Tuesday Tiger Notebook

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Suffice to say that Tucker McCann’s first season did not go the way he expected it to. The nation’s No. 3 kicker in the Class of 2016 signed with Missouri out of O’Fallon Township High School and immediately won the starting job. He made just six out of 12 field goals and missed four extra points.

"Once you get to this level, you're gonna have the guys that have the natural leg talent," McCann said. "Really, just a lot of it comes down to the mental part of it."

McCann was again the starting kicker, but under a bright spotlight, as a sophomore. He missed his first extra point attempt of the season and yanked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds. The following week, he missed a field goal—but made two others—in a 31-13 loss to South Carolina.

“We can’t go down that road,” head coach Barry Odom said after the Missouri State game. “We don’t have time to do that.”

Since week two, McCann has been incredibly consistent. He hasn’t missed an extra point. He missed two field goals against Kentucky, but both were the result of bad snaps.

“I’ve seen him do it (in practice),” Odom said. “I’ve seen him be confident and make big kicks in situations that we’ve tried to put him in. I know he’s got the skill set to do it. I think he’s grown and matured as a competitor.”

According to McCann, though, there's not really much difference.

"I'm feeling pretty good. Just trying to get better and not settle," he said. "Just working every day. Just learning from anything and everything I can learn from. That's all there is to it."

But the teammate who sees McCann the most disagrees.

"You could just see a different Tucker. Just competitive, driven, ready to go. Ready to make some kicks," punter and holder Corey Fatony said. "Just the way he walks, the way he talks. He's got some swag about him."

He also has a touchback percentage of 62, which would rank 28th in the country. Take away Deebo Samuel’s 97-yard return for a touchdown and Mizzou is allowing just 18.61 yards per kickoff return, which would put the Tigers 27th nationally that category.

McCann may not quite be automatic just yet, but he has made big strides toward being the kicker Missouri thought it was getting two years ago.

“He tugged on my shirt the other day and said, ‘Coach, I’m good from,’ and he said a really long distance,” Odom said. “I said, ‘Hang tight, we’ll get there.’”

As Missouri has shifted more and more recruiting attention to SEC states, every conference game brings a homecoming of sorts for someone on the roster. This week, it’s Tennessee natives Emanuel Hall and Paul Adams who will start against their home state team.

Adams is a two-year starter for the Tigers and Hall saw the field quite a bit last season. So both have faced the Volunteers before. But it does still carry a bit of extra significance.

"It's pretty big, being the home state," Adams said. "But I mean really, you're just kind of looking at it as this is kind of another game. Try not to let all the hype get too much for me, stay cool."

Truth be told, Adams followed the Vols when he was growing up, but it's another SEC school that dominated his household.

"Here's the thing," Adams said. "I grew up as a Bama fan. I'm named after Paul 'Bear' Bryant. So third Saturday in October, no orange in our house.

"I would always come back to school on Monday, usually Alabama won, so I was like, 'Oops, sorry.'"

Saturday will also serve as senior day for 19 Tigers. Here is the full list:

OL Alec Abeln

LB Eric Beisel

LB Joey Burkett

WR Dominic Collins

CB Logan Cheadle

DE Marcell Frazier

DE Jordan Harold

S Anthony Hines

OL Tyler Howell

DT A.J. Logan

OL Kyle Mitchell

WR J’Mon Moore

OL Adam Ploudre

TE Jason Reese

WR Cameren Rivers

OL Adam Roland

S Anthony Sherrils

S Thomas Wilson

RB Ish Witter

Missouri's starting quarterback isn't from Tennessee. But the Volunteers were one of the teams Drew Lock looked closely at coming out of high school. He even took a visit to Knoxville.

"They had a really good quarterback room which was kind of a little discouraging," Lock said. "A lot of young guys. The guy at Memphis (Riley Ferguson) was there, (Josh) Dobbs was there, to where that kind of pushed me away from that, but in the end it was one of my favorite places."

Tennessee's embattled head coach sure wouldn't mind having him.

"He's going to play for a long time on Sundays," Butch Jones said earlier this week in the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

While Tennessee was in the mix for Lock toward the end, along with Michigan and Oklahoma, there was never much of a chance he was going there...or anywhere else.

"I pretty much knew it was Mizzou," he said. "So you can throw any of the other offers out."

Missouri has shuttled a ton of new faces in and out of the lineup this season, particularly on defense. One of them made his first significant impact on Saturday. Outside linebacker Tavon Ross made a huge hit down near the Florida goal line to help keep the Gators out of the end zone. Ross, a highly-rated recruit out of Georgia in the Class of 2014 has battled injuries his entire time in Columbia. But he has been a fixture on special teams and has finally worked his way into getting some defensive snaps.

“Really rewarding at a lot of different levels,” Odom said. “If you could draw up how you want a guy, his work ethic, the way he approaches academics, the way he treats others, the way he practices, you’re gonna have him. I’m happy for Tavon.”

"It was very gratifying for me to see him get out on the field on defense and actually get out there and make a play," outside linebackers coach Brian Odom said. "He did exactly what he was supposed to do and that's what we expect all our guys to do when they get on the field."

Ross has nine tackles and is among a handful of Missouri defenders who have emerged and helped make an impact as the Tigers have held their last three opponents to 21 points or fewer after giving up at least 31 in each of the season’s first six games. But even before he got on the field on defense, Ross has been a big factor for the Tigers. The coaches chart the number of plays every player gets during the course of the season including special teams. Brian Odom said Ross has played as many plays as many of Missouri's starters.

"A lot of the stuff that he does goes unnoticed, but that being said, in my opinion he's our best player on special teams," Brian Odom said. "He makes our special teams go. He's on all four units every week and they have to game plan around Tavon on special teams."

But even more than his play, it's Ross' attitude and personality that his coaches can't quit talking about.

“There’s a couple weeks ago that he wasn’t in the mix for us defensively but he was over playing scout team tailback,” Barry Odom said. “He’s the ultimate teammate and a heck of a competitor.”

"I literally can't say enough good things about him," Brian Odom added. "I'm telling you, there's not a better soul on this team. I've told him more than once he's probably one of my favorite guys I've ever coached. In 13 years that I've coached, he sticks out.

"Tavon's a living, walking, breathing example of the type of guys that we want in the program."

Another Southeastern recruit is learning the ropes at a new spot. Ocala, FL safety Tyree Gillespie saw special teams or defensive action in six games this season. But the last two weeks, he has gone through practice as a running back.

“I’ve got a lot of belief in him and so does our staff,” Odom said. “He’s a high level athlete. I think when it’s all said and done he’s got a chance positionally to help us a lot of different ways and he’s going to have a great career.”

Gillespie is yet to see the field on offense, but after Natereace Strong left the team and Isaiah Miller and Damarea Crockett were injured earlier in the year, the Tigers needed an emergency back in case things went wrong with the top three on the depth chart. Enter Gillespie.

His long term future is still at safety, but the 2017 signee was willing to do whatever was asked of him to help out the team.

“He’s helped us on special teams really all year,” Odom said. “He’s going to get more reps defensively this week in practice, but also he’s got to know what’s going on offensively in case we get to that point.”

Speaking of injuries, Crockett and Christian Holmes remain out for now, but a return has not been ruled out for either player. Odom said Crockett will not play this week, but will not rule him out for the season yet.

On Holmes, Odom said “there’s a chance” he returns this season. “He wants to do anything he can to help us be the best team we can…I hope we have to make the decision on which way to go there. He’s eager. He thinks he’s ready to go play, but we’re not there yet.”

Saturday’s game will kick off at 6:30 and be televised on the SEC Network. The November 18th game at Vanderbilt was selected on Monday for a 6:30 kick on the SEC Network as well.