Bleacher Report - Missouri Tigers Football

Missouri Tigers Enemy Intel: Examining the Iowa State Cyclones

Ryan Faller — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:23:53 -0500

For a number of reasons I won't bore you with, it's been entirely too long since the last installment of Enemy Intel.

But, as the Missouri Tigers head into their 2009 home finale, I'm proud to announce that EI is back.

This week, I enlisted the help of Bobby La Gesse, sports editor over at the Ames Tribune . On the docket is La Gesse's thoughts on Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads, the matchup between the Cyclones' efficient running attack and Missouri's stiff run defense, and the overflow of optimism taking place in Ames amid ISU's first bowl-eligible season in four years.

RF: How would you describe the impact Paul Rhoads has made on this ISU program in his first season? How does he differ from Gene Chizik, and are you surprised by his early success?

BLG: Paul Rhoads has made Iowa State football relevant again in the Big 12. He differs from Gene Chizik in the fact that he emphasizes teaching a lot more. ISU has made huge strides in tackling this season because of the emphasis the coaching staff has put on it.

RF: In your mind, how has Austen Arnaud progressed in his second full season as the Cyclones' starting quarterback?

BLG: Arnaud has had an up-and-down season. He has had great games, like against Kansas, and has had games where he has struggled, like against Kansas State. The Cyclones will need Arnaud to be sharp this weekend if they are to have a shot at beating Missouri.

RF: Looking back, ISU is potentially a blocked extra point [against Kansas State] and an overthrown pass [at Kansas] away from currently being 8-3. I realize Rhoads may not be into looking back at what may have been, but how encouraging is it that ISU is a pair of slim losses from being a major player in the Big 12 North?

BLG: The big thing with the ISU football team is that they are bowl eligible. The team hasn't been to a bowl game since 2005. Getting six wins was a big deal in Ames. Fans would love it if the Cyclones had eight wins and a chance to play in a January bowl game, but this year has been all about progress in Ames.

Losing those two games doesn't change the fact that a lot of progress has been made in 2009 and that the future around the program is bright.

RF: How much success do you anticipate the Cyclones and running back Alexander Robinson having on the ground against MU's 17th-ranked run defense? Or do you think Rhoads will choose to air it out with Arnaud, who set a school record with 36 completions against the Tigers a season ago?

BLG: The running game is the heart and soul of the ISU offense. They will try to establish it early and stick with it throughout the game. The ISU rushing attack versus the Missouri rush defense is one of the best matchups to follow on Saturday.

RF: Like Missouri, Iowa State has been inconsistent from week to week this season. What Cyclone team do you expect to show up this week? And how do you see this one playing out?

BLG: Winning last week seemed to re-energize the Cyclones. There has been an added bounce in the step of players I've talked to this week. ISU has had problems stopping spread offenses. If the Cyclones are to win, they will have to do a better job defending the spread than they've done in the last few seasons.

The foremost source for everything Iowa State athletics, Ames Tribune sports editor Bobby La Gesse doubles as a reporter covering ISU football and men's basketball. He contributes regularly to the paper's Iowa State page, GoCyclones.com .

And be sure to check back at GoCyclones.com as the MU-ISU game draws closer, as La Gesse and the Tribune crew were nice enough to invite me to participate in some weekend predictions and a brief Q&A session for their Gameday preview section.

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Missouri Tigers' Win Over Kansas State Means Question Marks Remain

Ryan Faller — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:23:26 -0500

I'm done trying to figure this team out.

Attempting to accurately assess the value of this Tiger squad is a futile practice. Because as thoroughly impressive as Missouri's 38-12 victory on the road at Kansas State was, I'm not so sure many questions were answered on Saturday in Manhattan.

Instead, we'll have to wait and see what happens next weekend against Iowa State. We'll have to see exactly what Missouri team shows up to its home finale. We'll have to see whether the Tigers can put together a complete game in consecutive weeks for the first time in two months.

We'll have to see if, after this shot in the arm, the Tigers are capable of dropping the Jekyll-and-Hyde act to finish the season.

What we do know, as a result of yesterday's dominant win, is that the Tigers put a serious damper on Kansas State's chances of a Big 12 North title. Never mind the fact that MU's own hopes of securing a division crown—although mathematically slim—were officially terminated when Nebraska beat Kansas hours later.

The Tigers earned a crucial win at Kansas State—and did so in a fashion far easier and more well-rounded than expected.

Playing defense more reminiscent of its efforts two weeks prior at Colorado, Missouri (6-4, 2-4) at least temporarily exorcised the demons unleashed by its collapse versus Baylor. The Tigers held Kansas State, which boasted the conference's second-best running attack, to a mere 112 yards on the ground, almost 80 yards below their season average.

The key was putting the clamps on the Wildcats' best offensive player.

MU did an excellent of filling gaps and pursuing down the line of scrimmage to shut down tailback Daniel Thomas , who came in leading the Big 12 with 108.7 yards per game. In total, the Tigers' unheralded run defense held Thomas to an average of 3.4 yards per carry, his lowest of the season, and just 79 yards on 23 attempts.

With KSU's most potent weapon rendered ineffective, the Tigers' defense was able to force the one-dimensional Wildcats into throwing the ball with unfamiliar frequency, while the MU offense finally managed to shake off its much-publicized second-half malaise.

The performance the Missouri offense put on during the first 30 minutes against Kansas State (6-5, 4-3) was nothing out of the ordinary. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert blistered the KSU secondary with scoring strikes of 54 and 16 yards to receiver and security blanket Danario Alexander to give the Tigers a 17-6 advantage heading into the half.

For MU fans and coaches alike, however, the commanding lead was no more fulfilling than the prospect of the Tigers giving it away just as quickly in the final two quarters was a distinct possibility. The fears were nearing much too close to reality when KSU kicker Josh Cherry kicked the last of his four field goals to cut the Missouri lead to five with less than a minute left in the third.

"I was thinking what you were thinking," head coach Gary Pinkel told reporters later.

But for the first time in five conference games, the Tigers summoned the intestinal fortitude to counter the second-half punches of the opposition, beginning with the third scoring hook-up between Gabbert and Alexander.

Whatever wind the 80-yard pass-and-catch didn't take from Kansas State's sails was surely eliminated by a pair of fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns by running back Derrick Washington to put the game out of reach.

After the utterly disheartening loss to Baylor, this was a game the Tigers had to have. In the days prior to their departure for Manhattan, fan and media dissension and internal unrest were only worsening a season already on the brink.

Yet Missouri went on the road and conquered a team that had much more to play for—and the Tigers did so with gusto, playing arguably their best and most inspired game to date.

In the process, Missouri ruined the Wildcats' attempt at an undefeated season at home. Previously unbeaten in five games at Bill Snyder Stadium this season, Kansas State was vying for its first spotless campaign at home since 1999, when the Wildcats and head Bill Snyder rode an 11-1 record to a No. 7 ranking to end the season.

Saturday also marked a number of other noteworthy accomplishments. With the win, the Tigers, although not yet guaranteed a place in the postseason, earned bowl eligibility for a school-record fifth consecutive season.

Pinkel, once a whipping post for a number of fellow Big 12 coaches, gained his first win in six tries over Kansas State head coach Snyder. Prior to his retirement in 2006, Snyder had beaten Missouri 13 straight times dating back to 1993.

With two games remaining, Missouri now has a chance to finish with a flurry. Two very winnable games remain, and if the Tigers can topple a solid Iowa State team at home and then conclude with a win over floundering rival Kansas in Kansas City, this program will have won eight or more games for the fourth season in a row. In the 120-year history of Missouri football, that has never been achieved.

But before the Tigers can celebrate any school firsts, they would be well-advised not to make too much of their win over the favored Wildcats. Though another Big 12 North title is no longer available, there's plenty left to play for, which means there's ample time for Missouri to pull another 180.

An 8-4 record in 2009 would certainly qualify as having exceeded the expectations of those who insisted MU would have to rebuild this season. But to reach that point, the Tigers need to shed the inconsistency that has plagued the conference portion of the season and soured those who drank the Kool-Aid after Missouri's 4-0 start.

"Coach Pinkel told us we saved Missouri football, pretty much," revealed Alexander, who compiled 200 yards on 10 catches against Kansas State in his push to become the Big 12's offensive player of the year. "We saved the integrity of our program."

Perhaps that is true; perhaps it isn't. But who's to say that integrity won't need to be restored at this time next week, after another disappointing performance at home? If we've learned anything about these Missouri Tigers, it's that they can look like the division's best team just as easily as they can its worst.

Next Saturday, the Tigers could play as well as they did in Manhattan. On the other hand, a performance similar to the one against Texas is a possibility. Missouri is inconsistent on both sides of the ball, and it's likely the best solution out there is a 3-0 conclusion to the season.

Yes, Missouri played well against Kansas State, but it's anybody's guess as to how that will translate over the season's final two weeks. With this team, nothing is a given, and Saturday—however pleasant the outcome may have been—did nothing to disprove that.

That much we know for sure.

Photo credit: Parker Eshelman/Columbia Daily Tribune

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Fragile Missouri Tigers Defense Needs To Lead Charge Against Wildcats

Ryan Faller — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:12:50 -0500

The members of the Missouri defense will tell you that whatever frustration mounts on the field from week to week is better left on the field, so as to not interfere with preparation for the next opponent's offense.

But you still have to wonder how many times the wounds have been licked, in an effort to do nothing more than temporarily soothe the pain inflicted by the Baylor Bears.

The sort of sting that accompanied the Tigers' loss last Saturday doesn't subside without a fight. It brought about the ensuing week's worth of incessant media scrutiny and speculation, which was nicely fueled by head coach Gary Pinkel's reportedly intense closed-door "conversation" with his team the day following the collapse to the previously lifeless Bears.

But Pinkel wasn't alone. Senior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon , unanimously considered to be the vocal leader of the MU defense, asserted his leadership by initiating some in-house tongue-lashing of his own.

Refraining from naming names, Weatherspoon called out several of his younger defensive mates for not emulating the preparation methods and work ethic of Missouri's more experienced players. He also cited a noticeably lax mindset as one of the contributors to a disturbing "loosey-goosey" attitude on the eve of the Baylor game.

"We know that we got young guys on this team and it's our job to get those guys moving in the right direction," Weatherspoon said Monday, referring to the duties of the defense's elder statesmen. "It's kind of odd to me, because when I came in, I looked at the older guys and wanted to be just like them. Whatever they were doing to be on that field, that's something I wanted to do.

"Right now, we're not seeing that. I can't put my finger on it, but I can tell you this—we're still going to keep preparing and go out there and practice hard."

Potential cohesiveness issues aside, Missouri's defensive preparation for its next opponent, Kansas State, began with putting the Baylor game in the rear view mirror, but it presumably included focusing on a number of troublesome areas.

Other than correcting the fundamental breakdowns that led to nearly 20 missed tackles against Baylor, the Tigers must also plug up a leaky pass defense that allowed two passes of 50 yards or more, and could arguably be to blame for this week's unflattering chatter surrounding the defense.

"Giving up that many yards in a game is unacceptable," cornerback Kevin Rutland said at MU's recent media session. "I think the only way to go is up right now."

Maybe so. But in order to heal its bruised psyche and restore morale against the Wildcats, the MU defense will have to first and foremost excel at what it has done well for most of this season: stopping the run.

The ying to Baylor's yang, Kansas State takes pride in running the ball right at opponents—nearly to the point at which the game plan defies the dominant aerial mentality of Big 12 offenses.

Unlike the Bears, who were content to substitute their running game for a horizontal, screen-based passing game en route to record-setting day through the air, Kansas State won't deviate from trying to pick up huge chunks of yards on the ground.

Terribly one-dimensional, the Wildcats, led by their old-school mentor, Bill Snyder, have run the ball 427 times, nearly twice as much as they have thrown it (234). More so, only seven teams in the country have attempted to run the ball more than KSU. The Wildcats, with 1,097 yards for the season, have the NCAA's 16th-best running attack.

"They've got a tough running game," Weatherspoon said. "They're going to come out and run the ball at you—that's just what they do...they're going to try to run the ball down our throat, and as the front seven, you live for those games."

As Weatherspoon said, KSU does run the ball, and they do it through tailback Daniel Thomas . The former Florida commit and journeyman Juco player is quietly becoming one of college football's premiere ball-carriers , despite never having played the position before in his life. In 10 games this season, Thomas has run for 1,087 yards and 11 scores to lead the Big 12 in both categories.

What's more though, is the fact he is the undisputed lifeblood of the Kansas State offense. You stop Daniel Thomas, you stop the Wildcats, who are 106th in the country with 164.1 yards per game via the pass.

As potentially frail as it may be heading into Manhattan, the Tigers' defense is rather stout when comes to defending the line of scrimmage against the run.

Save for the occasional hiccup here and there, MU's run defense has been lost in a shuffle of inconsistency. For the season, the Tigers rank just fifth in the Big 12, allowing 102 yards per game on the ground, but that number is good enough for 19th-best in all of college football.

But each of those statistics improves when you isolate Missouri's five games against conference opponents , putting the Tigers behind only Texas and Oklahoma State for the right to claim the Big 12's stingiest D against the run.

It appears to be a matchup of strengths: KSU's dedicated running game versus MU's sneaky-good run defense. The other half of the equation—the MU offense against the KSU defense—is irrelevant. After all, you never know if the Missouri offense will come out for the second half, while the Wildcats' defense has been nothing better than pedestrian.

If the Tigers are to put a damper on Kansas State's hopes of winning a division crown while earning bowl eligibility for a fifth consecutive season, the defense will have to claim responsibility.

With or without the wounds.

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