FINALLY!! We get to hit someone besides ourselves!
The first game of the year always holds a special kind of magic. It’s the first time you go through the game day routine: Thursday night practice in shells, Friday walk-thru and final addition, then taking the buses to the hotel where we’ll have hotel meetings. It’s the first time you experience the police escort to the stadium and the first time you get that feeling in your stomach as you drive through the tailgates. For the pups, that feeling is realizing the gravity of what they’ve gotten themselves into. For the vets, it’s the excitement and anticipation for what’s about to take place.
Nerves and energy are high as we head to Tiger Walk. The fans have all come out in droves, decked out in black and gold. Every high-five we get from fans brings us one step closer to stepping out on that field. Any former football player can tell you--there’s absolutely nothing like walking out into that stadium on game day. The air is thinner, crisper. You’ve got a little more bounce in your step and whatever had been hurting that week in practice suddenly feels brand new. Okay, enough reliving the glory days. It’s showtime!
T-RUC'S KEYS TO THE GAME
*Dominate Line Play
*Solid Defense/Minimal Mistakes
*Playmakers standout
This Mizzou offense has a lot of weapons with a good mix of veterans and youth. Every one of our receivers has some form of All-SEC honor from a year ago. Our QB is the leading returning passer in the conference and our running back led all freshmen rushers a year ago.
The offensive line is HUGE and athletic which usually equates to good things. In the SEC, you won’t survive without big uglies that can move. If our O-Line can’t completely dominate a mid-major defensive line we may be in trouble come next week.
*Sidenote: the last time we had a starting Center from Webb City, MO anchoring the O-Line, it worked out pretty good for everybody.
Defensively, we have a few first time starters and a good amount of experience as well. I’ll be focused on Marcell Frazier and to see if he picks up where he left off at the end of last season. I’m also anxious to get a look at Terry Beckner Jr. coming off of a torn ACL. Having torn my ACL with the Chiefs in 2012, I know the difference between just being ready to play and being “BACK”. The good thing is, it’s just Missouri State, so we can afford for him to just be ready to play.
Having young and first time starting players on defense means we’re more apt to have miscommunications and busted plays which turn into big gains and touchdowns for the other team. Keeping those to a minimum will be key in putting Missouri State away. It’s important to not let teams like this “hang around” for two reasons:
1. It increases your starters chances of getting injured late in the game when they should be drinking Gatorade cheering from the sideline, not still playing.
2. They could win.
In a game like this we should get a good idea of who our playmakers are going to be. There should be a clear distinction that these guys are better than they guys they are playing against. I look for Drew Lock to have a big day, but the thing to watch for is how many guys he gets involved. J’Mon Moore is good, we all know he’s going to get a lot of opportunities, but how many of the other young receivers have a big days will give us a glimpse of how much Drew has evolved this offseason. On the defensive side, the D-Line should be camped in their backfield all afternoon.
As for Missouri State, this quote from Steck in the Post-Dispatch should tell you pretty much all you need to know: “ I hope and pray Barry just doesn’t kick our (butt) from pillar to post and run it up on us because it’s going to be a fun game for the state”.
The Bears do have a couple of players to watch though. Quarterback Peyton Huslig won a Junior College National Championship last year with Garden City Community College.
*Random Fact: David Overstreet II, former Mizzou safety that Tommy Saunders and I used to often beat up during practice is the Defensive Backs coach at GCCC.
Malik Earl is a big 6-3, 220-pound receiver that has good playmaking ability. He’s garnered some attention from the NFL and with some young players in our secondary, you might hear his name a few times on Saturday…but hopefully not like we heard Hank Baskett circa 2005. Colby Isbell is a solid kid on the defensive line that will make some guys on our O-Line work harder than they would like to.
And I saved the best for last… Deion Holliman is an electric return man. He was one of only three FCS players to return a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown last season. The SEC is similar to the NFL in that special teams is about as important as offense and defense. This will be a good tune up for Mizzou in this phase of the game, because usually against lesser teams it’s easy to sandbag in this area and no one really notices. It should be a nice tune-up for South Carolina next week.
I’ll see you Saturday at the Zou and be sure to cheer loudly when they introduce the '07 team during the game!! MIZ!
