The Zou: Tracking Mizzou in '08

This is the defensive preview of the Missouri Tigers.  The offensive preview can be found riiiiight here.  As I said yesterday, the Tigers defense will likely be the most underrated coming into the season.  Last year, they began the season a little shaky, letting teams come back late, but at the end of the year, this defense really turned it up a notch.  They put Texas Tech in negative rushing yards, and held them to ten points.  They shut down Kansas's vaunted running attack.  They went to Boulder and only gave the Buffs ten points on their home field.  And people still questioned the run defense and said that McFadden and Jones would run all over them.  But alas, Missouri was the team that dominated the rushing game.  Tony Temple exploded for Mizzou while the Arkansas running back duo was shut down for the most part.  That's the same team that beat LSU, granted, they lost their coach before the Cotton Bowl vs. Missouri.  So here is a position-by-position overview of the Tigers D that returns ten starters from the Cotton Bowl last season.

DE:  The ends will be a stength on this defense, with senior, Styker Sulak returning to the left side.  With a name like that, he has to be good, right?  He has good speed and is great at getting in the backfield.  His backup is a redshirt freshman, Chris Earnhardt.  On the right side, Tommy Chavis, a senior, returns.  He and Styker should really bring the heat on opposing QB's.  Chavis's backup is not definite, but will either be Michael Keck (from my high school) or true freshman Jacquies Smith.  These two should split snaps as the backup unless one of them emerges from the two.

DT:  The Tigers are set here also, with senior, Ziggy Hood.  Another great name and another great player.  He has an unproven backup though, in redshirt freshman, Terrell Resonno.

NT:  Lorenzo Williams was a great nose tackle for the Tigers, but he is now gone.  The only non-returning starter is Jaron Baston.  He is also the only non-senior starter on the defensive line.  This does not matter though, as Baston is a very talented player, as the Tigers shouldn't see much of a drop off at this postition.  He is backed up by Dominique Hamilton or Bart Coslet, both decent backups.

Weakside LB:  Junior Sean Weatherspoon returns here, and he really shined last year.  He made over 100 tackles and should lead a great part of this very talented linebacking corps.  Andrew Gachkar, a sophomore, is a very talented backup and could start at some other programs.

Middle LB:  Senior Brock Christopher will plug the middle.  This is another great linebacker for the Tigers.  His backup is true freshman Will Ebner, who has looked great so far in the summer. 

Strongside LB:  Van Alexander will start when he's healthy, which is supposed to be by the second or third game.  But the starter right now is sophomore Luke Lambert, who showed flashes of greatness last year, as he got valuable playing time as a freshman.  He will be backed up by senior Steve Redmond, an experienced, steady backer.

SS:  Justin Garrett is yet another talented senior on this defense.  He had some really great moments last year, and is back for more.  The backup is junior, Hardy Ricks, who was an All-American in 2009 on my NCAA 09 dynasty, is a good enough backup.

FS:  William Moore, a senior, is an All-American free safety that could be a first rounder in the NFL draft, if he continues where he left off last year.  He is a leader of this defense, and should be great.  Junior, Del Howard is backing up Willy Mo, but no worries here.

CB:  At corner, the Tigers return senior Castine Bridges at one side.  He looked good last year and has looked very good in the offseason.  He is backed up by a senior in Tru Vaughns.  The other side starts Carl Gettis, who I think has the talent to be an All-American by his senior year.  He is backed up by Kevin Rutland, another sophomore that is very capable.

As you can see, this defense is extremely experienced and extremely talented.  If they can pick up where they left off last year, expect them to really surprise the "experts".  And when you here them talking about Mizzou's great defense, just think of where you heard about them....

That's all for this edition of The Zou, I hope you enjoyed.  If you enjoyed it, leave a comment.  If you despised it, leave a comment.  If you are somewhere in between, leave a comment. 

The next edition should come tomorrow, and it will probably have a brief special teams and maybe a surprise.  See you then....