One Week from Today…. Kickoff!

Can you believe it!?! Next Thursday. 7pm. Under the lights at Faurot. Live nighttime football. We should probably take full advantage of this night game time and fill the stadium, as lord knows when it’s going to be happening again. Technically, it could be the end of September, as the game times from 9/24 on are TBDs, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

First, a quick poll. Which Mizzou athlete do you associate with no. 7?

We’ll need to look for the SEC graduate patches on a bunch of Tigers, as the Southeastern Conference showed off the players and the corresponding patches they’ll wear on Wednesday. Congrats to Missouri Football players Barrett Banister, Kibet Chepyator, Tauskie Dove, Javon Foster, Jake Hoffman, Tyrone Hopper, Sean Koetting, Bobby Lawrence, Richard Taylor, Hyrin White, and Connor Wood on your graduation.

Another thing to watch for, the performances of Mizzou’s Senior Bowl watch list! Check out the Magnificent Seven. (Not to be confused with the far more famous 7 of the same name)

While the countdown is on, this lovely website has been hard at work educating you about all things Missouri Tigers. As Nate mentioned in an earlier predictions post this week,

We’ve previewed the team.

We’ve previewed the opponents.

We’ve shown you the DNA of the 2022 team.

We’ve reviewed how many things need to go right for a magical season.

Moving on. Let’s check in on some other football-related news, shall we?

The Athletic’s Matt Fortuna & Chris Vannini conducted an extensive exercise where they divided Division 1 coaches into several tiers, consisting of Tier 1-A & 1-B all the way to Tier 5. They talked with a whole slew of people to ask how the coaches were doing, and also took into account a coach’s measurables and their level of support and resources before assigning tiers.

Based on this information, where did Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz land? Tier 3, among the likes of some recognizable names: Blake Anderson, Bret Bielema, Jeff Brohm, Sonny Dykes, Willie Fritz, Josh Heupel, Chip Kelly, Jim McElwain, Mike Norvell, Willie Taggart, and many more. Want to know where other teams in the SEC landed? Well, you’ll have to subscribe, silly gooses.

Next up: A day after it was reported that St. Louis native and safety Ja’Marion Wayne would wear the jersey of fallen Tiger Aaron O’Neal, who died during a 2005 practice. The Post-Dispatch’s Dave Matter went into more detail about it. Wayne, who was a WR when he first set foot on campus, switched over to safety, and had shared no. 19 with Dreydon Norwood.

According to Matter, chances seem good that fans will see no. 25 on the field this season, in some capacity:

“Man, he flashes,” Baker said last week. “He’s an impressive young man. He’s fun to coach. ‘Yes, sir. No, sir.’ He’s always smiling. But gosh, he has been impressive. ... You can see him the last three days really starting to get more comfortable in picking up (the scheme.) He’s got a very, very bright future here. ... Watching him move around, there’s no doubt he’s going to be able to help us this year.”

“He’s a super athletic, super talented, super humble,” Martez Manuel said. “I mean, to be a four-star receiver and give that up to play safety, that’s obviously very humble. A lot of people would have hit the (transfer) portal. I’m really proud of him. And he’s done some great things. He’s going to be a really, really good player.”

On to the Links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Matthew J Harris took a statistical and novel approach — it’s in-depth and long, just Matt’s style — to examining the non-con scheduling.
• BK asked if Luther Burden can be the punt returner the Tigers have been missing.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Beat Writer Brandon attended the presser on Tuesday evening and shared a boatload of quotes
• COMING UP: Aaron tackles game by game predictions, while BK starts a new weekly column: BK’s Bets! Also, a new hour-long BTBS!

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More Links:

Football

• Kansas City Star: Missouri Tigers offensive linemen become wingmen in this unique NIL partnership (Blair Kerkhoff) | Missouri Tigers kicker Harrison Mevis lands spot on AP preseason All-America team (Blair Kerkhoff)

• PowerMizzou/Rivals: Check out ‘Mizzou, That’s Who’ Episode 3 with Gabe, Maggie, and Tucker | Check out PM Live with Gabe & Jarod |
• Columbia Tribune/USA Today Network: 22 questions I have about SEC football teams for the 2022 season (Blake Toppmeyer)
• Columbia Missourian: Now the only returning captain, Manuel knows what it takes to lead (Jack Soble)
• Love to see it starting to take shape!

• I smell a collab cooking in the Bud’s BBQ kitchen?

Other Mizzou Sports

• It’s Whiteboard Wednesday!

• Mizzou Soccer is prepped to face both Southern Illinois at home tonight and Nebraska-Omaha on Sunday at 3pm on the road. Read more at MUTigers.com.

• DRF visited with integral parts of the athletic department’s fan experience: Marching Mizzou and the Golden Girls!

Former Tigers

• Per Saturday Down South, former Mizzou QB Taylor Powell, who spent last season at Troy, is now at Eastern Michigan. Per 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello, Powell has won the starter’s role.

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