Welcome to Four Down Territory which is a spin-off of Ten Thoughts.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. Finally, it’s game week. I’ve written just about everything I can think of over the past eight months, so I’m glad the games are here.
Mizzou will host South Dakota on Thursday, and I wonder how much of a leash the players involved in a position battle get.
What I mean is everyone knows multiple quarterbacks are playing.
I expect other position battles will be going on as well with multiple players getting chances to play at some point in the game.
But what if South Dakota makes a game out of this?
Missouri can’t afford to lose this game.
How close does it have to be before the Tigers make changes and try to put their best players on the field?
For example, what if Mizzou enters the fourth quarter up 21 and then South Dakota narrows the lead to seven with a few minutes to go? If it’s Sam Horn’s quarter to play, does head coach Eli Drinkwitz let him stay in the game and see if he can get the win or does he put someone else in the game?
I don’t think the game will be close enough that Mizzou will have to worry about it.
However, anything is possible. That’s why the games are played.
I also wonder what the quarterbacks’ approaches will be.
They will be following the same game plan, but will one of them try to be a little more aggressive with their decision-making or will they try to be a little conservative so it’s less likely they mess up?
Who tries to ad-lib plays and who decides to do things like throw the ball away and live for another down?
Obviously, a lot of this is determined in the moment. Every play and situation is different, but it will be interesting to see who does what and how they approach their time in the game.
2. On Friday, I covered Williams Nwaneri's first game of his senior season as his team, Lee’s Summit North defeated Liberty North 27-20.
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