Well, in case you missed it, Missouri and Illinois played the biggest game of college football's first week in St. Louis this Saturday night. After my preview on the game got some mixed reviews, I was more anxious then ever to see my Tigers pull out a win.
It wasn't pretty, and there are a few bad notes to mention, but the Missouri Tigers started their season 1-0 against Illinois, winning 52-42 in front of a record crowd. Let's get to the recap shall we?
-On the most urgent front, it doesn't appear that Jeremy Maclin was seriously injured in the fourth quarter. He did hurt his ankle, but it isn't broken, and Chase Daniel even assured reporters that J-Mac will probably be practicing on Tuesday. I'm not sure that the diagnosis will be that positive, but Maclin probably won't even be needed until October in Lincoln. Tiger fans shouldn't worry too much about this injury.
-Boy was that game sloppy. On both sides of the ball Missouri just didn't seem to completely have their head on straight. At times they looked great and at times they looked awful. That word sums it up to me. Sloppy. But a win is a win.
-You gotta tip your hat to the seniors on offense that look like they'll have a big year. Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman, and Tommy Saunders looked good for the most part. Daniel had numerous passes dropped, but was decent, Coffman had 120 yards and a TD, and Saunders had two TDs. Their leadership will be important.
- B/R Ticket Guide
-Speaking of Chase Coffman, DID YOU SEE THAT CATCH AND RUN HE MADE? The dude made a catch, cut to the middle of the field breaking one tackle, broke another tackle from behind, hurtled another defender, stiff-armed a fourth, and was finally brought down many yards later. Baller status.
-Although Coffman was pretty good, Martin Rucker is and will be sorely missed. I didn't realize how big of a void he left until tonight. Catching lasers over the middle and carrying defenders on his back became the norm for T-Ruck, so the Tigers will have to find others to step up (Jared Perry perhaps? Maybe frosh Andrew Jones?)
-And Derrick Washington stepped into the limelight tonight. Many think he is more talened then Tony Temple but just needs to focus. Well he broke off 130 yards on 18 carries for two TDs, and looked like a beast against a good Illini D.
-As much as Willy Mo blitzed and the Tigers played a contain-style D, Juice torched them through the air, good for 458 yards and 5 TD. But on the ground he was dismal, gaining just five yards on 17 carries. What does this mean?
It means the Tigers made Juice beat them with his arm, and he was capable. The only thing that stopped him was too much power from the Tiger offense, and two TDs from Sean Weatherspoon. Juice is definitely WAY improved in the pocket, and I pity teams that have to play him from now on.
-Sean Weatherspoon, and his pick-six and strip for a TD were impressive, but so was the rest of the LB corp. Like I said, the Tigers dared Illinois to beat them through the air, often leaving Carl Gettis and Castine Bridges exposed over the top. Both CBs would also stay in to guard against the run. You wonder if they played poorly or the scheme left them out to dry.
Anyway, back to the point, the LB corp played big at the line, holding a usually stout Illinois rushing attack to only 73 yards on 35 rushes, good for 2.08 yds/carry.
-Ron Zook was bush-league and tasteless at the end of the game. It was almost like he was running up the score; scoring pointless points in a finished game. Did a 10-point loss look that much better then a 17-point loss? Will that extra TD look that big on Juice's Heisman resume? Please.
-Overall, I can honestly say the better team won. Missouri didn't play well and still beat Illinois. But the Illini have a long season ahead of them, and if Beanie Wells isn't healthy, I seriously think they can win the Big 10. Juice is that good. He showed great touch on his deep balls and is dangerous on the ground as always.
Mizzou doesn't have the deep weapons corps just yet. They definitely have time to rest Jeremy Maclin and wait on Danario Alexander before Nebraska, but younger players like Andrew Jones need to adjust to the college game fast, because gaping holes were left by Will Franklin and Martin Rucker.
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2 months ago
I agree with what you said about Juice Williams. He is going to be a good double threat because Mizzou worked hard at making sure he couldn't run. He showed last year that he can run the ball well if defenses stay back, and he proved yesterday that he can pass if teams try and stop his ground game.
from 2 months ago
Thanks Joe. Yeah he'll definitely prove to people that aren't yet believers that he is now a top notch threat on both aspects of offense.
2 months ago
First, you can't call Zook classless for trying to end the game with something positive. They are losing, he should try and score as many points as he can.
Second, this game went about like I thought it would. Missouri's O was too good. But they better sure up their defense, because they won't be scoring 52 points on everyone, especially Texas or Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship.
If Illinois can score 42, how many could Oklahoma score?
from 2 months ago
I thought the last second thing was pointless and stupid, but hey, it's a matter of opinion.
I really doubt that many other teams, if any, will put up 42 on Mizzou again this year. They gambled and made Juice beat them with his arm, which he did. Plus, Illinois scored 22 points after Mizzou got too comfortable, so although it doesn't bode well, it also isn't like they were scored in the heat of battle either.
Thanks for reading Justin!
2 months ago
There is no such thing as "running up the score" when you are losing. It doesn't matter that the game was decided. Are you telling me that if Missouri had been down by 17, that you wouldn't want them to score at the end of the game? And yes a 10 point loss does look better than a 17 point loss, otherwise, I suspect it wouldn't have bothered you so much.
from 2 months ago
Yeah, if Missouri scored a TD with no time remaining only to lose by 10, I'd still think it was an annoying mood. I actually mean that.
2 months ago
nice article. Extreeeemely impressed by Washington. Defense...not so much. It seemed like we were too intent on blitzing / fake blitzing Willy Mo, and left that right side fade route completely open. Moore and the run defense was great, but I think we could have sacrificed some yards on the ground in favor for some better pass coverage.
from 2 months ago
Yeah I totally agree with you Ian. I'm all for preventing Juice from scrambling, but I think the approach backfired and was taken too far. Still, a win's a win.
2 months ago
The final line around here was 10.5, just so you know.
That saved many people, i'm sure.
And why shouldn't you try to score? So you just give up with under 2 minutes left? If you know that you won't win anyway, you should stop trying?
from 2 months ago
Thanks for reading Colin. It's not so much that I wanted Illinois to stop trying, I just don't like the timeouts and scoring as time expires. I guess I can understand the momentum factor, but it still pissed me off. Maybe I was on the wrong end, but I don't see any situation where I think it was a good move.
from 2 months ago
You are trying to run as many plays as you can, after all, you can't simulate this type of situation in practice, might as well take advantage of it.
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