Missouri opened its season with a relatively easy 52-24 win over Louisiana Tech on Thursday night. Here are ten thoughts from the Tigers' victory.
1) The defense was better than I thought. That doesn't mean I'm ready to revamp my expectations of the season or predict that they're going to be top 25 or anything like that. But they were better than I expected. Maybe it's PTSD from last year. They were where they were supposed to be. They were fast. They attacked. They made plays. I've been hesitant to blame everything on Steve Wilks and say it's all fixed because he's gone. If they do that 11 more times, I'll change my mind.
2) Ty'Ron Hopper was the best player on the field. When I looked at his production from last year, so much of it was in the Missouri game I thought maybe we had a slanted view of him. Man did he look good tonight. When I asked Drinkwitz about him he said "I've been trying to tell people." He played like an NFL linebacker tonight.
3) I looked at Kristian Williams as a late "what the hell we have a spot might as well take a chance" guy.
