self-reflection and discipline

Reading through information gathered at Tuesday’s football media day, and wow— the players and coaches really got into it.

From Dave Matter’s notebook-style article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, offensive coordinator Derek Dooley had a lot to say, including how the team derailed themselves with bad penalties (3 drives with just abhorrent penalties), and the need to play more disciplined football.

“Everything starts with being emotionally ready to play those kind of tough games on the road. Did we really come in with the right mindset? One of the things that we have taken a lot of pride on is the spirit we play with, the heart speed, you’ve all heard me say,” Dooley said. “The toughness. That’s what this football is about. If you come in and lose your edge just a little bit and you play a team that’s back’s against the wall that’s what it looks like.”

After five straight wins with good offensive showings, what happened? Dooley thinks they just got too comfortable.

“It’s a good reminder,” he said. “We all need a little foot up our tail. A little humility. And we certainly got that from Vanderbilt.”

BenFred also touched on the humility aspect in his post, highlighted in the football links.

Dave also had this little gem of a tweet for us all, courtesy of Trystan Colon-Castillo, who is most certainly NOT here for fans’ hot takes on criticizing Barry Odom and wanting him gone.

A bit more from Castillo from Dave’s article, talking about HCBO:

“The man literally pours his heart and soul into this program, gives everything he has,” Colon-Castillo said. “I’ll have that man’s back. He’s been the same guy since I got here. Really, really hard working. He loves his team. He loves this town, this community, calls it home. You talk about that True Son. Coach Odom is a true son.”

You can read Matter’s full article here, and I highly recommend it (as always).

Just a few other bits of football news for you, before we get to the links.

A nomination for Mizzou’s O-Line (which did no favors for Kelly on Saturday)- get it together, guys.

And finally, the SEC Network did an 8-part series on the Southeastern Conference, and last night’s finale focused on the 2012 additions of Missouri & Texas A&M and how they helped shaped the SEC.

And now, on to the links!

Yesterday at Rock M

• Football Editor Nate was back with a new Beyond the Box Score, the “s*@# happens” edition, which now contains an editorial aspect that I think everyone will love, because who doesn’t want to read more of Nate’s writing? (answer- no one)
• Nate also provided us with new SEC Power Rankings!
• Josh wrote about the reincarnation of the BORDER WAR, and how it’s Cuonzo Martin’s biggest win to date.
• The Rock M Hoops Triplets got together to preview the wings, Torrence & Javon! Read it.
• Leader of men (and me) / Site Manager Sam, has kept busy churning out SEC basketball previews. Tuesday focused on the #10 team, Ole Miss. They are super in-depth and awesome and you should all read them, then bookmark them to read again (maybe before Mizzou faces Ole Miss)?
• Ryan posted a new depth chart for us, and there really weren’t any changes, except a couple of [OR]s.
• Sammy did a Q&A with A Sea of Blue’s football writer, James Streble.

More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Matter wrote about how the Tigers were blindsided by yet another underdog. He also wrote that piece above that you all should have read (hint-hint).
• More STL P-D: BenFred said that the Tigers can move on from Vandy if they take do some serious self-evaluation. Though none of these players were on the team in 2007, he talked about how that team, in the wake of a 12-2 season, was all business. Score a touchdown? Shake hands and act like you’ve been there before. He said (and I agree) that these Tigers could learn a bit from that.
• Kansas City Star: Souichi Terada wrote about Barry Odom’s wish to bring back the Border War in football, as well as other sports.
• PowerMizzou (free): Gabe posted audio & a transcript, while Mitchell Forde posted a Notebook from Barry Odom’s media day press conference. You also can watch a video interview with Martez Manuel, who will get his first start of the season this weekend against UK in lieu of Tyree Gillespie, who was ejected for targeting last week.
• Rivals.com ($$): Sean Williams wrote about RB commit Dominque Johnson’s recent return visit to Mizzou.
• The Maneater: Wilson Moore wrote about how the penalties doomed the football team.
• Saturday Down South: Keith Farner had a recap of media day, and Odom and Dooley discussed where the blame lies for the unfortunate events in Nashville. Adam Spencer wrote about how ADs Jeff Long (kU) and Jim Sterk did a great job of getting the hoops Border War back on track, but how about football?
• mutigers.com: Mizzou looks for a bounce back win. I confess, I don’t look over these pre-game things on their site often, but this has got some interesting stats included.
• News from the great state of Kentucky: A Sea of Blue (the Kentucky SB Nation site) published a preview about the game here. They also posted and depth chart, and it looks like they’ve got some linebackers missing, if you want to check it out.

Hoops

• Vahe Gregorian of the KC Star wrote about how the KC sports scene deserves this rivalry renewal. Must read. Gary Bedore took a look at 10 iconic MU-kU thrillers.
• CJ Moore of The Athletic ($$) is excited about the Border War returning, since he grew up watching it. If you haven’t tried out The Athletic yet, here’s a link to a seven day free trial— http://theathletic.com/freetrial. I highly recommend it, and NO, I don’t get a kickback. If I wanted that, I’d give you my subscriber link ;) .
• Friend of the Site, CDot (@CDotHarrison) went on a kU podcast (Ain’t No Seats) and talked about Mizzou-Kansas memories and it was wildly entertaining. Never thought I’d listen to a kansas podcast, but I’m actually glad I did. You can listen, and should listen— here.
• Bleacher Report: In more wildly uninformed media news, BR did a post counting down the best hoops conferences in the country (the SEC was #1), but then took it a step further. If you want to take a gander, it’s on the last slide under the “Hot Seat” category. (also, thanks, Dad, for the scoop and choice words regarding your feelings on this)

Former Mizzou players in the news

• The NBA is back as of Tuesday night, y’all, and former Mizzou Hoops players will be hard at work. Love this little video from the graphics team.

• Michael Porter Jr News dump: The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider wrote about the Nuggets needing to endure the MPJ experience ($$), The Denver Stiffs SB Nation site basically declared, play.the.kid. It’s a good one. Mike Singer of The Denver Post gave 5 keys to a championship run for the Nuggets— Porter is obviously a factor in this. The Ringer.com, a great website, has the Nuggets as #5 in their power rankings and thinks a lot of their success depends on MPJ. You can watch MPJ and the Nuggets in their regular season debut tonight at 9pm CST on ESPN.
• Other NBA Mizzou news: Jordan Clarkson spent the summer working out with Kobe at the Mamba Sports Academy (cleveland.com), and this one is a few days old, but NBA vet Demarre Carroll looks forward to being a kick-ass role player for the Spurs. (News4SA).
• Columbia Missourian: Anderson Kimball (yes, that’s his name you conspiracy theorists) wrote about how professional cross-country runner Karissa Schweizer is transitioning into an Olympic year after finishing in the top 10 at the World Championships.
• 101espn: Bernie Miklasz looked at former Mizzou great — and my fave Max (cue the pitchforks, I know you all prefer Max Copeland) — Mighty Mad Mizzou Max Scherzer, as he prepared to take on the Astros as the Game 1 starter for the Nats in the World Series.
• If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now!