Michael Scherer's confidence is through the roof, whether defending run or pass

What's On

#RallyforRhyan

2 days to Missouri Western, by the way
The Trib (Steve Walentik): Anderson still encouraged by chemistry (and other notes)

"I don’t want to knock last year’s guys, but these guys have been very receptive and maybe more fun to coach," Kim Anderson said during his weekly press conference before practice on Tuesday afternoon. "And I think part of that is again, not to knock last year, part of that is it’s my second year, I have a little more comfort level with all of them. I recruited the ones, the new guys, and the old guys I’ve been around now for a year, so we kind of know each other. I think last year we spent a lot of time getting to know each other." [...]

"I think of Wes — Wes is a guy who’s kind of emerged here in the preseason. Terrence is a guy by virtue of his position and his personality, he’s kind of a leader-type guy too. Hopefully, that will continue to grow as the season goes on."

And 0 days to Southwest Baptist
MUtigers.com: @MizzouWBB Opens Exhibition Schedule Against Southwest Baptist Wednesday

1 day to MSU

Post-Dispatch (Ben Frederickson): Butkus Award wrong about Mizzou's Brothers

It's OK to admit you weren't watching. Mizzou's offense should come with a barf bag. The Tigers' defense would probably change the channel if it could.

If semifinalists have to be the the best linebacker on a team with an offense good enough to win half of its games, just add that to the award's description.

Until then, the award is for the "best of the best linebackers in America." To say there are 10 better than Brothers right now doesn't compute.

Post-Dispatch: Mizzou's Scherer shines in teammate's shadow

"Much better. It’s not even close," Scherer said. "You can look at stats … but I feel way more comfortable. I haven’t made the mistakes I’ve made in the past. I’ve done a million times better getting off blockers. My man-to-man defense has really picked up. That was really just a confidence thing for me." [...]

"It’s having more confidence in my athletic ability," he said. "It just comes from practice. It comes from making plays in practice. You line up against a slot receiver who can run a 4.4 (40-yard dash), you sit there and say, ‘(Shoot), this guy’s pretty fast. I better start backing up.’ But in practice you sit there and make contact with a guy who’s fast and realize you can also run with him, you gain a lot of confidence in yourself and it carries over into the game."

The Trib: Football scouting report: Mississippi State

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound [Dak] Prescott drew comparisons to Cam Newton, the former Heisman-winning quarterback at Auburn, from Missouri cornerbacks coach Cornell Ford and defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski. Prescott, like Newton, is a strongly-built dual-threat QB.

Prescott has a 20-8 record in his career as a starter. He needs 65 more yards of total offense to become the 10th player in SEC history to reach 10,000 yards in his career. Prescott has been responsible for 96 TDs in his career, sixth-most in SEC history.

"Dak’s in a league of his own," Missouri safety Ian Simon said Sunday.

26 yards per carry ... just saying

Gridiron Now: Missouri freshman punter Corey Fatony has become a star

Revisiting 2012

PowerMizzou: Writing was on the wall

This year's team should be led by the 2011 and 2012 signing class. Except, the 2012 signing class has been whittled down to three offensive players. The 2011 class ranked 48th according to Rivals - the lowest-rated Gary Pinkel class in the Rivals era. These are also the only two years that Missouri signed less than 20 players under Gary Pinkel. Missouri signed just 17 in 2011; six of those transferred or did not enroll.

Out of 31 spots on the current depth chart on offense, only seven are members of the 2011 and 2012 recruiting classes.

Big volleyball match this evening

MUtigers.com: @MizzouVB Travels To Texas A&M For Wednesday Night Matchup
The Trib (Blake Toppmeyer): Volleyball scouting report: MU at Texas A&M, 5 p.m. Wednesday

Even bigger soccer match at noon

MUtigers.com: @MizzouSoccer Opens SEC Tournament Action Wednesday
The Trib: MU soccer team enters SEC Tournament with a lot at stake
The Trib (Blake Toppmeyer): Soccer scouting report: LSU vs. MU, noon Wednesday