PowerMizzou.com - Tuesday's top Tigers

November 1, 2011

Pete Scantlebury
PowerMizzou.com Recruiting Editor

Tuesday's Top Tigers makes its return to PowerMizzou.com. A player's ranking one week has no bearing on his placement on the list the next week. Here is our take on the Tigers who had the best performances in 38-31 overtime win at Texas A&M on Saturday:

Tuesday's Top Tigers
RANK	PLAYER	THE ANALYSIS	LAST WEEK
1	James Franklin, QB	Franklin threw for nearly 200 and ran for 97 more. He combined for four touchdowns, and was his best when it mattered most.	5
2	Randy Ponder, CB	Ponder forced a fumble in the third quarter, and his interception and 45-yard return completely turned the game around. He added six solo tackles.	NR
3.	Henry Josey, TB	Josey ran for 97 yards and his only touchdown on nine carries in the fourth quarter and overtime. He finished with 162 yards on 20 carries.	2
4	E.J. Gaines, CB	Ponder made the biggest plays, but Gaines was consistently the best player on Missouri's defense. He finished with a career-high ten tackles and four passes defended.	4
5	Marcus Lucas, WR	Lucas had five catches for 64 yards and the game winning touchdown. He caught more passes than he did in the previous five games combined.	NR
6	Jacquies Smith, DE	Smith forced two fumbles, sacked Tannehill once and had eight total tackles. And his halftime speech to the defense may have helped turn the game, and the season, around.	NR
7	Dominique Hamilton, DT	Hamilton recovered a fumble and finished with four tackles. His biggest play was the last, when he batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage to give Missouri the victory.	NR
8	Kenji Jackson, SS	Jackson had eight tackles and made plays behind the line, finishing with 1.5 tackles-for-loss.	NR
9	Brayden Burnett, DE	On third-and-two in overtime, Burnett was the first defender there to help drop Ryan Swope for a loss. That set up the game-ending fourth-and-five situation.	NR
10	Sheldon Richardson, DT	Richardson missed some tackles early, but finished with eight tackles, .5 for loss.	8
11	Michael Egnew, TE	Egnew had four catches for 51 yards, but his bruising runs after the catch are becoming the most notable part of his season. He's making defenders pay for arm tackles.	6