Mizzou

[stlfisher]

Well, they came out flat, probably overlooking ARST. But they took care of business from about midway through the third quarter, which is what a decent team should do against lesser competition.

Smalliebigs...they beat two SEC teams last year when they REALLY sucked, due mainly to an injured quarterback and a decimated O-line, and very well could have won two other SEC games. The SEC is the best football conference in the land, but they aren't all the gods of football. There are about three teams in the SEC that Mizzou can't beat on their best day, but they only play one of them this year. There are about three more teams that they have to play their best game and have some luck to win. And there are a number of teams that they can beat with a good game. In other words, Mizzou should be a middle tier SEC team, maybe on the low side of middle, but not the doormats.

Sure, they have weaknesses this year...the defensive secondary being the biggest. But they have some offensive weapons. Their biggest weakness in the SEC is depth.

Pinkel hasn't shown himself to be a really good game coach, and I'm not impressed with Steckel's defensive abilities. But I think your rap on their recruiting isn't realistic. Missouri comes into the SEC at a big disadvantage in recruiting. They no longer have the kind of Texas pipeline they did in the Big 12, and they have to build relationships in SEC land, which I think they are doing. It will take time. But you have to be realistic. The losing season last year, and the lack of notoriety as a top notch team except for a two or three year stretch, means they aren't going to be able to go out and get every 4 and 5 star athlete they want. Only the top teams can really consistently recruit top talent, that's just the way it is. And that includes getting the top Missouri talent. If a kid is being pursued by LSU and Bama and a bunch of other big name schools, I don't care where he's from, unless he has some really close ties to Mizzou, he's not going to choose Mizzou most of the time. Not only that, but if you're a Missouri kid, are you really wanting to spend the winters in Columbia or in Florida, Georgia, or Alabama, where the college chicks are in bikinis until December?

So Pinkel and company have made a living finding the lesser rated kids and the under the radar kids, and attempting to develop them. They've had some success at it. To take it to the next level, it doesn't take better recruiters--I don't care how good a recruiter you are, you still aren't going to get the top athletes to come to Mizzou until you build up the pipelines AND have success on the field. What has to happen is that you get a couple of the Green-Beckhams, the 5 star wonder boys, and your 2 and 3 stars develop into a great team at the same time, and you have success in the SEC. And then you have something to build upon and kids start looking at Mizzou as a viable option.

Couldn't agree more.

[ozark trout fisher]

No offense OTF but, you are like most Mizzou fans....absolutely out of touch with reality.....Missouri football sucks and Gary Pinkle is the main reason.

Luckily this season our fanbase has been pretty solid and there are many who strongly, strongly, disagree with you. I am one of them and will leave it at that. No matter how many games this team wins there will still be some lining up to tear Mizzou down. Don't care......it's their loss.

Mizzou clearly didn't have their best game tonight. But here's the reality; last season, down 16-14 that late in the game, MIssouri either folds and takes a devastating loss or wins 17-16 and we exhale while anticipating a whooping next week at Vandy. But no, they not only won but pulled away in a manner that gave us a lot of hope for the future. Maybe it's fools hope, but it's better than none.

And wearing down teams in the fourth quarter is how you win football games in the SEC. The reality is, Vandy is coming off a similar escape at UMass last week and is immensely vulnerable. I think Missouri can pick up a win there and make us forget about tonight's struggles.....and continue to make this program's doubters look silly. I don't care, we are 4-0, two wins from bowl eligibility with 8 to go and I am going to celebrate what is still a vastly improved team. And at this moment, the only team not named Alabama to be undefeated in our conference. SEC play is coming soon enough.

[Quillback]

I watched the LSU - Georgia game and the Arkansas - A&M game yesterday. Didn't see much in the way of good defence in those games. Arkansas hung in there with A&M, it was an entertaining game. I don't know what to make of these high scoring games, are defenses that bad, or have the offenses become that much better? Saw some pretty good QB play from the LSU and Georgia QB's, of course Manziel also played well. Manziel is so darned elusive, the Hog linemen often got penetration and had shots at him, but he's just too quick for them to sack.

Mizzou is going to have a tough time at Georgia in 2 weeks, that's when you'll get a chance to really see what kind of team Mizzou is.

[moguy1973]

Georgia showed some preserverence yesterday against LSU....That final 8 minutes or so of that game was pretty exciting.

Mizzou needs to go back to high school and learn how to tackle. I don't think I can count all the missed tackles on my hands and feet...I'm not really sure that their running game is as good as they were making it out to be last night either. It looked like their O-line was a lot bigger than A State's and that they could do with them whatever they wanted. Up against some of the big D-lines of the SEC they won't be looking so good I'm afraid...

[Flysmallie]

The defense in the LSU vs Georgia game was horrible. The offenses aren't bad but their defenses suck.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I have to agree with some of what SmallieB says and disagree with AL IMO. I think Pinkel is a good game coach, but not a good recruiting head coach. Either he has the wrong talent scouting or he is not getting the program sold. I tended to drift away from Mizzou back in the Devine days. I was also a big OU fan at the time also and realized I could see many of Missouri best by just concentrating on the Sooners. For a state in the big 8 and then the big 12 with no other major university competition to not dominate is nothing short of bad recruiting.

[ozark trout fisher]

Here's where I disagree.....you're right that Missouri doesn't haul in the 4 and 5 star recruits that Oklahoma does. But low recruiting rankings do not equal bad recruiting. Gary Pinkel is of the type that prefers to look for under the radar, high ceiling talent. No one needs to point out that he has been incredibly successful at this. Just look at all of the 3 and even 2 star guys from Missouri that have (or are now) playing on Sundays. Especially in SEC country, recruiting is like its own sport where there is a huge deal who is ranked #8 and who is #10. Me, I don't care.

Pinkel recruits players who have brought in the best era of football that Mizzou has ever seen, or at least since Devine. I feel like we could go 10-2 this year (not saying it will happen but it could) and there would still be people talking about how bad of a recruiter/coach it is. My advice is just to relax and enjoy the fact that for now, we are winning. Evaluation of the coaching staff is for after the season or at least until it looks like the season is headed off the rails. We're very far from either scenario right now. In fact, Missouri might just creep into the top 25 in a couple hours if that means anything at all. If not we'll be one of the first teams out. Doesn't feel like a program in disarray to me like some are acting like.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I wouldn't call the program in disarray, but it has always virtually underachieved given the geographical location of the state. Missouri was the most populated state in the former conference, yet couldn't out do OU or NU, and NU is another state that had about 1/3 the population of Missouri that played nationally. Going to the SEC might get them some players who want to play in it, but they need to seriously step up the recruiting if they are going to be more than an also ran in the SEC, much like they were in the Big 12 and 8.

1960 Champion by default

1969, 2007, and 8 Co Champions

They won in 2010, one year to stand above and it just doesn't sound right for a team that should dominate recruiting in a state where football is in every town.

Saying they're getting the good 2nd and 3rd levels that are playing on Sunday doesn't mean anything on Saturday. there are a lot of 4th and 5th level players from Little U doing that.

[stlfisher]

I kind of laugh when sealing off the borders of missouri becomes a topic. If we sealed of the borders we would suck. Sure there a few guys ever now and then, but mizzou is forced to compete against the marque schools in there backyard. It is a fact of life.

[stlfisher]

The defense in the LSU vs Georgia game was horrible. The offenses aren't bad but their defenses suck.

I agree

There are not many good defenses this year it seems. Bama looked decent yesterday. Oregon could finally finish it off this year. That offense is phenomenal