A few recruiting misses through the years have hurt Missouri's offensive line

What's On

This has absolutely nothing to do with Mizzou, and I have no regrets.

Very cool

MUtigers.com: South Carolina Flood Victim Supply Drive Scheduled for Mizzou Week of Events

Georgia fans are nervous about the Mizzou defense

Dawgs247: Scouting Report: Missouri

On film, they look like read stunts, meaning that the defensive linemen don’t necessarily know where they are going at the snap. They read the blocks of the offensive linemen and adjust on the fly. It makes them incredibly effective.

Missouri doesn’t blitz a ton. The Tigers would rather rely on a talented front four to pressure the quarterback and keep everything in front in the secondary.

Senator Blutarsky: A brief Mizzou scouting report

Oh, Greyson.  I don’t play, but even my sphincter tightened a little when I read that.

PowerMizzou: Opposing View: Georgia

Post-Dispatch: Ganus relishes second chance at Georgia

The NCAA gave UAB players a transfer exemption, allowing them to play immediately at the school where they landed.

"We had a team meeting at 3 o’clock, and by the end of that night I had spoken to 20 to 30 different schools," Ganus said Wednesday in a phone interview. "It happened really fast. The whole recruiting process that a high school player goes through in two years was shrunk down to 10 days for all of us."

Ganus grew in Alpharetta, Ga., about 60 miles from Georgia’s campus in Athens before he moved to Alabama as a teenager. Georgia didn’t recruit the 175-pound quarterback out of high school — neither did any other Southeastern Conference school — but the Bulldogs came barking in December. Ganus transferred to Georgia after the season and found a home in the middle of UGA’s defense.

Mizzou's got its own issues

The Trib (David Morrison): Gary Pinkel on the SEC teleconference: Georgia week

On Drew Lock playing at Sanford Stadium...

"Obviously, it's a great stadium. Noise level wise and everything, it's a great, great venue. He's looking forward to playing. I think he'll handle it well. You don't ever train a quarterback on how to take a hit. It happens, and he got some hits in" the Florida game "that were 'welcome to the SEC.' I laugh a little bit about it because I've seen quarterbacks go through it. I think he adjusted well. You've got to be mentally and physically tough to play the position. That's the message from there, then you have to get out and focus and still play well. It's going to be a challenge for a young player. His upside is tremendous. We're staying very, very positive with him. If the people around him play better and more consistently, then it's much easier for him to play quarterback."

Tigers in need of a spark on kick, punt returns - Columbia Daily Tribune | Columbia Missouri: MU Football

How DID we get here up front?

PowerMizzou.com - Offensive Line: How We Got Here

2012: [At] one point, two of the players on this list were committed to Missouri. [Germain] Ifedi committed to Missouri in June and switched to A&M in October. [Simon] Goines was a long-time Tiger commit who flipped to UCLA just days before National Signing Day. Jordan Williams long held an offer from Missouri and committed to the Tigers over Colorado in November. [...]

If you're looking for the class that, more than any other, has put the offensive line where it's at, this one is it. The Tigers got a star in [Evan] Boehm, but finished second or third for a number of other players who would either be redshirt juniors or true seniors and could likely be helping.

I don't end up talking much about recruiting misses -- I generally just try to move on. (Or, if ESPN won't let us move on, I write crabby posts that turn into massive jinxes.) But missing out on Germain Ifedi (A&M's starting right tackle, 29 career starts) and Simon Goines (once UCLA's starting right tackle, 20 career starts despite major injury issues) was a little bit costly in 2012 (when both would have been true freshmen like Boehm) and seriously costly in 2014-15. Even with Goines struggling to move past injuries, Ifedi's presence would have given Mizzou a rock at tackle, allowed Connor McGovern to play guard, etc.

In that article, there's a McGovern quote that talks about how Mizzou has more guys than ever who are pretty close together in terms of skill and ability to contribute. Maybe that's a good thing for next year -- maybe the dropoff following the departure of four senior starters won't exist. (On the, uh, bright side, line play can't regress just a whole lot.) But Mizzou appears to need more pure ready-to-go talent this year. Ifedi in particular would have helped.

Daily hoops check-in

University of Missouri Athletics - Mizzou Halloween and Hoops Event Set for October 30

The real swim tests begin Thursday

University of Missouri Athletics - @MizzouSwimDive Hosts Tennessee Thursday in SEC Opener