Good Vibes Abound

Wow! What a difference a week makes, huh?! Just a week ago I was ranting in a Links post just like this one in a very un-like Karen manner and POOF! Everything is sunshine and rainbows now. I have not a care in the world. I also am off work til Monday as of 1pm today, so there’s that as well...

Too much sunshine? Obviously, there are still many concerns — I do hope Brady is okay — but I’ll leave the issues to your friendly-ish Rock M football experts.

Turns out, when a team goes and does something like beat the No. 15 team in the country, suddenly they are very worthy of mention by a publication that doesn’t really cover them much anymore (not since they reassigned/lost their Mizzou writer, anyway). In this case, said publication is The Athletic. Rejoice in the content.

Let’s check in.

You may not know this, but each week, Nicole Auerbach writes a column declaring her 10 best teams in the country, with No. 10 going to a team that’s not necessarily THE 10th best team, but deserves what she called, “a little shine.” Well, guess where Missouri is listed?!

NUMBER TEN, BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

Of course we are going to celebrate Harrison Mevis and the longest field goal in SEC history. We absolutely will shout out the cult hero affectionately nicknamed “The Thiccer Kicker.” Mevis’ 61-yarder as time expired to beat Kansas State gave head coach Eli Drinkwitz the biggest win of his tenure at Missouri and delivered a lift to a fan base that hasn’t had much to celebrate in recent years.

And that’s not all. Kennington Smith III listed Mizzou as his superlative for SEC’s Best Win and Best Moment of Week 3. Here’s a snippet (go read the whole thing, please):

The game’s two biggest stars — aside from kicker Harrison Mevis, who drilled the walk-off 61-yard field goal — were St. Louis natives: quarterback Brady Cook, who dreamed of playing for the Tigers growing up, and receiver Luther Burden III, a consensus five-star recruit who turned down the sport’s biggest programs to stay home. His decision to star for his home-state team on a big stage was validated with a two-touchdown performance.

If you recall in last week’s links, Seth Emerson had Mizzou listed as No. 9 on his SEC Vibes list for Week 2. Well, big dubs come with big gains. On his new list, the mighty and ferocious Tigers have kicked (teehee) seven teams outta their way and are now NUMBER TWO:

#2 Missouri: Consider me chastened. Appearing on the “Until Saturday” podcast last week, I said didn’t trust Mizzou to pull off the upset, even at home. But even before the game-winning 61-yarder by Harrison Mevis sailed through the uprights, the Tigers had shown they could hang, going back and forth with a ranked team, getting the defensive stop when they needed it and then overcoming the brain fart of committing a delay of game, pushing the field goal back. (OK so maybe Mevis overcame it, not Eli Drinkwitz.)

Still, a huge win for Drinkwitz, who isn’t out of the woods yet, as there’s lots of football left this season. But Mizzou is 3-0 with some sudden momentum.

ALSO from Emerson, he wrote about how Georgia football hasn’t looked like nation’s No. 1 team, but no one else has either. Amidst talking about the Dawgs’ issues, he made several references to their close squeeze with MU last year. And since they haven’t played the Tigers yet, Missouri gets a mention:

But what is the margin for error? It’s too early to tell. The SEC is becoming a week-to-week mystery, especially the teams on Georgia’s schedule: Is Tennessee just that bad, or is Florida better than it looked in Week 1? Do we buy into a Missouri team that pulled off the top 15 upset, even if it didn’t inspire confidence the first two weeks? How good is Ole Miss? What will Auburn show in Georgia’s first road game in two weeks?

There’s plenty more links from The Athletic below, including where Missouri now falls on Chris Vannini’s Top 133 teams, as well as the site’s own Top 25 rankings and a recap from Saturday’s game. Check it out!

ON TO THE LINKS!

But first, feast your eyes on all these accolades. The Tigers have done good, guys.

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Yesterday at Rock M

• I ghosted Parker (& Brandon) again for Tiger Talk, but Parker prevailed. Such a good reporter he is: Takeaways from Tiger Talk
• Jaden’s got the notes from Eli Drinkwitz’s Tuesday presser: Zou to the Lou edition
• Sam shared a new SBN Reacts: Silencing Critics
• BK shared why he thinks Luther Burden is HIM
• Nate’s back with a new analytics recap: Beyond the Box Score— Redemptions and Statements
• Josh has got a very dangerous new Revue: Return of the Thicc
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT; Quentin shared 5 plays that defined Saturday’s 30-27 victory | A new BTBS YouTube show with Nate features Nate & BK breaking down Mizzou’s big win |

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More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: ‘Our new identity’: Mizzou offense poised to continue explosive play after K-State success | Tipsheet: Like Drinkwitz, Florida coach Napier relieves pressure with big win (Jeff Gordon) | (reposting) Ben Fred: Don’t think Mizzou football playing in The Dome matters? Ask a St. Louis Tiger
• Columbia Missourian: Mizzou QB Cook ‘day-to-day’ with knee injury ahead of Memphis game (Wendell Shepherd Jr.)
• Columbia Tribune: Missouri QB Brady Cook “day to day” with hyperextended knee (Calum McAndrew)
• Saturday Down South: Stock Report after Week 3 (Andrew Peters)
• The Athletic: Missouri’s Harrison Mevis hits walk-off 61-yard field gold to upset No. 15 Kansas State (Justin Willams & Dane Brugler) | AP Top 25 takeaways: Ohio State-Notre Dame, loaded Week 4 will have big rankings impact (Matt Brown) | Ranking all 133 teams after Week 3 (Chris Vannini): The Tigers are #24 in Vannini’s Top 133 list, behind Oklahoma & Miami and ahead of Florida in the 11-25 range.
• PowerMizzou: Watch and hear from freshman safety Marvin Burks (Gabe DeArmond) | What Drinkwitz said on Media Day ahead of Week 4 and what it means (Jarod Hamilton) | Four Down Territory (Hamilton) | Commit Analysis: Julian Marks (Sean Williams)

In case you haven’t watched this, this is great work by Connor McLain, who is working for both Mizzou Athletics and PowerMizzou.

• So we’ve heard several things about Brady Cook’s knee now, and while it’s nothing serious like an ACL tear, it’s definitely something. Ouch. I’m still dealing with the after-effects of a bone bruise many months ago (but I also have the pain tolerance of a child, and Brady played all last year basically arm-less)

• Check out KOMU 8 & the Missourian’s new episode of the Tiger Kickoff Show, featuring our very own Brandon Haynes (who’s on hiatus currently):

• Zou to the..... Kansas City area? Sorry, it just doesn’t roll off the tongue like Zou to the Lou, but I love the idea regardless.

• Per Dave Matter, Justin Smith is once again on the ballot for the National Football Hall of Fame (this was a very Dave-in-reporter-mode tweet, I must say)
• CHASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ELI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hoops

• PowerMizzou’s Drew King with alllllll the hoops news: Mizzou Basketball opponent preview: Kentucky | 2024 guard Travis Perry recaps OV visit | Notes from Mizzou practice and C.Y. Young lecture at MBCA clinic | Four-star guard Chase McCarty talks official visit to Mizzou
• 2024 commit Peyton Marshall gets a shoutout here as one of the top performers at OTE Pro Day! Dennis Gates was in attendance, of course. This staff doesn’t STOP. Per On3:

Dennis Gates was sitting courtside with assistant CY Young, both smiling ear to ear, watching their center commitment, Peyton Marshall. Immediately, you see the size. Marshall measured 7-0.25 with a 7-6.5 wing span. He is listed on the roster at 326 pounds. However, that weight looks trim, and he is moving well, better than he was in June.

In the drill portion, Marshall showed touch with both hands and the ability to carve out space around the basket and get to an open look. He played with a good motor and stamina when he was on the floor and moved well on the defensive end in the small-sided, three-on-three portion. You would like to see Marshall extend his range some, stepping away from the basket. He also would be well served to bury his man on the block and show a mean streak.

All-in-all, it was a consistent day for him. He showed development and was able to get his in each session.

• Looks like Gates made a stop to see another commit, T.O. Barrett at Branson’s Link Academy:

• Hey, Jontay! Welcome to Motor City! Most people’s favorite Porter is getting another shot at the G-League. Tay spent NBA 2K23 Summer League with the Bulls, and played with the Bucks last season. He suited up for the Nuggies for 2022 SL and the Grizzlies his first pro year (2020-21).

• Getting misty-eyed at this interaction... I have not listened to the pod yet, but I am sure it’s incredible and I think I may check it on during my drive to StL later today.

Other Mizzou Sports

• DENNIS! GIVE US THE DEETS! In case you missed it, VB opens their SEC season tonight at #14 Tennessee before returning home on Sunday to face South Carolina for their home opener, while Soccer continues their SEC road trip at Auburn on Thursday before returning home to face Georgia on Sunday.

• Soccer promos coming your way, Tiger fans!

• This week in Mizzou sports (Trevon Bobo, PowerMizzou)
• We have an answer to the KJ signal, friends! Welcome, Aiden Kitchings! Kitchings, per his twitter account, is a class of 2025 commit, an Atlanta native, and is a 6’5 RHP. I don’t know what “FB Top 92” means, but I’m assuming it’s a ranking of some sort and it’s in the the Top 100, so yeah... that sounds good.

• As mentioned earlier, Volleyball is set for their SEC opener against #14 Tennessee tonight at 6pm on ESPN2! Read more at MUTIgers.com

• Per MUTigers.com, the Missouri men’s golf team finished as co-champions of the Chicago Highlands Invitational on Tuesday afternoon.

The Tigers finished four-strokes under par on the final hole of the tournament – gaining multiple strokes over nationally-ranked schools in Wake Forest and Virginia – to share the title with the Demon Deacons

Kortay, who covers the Men’s Golf beat for the Missourian, shared the scorecards:

• Nice video from Mizzou Track & FIeld. I’m happy to see Mizzou’s creatives putting in the work for ALL the teams!

• New gymnastics team swag delivered to the Tiger Performance Center:

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