Mizzou Links, 9-7-07

• Hmm...I see Graham Watson has a similar 'matchups' setup that I provided last week for Illinois (and will provide later today for UM). I'll pretend I was first. Meanwhile, Dave Matter looks at matchups as well...and mentions that former KOMU'er Bob Ballou is getting married in Texas this weekend. Congrats, Bob...
  
• You want more matchup talk? Good! Gabe Dearmond's got the 'ultimate breakdown' of Mizzou-Ole Miss...a game that will indeed be untelevised. Daddy Dearmond's got some other game facts as well. Ed Orgeron has Mississippi fired up...which is great, though at some point they still have to win.
  
• Tony Temple is looking for daylight...
• Go figure...the Big 12 holds its own against the big, bad SEC...
• The biggest Big 12 game of the week has to be OU-Miami. Crimson and Cream Machine has plenty of posts about it...
  
• Like photo galleries? Here are a couple: Power Mizzou's got football practice pics, while Mutigers.com has basketball weight training pics.
  
• And finally...1,284 yards and 13 TD's. And Mizzou fans thought Mizzou's defense was bad...
  

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Condolences to OU...

...and, of course, the family of OU commit Herman Mitchell, who was stupidly shot dead after a
stupid argument with a stupid former friend. Ugh.

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Mizzou Links, 8-24-07

A quick one today, for two reasons: 1) I'm running a bit late, and 2) I'm running a bit late because I spent way too much time trying to find an Illinois blogger for some news. Hate it when that happens.

• Fall sports officially begin tonight, as Mizzou Volleyball faces Ole Miss tonight in Oxford. Good luck to the ladies...
• Gabe has a practice report up, along with his Best of Spring feature.
• Meanwhile, Michael Keck will redshirt due to bangedupedness. Meanwhile, Derrick Washington is still awaiting word. I'd say that, even though he didn't play much at yesterday's scrimmage, it's about 75/25 that he plays.
• Graham Watson has a nice Will Franklin feature.
  
• Here's Matter's scrimmage report, by the way.
• The Missourian says the (somewhat) obvious--the QB's are settled in their roles.
  
• On the recruiting front, Jeff Ermann catches up with Wichita ATH Chris Harper.
• Finally, it was unofficially official before, now it's officially official: Sam Bradford is OU's starting QB. I believe that means all Big 12 starting jobs have officially been locked down...though with the way Josh Freeman's been performing, I guess he still might be overtaken by a mannequin or a roll of quarters.
• Oh yeah, Baylor's job is, I guess, still up for grabs. I'll look into that tomorrow.
  

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Mizzou Links, 8-21-07

• Here's Mike Dearmond's story about Marcus Denmon's commitment. Seriously, we've now got commits from a skinny, 6'1 PG and a skinny, 6'2 SG...playing fast doesn't even cover what Anderson's trying to do here.
  
• MU soccer starts its exhibition season tonight by hosting Indiana. Bryan Blitz begins his 108th season as MU soccer coach...they're picked 8th in the Big 12.
• Meanwhile, MU gymnastics welcomes a stud transfer...former Columbia native--and now former Ute--Sarah Shire.

And since there really was no MU football news yesterday, here's a look at the Big 12 South..

• Here are some stats from OU's rainy Saturday scrimmage. Yeah, if it weren't confirmed before, it pretty much has to be confirmed now that Sam Bradford is the starting QB. When one guy completes 70% of his passes with 4 TD's and the other two guys combine for a 33% completion rate with 1 TD and 1 INT? Yeah, game over. In all, the offense torched the defense in this one...wonder if OU fans are fretting about their defense? Probably not.
• So Limas Sweed sprained his wrist, Jordan Shipley has a gimpy hamstring, and now Billy Pittman has a sprained shoulder. Lucky for UT, there's not an Ohio State hanging around the beginning of the schedule this season...they can take their time getting these guys healty.
  
• Fox Sports and CFN's Pete Fiutak has an Oklahoma State preview up. There's no question that they'll be much improved over last year, but...a road schedule of Georgia, Troy, ATM, Nebraska, Baylor, and Oklahoma? I think they're going to be pretty hot stuff this year, and I have them going 8-4. Ouch.
• MySA.com says ATM's not satisfied with just beating Texas this year. They want more. Well...good luck. With the only road schedule tougher than OSU's--Miami (FL), Texas Tech, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska--they'll do well to go 8-4 as well.
  
• Double T Nation takes a look at Tech's secondary. They've got some experience and play-making ability, and they're going to need it...their front seven isn't going to be too hot.
  
• And finally...poor Baylor. Rumor has it Guy Morriss has sold his house in Waco. Best to get a jump on that, I guess.
  

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Mizzou Links, 8-8-07

So uhh...anything major happen yesterday? Anybody get hurt or anything? Oh somebody did? I had no idea. Yup...mark it down: I got my first "We're cursed!" e-mail from a buddy of mine around lunchtime on 8-7...not too shabby. Guess that means it's officially football season, baby.

• That's right, Tony Temple's out for a bit. The bad news is, of course, that he's still strangely injury-prone, while the good news is two-fold: a) it was a totally random occurrence, and b) he won't be out too long. In the meantime, the backup RB issue can be addressed a little better as all the candidates--Marcus Woods, Earl Goldsmith, Jimmy Jackson, Derrick Washington, maybe Devion Moore--will get more reps.
  
• Also out for a little while: Hardy Ricks. It's unfortunate because he was by all accounts having a fantastic camp. Others are stepping up as well--Castine Bridges, Paul Simpson--and the teams we'll play in his absence aren't exactly the run-n-gun type, so I guess it's not a devastating loss. All I know is, hopefully the injury bug is done biting.
• Two days into camp, I had pretty much read features on every Mizzou unit except the O-line. No more.
• Want some news about OU's football practices to date? Hope you have Windows Media Player. They don't do 'print'...they do video. I should mention that if you watch the August 6 "Demarco Murray Delivers the Hit of the Day" video, the guy wearing #47 (the TE standing up the LB for Murray's big hit) is a freshman walk-on named Trent Ratterree...the little brother of my high school best friend. Kid's going to be OU's Tommy Saunders. He's a beast.
  
• Here's a little more on Roger Wehrli's 'whirlwind weekend.'
  
• Finally, another camp opens today: volleyball, baby. In my favorite non-football/basketball sport (trust me, you'll be reading plenty match recaps this fall), Mizzou has been picked 3rd in the conference behind Nebraska (duh) and Texas. Mizzou had to replace all-time great setter Lindsey Hunter last season and went through some growing pains with lots of freshmen in the rotation. This year, Lei Wang is more experienced at setter, but the Tigers have to replace offensive mainstays Jessica Vander Kooi and Nicole Wilson. If a hitter steps up to complement Na Yang (my favorite volleyball Tiger)--be it Julianna Klein, Amanda Hantouli, Megan Wilson, or any of the six freshmen--this could be another fun season.

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Well, that was rather sudden...

Granted I've not been keeping up with a lot of sports headlines recently, so I don't know if this has been in the works, but when the Oklahoma Sooners make the Washington Post website, your ears kind of perk up a little bit.

It will be interesting to see how this one shakes out, because I don't think the NCAA is very cavalier about wiping a season off the record books. I can't see an appeal doing the Sooners much good.

Here's what I do know, KU just improved it's 2005 record by a game!

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Mizzou Links, 4-18-07

• Mizzou Baseball gets a strong start from Ian Berger and beats SMS, 3-1. And let's face it, any time you can beat SMS (in Springfield, no less), it's a good day.
• And speaking of teams it's fun to beat, Mizzou Softball travels to Lawrence for a doubleheader this afternoon.
• Dave Matter has some nice coverage of Spring Practice going on at his "Behind the Stripes" blog. Check it out if you're not already. And while we're at it, Graham Watson's done a pretty decent job as well. KC Star? Where's your blog??
• In case you haven't noticed, former Tiger Ian Kinsler is absolutely ripping it up with the Rangers right now. This is All-Star caliber ball he's playing...
• And finally, here's a story about OU's NCAA hearing regarding Bomar et al. David Boren's definitely in full politician mode here...

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Oklahoma Spring Football Preview

2006

What are the three lingering memories you have from OU’s 2006 campaign? 1) OU getting screwed in Eugene, 2) Adrian Peterson breaking his collarbone, and 3) OU walking into a hornet’s nest of trick plays in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State. You’d think this was a disappointing season. It wasn’t.

Most analysts handed the conference title to Texas at the beginning of the season, and after UT whooped OU in Dallas, it seemed like a done deal. However, OU ripped off eight straight wins while nobody was looking, and UT stumbled late in the season against K-State and ATM, and suddenly it was the Sooners thumping Nebraska in the Big XII title game instead of the Longhorns. Of course, that set them up for the craziness that was the Boise State game, but oh well. No matter what, the season was a success.

What was impressive about OU’s success in 2006 was the fact that the two biggest question marks entering the season—QB and O-line play—were two of the stronger aspects of OU’s play. Senior Paul Thompson was steady and error-free most of the season and allowed OU’s weapons—namely, Adrian Peterson and Malcolm Kelly—to make plays. When Peterson went down, Allen Patrick filled in admirably. Patrick was a workhorse back, carrying the ball 30+ times in wins over Colorado, Missouri, and Texas A&M and when he went down, Chris Brown was strong too.

Coming into 2006, the defense was supposed to be one of Bob Stoops’ best, and for the first month of the season they were anything but. Against UAB, Washington, and Oregon, OU gave up almost 400 yards per game. However, something clicked around the Texas loss, and things started to turn around. They held Colorado to 113 total yards and 5 first downs, they picked off Chase Daniel 3 times, they held Baylor to 140 total yards (-48 rushing), and they gave up only 100 points in the 8 games following the Texas loss...which is enough to forgive the 43 points they gave up in the Fiesta Bowl, ahem. In the end, they finished #16 in the nation in total defense...a very impressive recovery from a horrid non-conference start.

Key Returnees

The good news is, OU only lost 10 lettermen from last year’s squad. The bad news is, that 10 included Adrian Peterson, Paul Thompson, and Rufus Alexander. And their top three DE’s. The secondary, WR corps, and O-line return almost completely intact, though, and that’s huge.

There are all-conference candidates everywhere—RB Allen Patrick, WR Malcolm Kelly, OL Jon Cooper, DT DeMarcus Granger, safeties Reggie Smith and Darien Walker, etc., and OU always brings in a strong recruiting class. There is, however, a giant, gaping hole at QB. Paul Thompson was nothing if not steady filling in for the disgraced and departed Rhett Bomar. Thompson’s replacement doesn’t have to be flashy, but he can’t lose games.

Spring Developments

It seems 90% of the attention in the spring has been paid to the QB competition. Heck, their Spring Game was on ESPN (how unfair is that??), and that’s pretty much all the announcers talked about for two hours. The two main candidates are junior Joey Halzle and RSFr Sam Bradford. Bradford looked phenomenal in the Spring Game—I know this because it was on ESPN...have I mentioned how unfair that is? Down the line, I expect him to take the job, but Sooner coaches might try to be as cautious as possible with the young Bradford. Keith Nichol, a true freshman, graduated HS early and was in for spring ball, but he appeared to be a few steps behind. I assume he’ll redshirt.

Another development of spring practices was the emergence of yet another stud running back, redshirt freshman Demarco Murray. At the very least, he appears to have taken over the main kick return duties for the fall, but with his staggering numbers (16 carries, 132 yards in the 2nd scrimmage), he butted his way into the RB picture as well. Stoops likes to break freshmen in shortly (Adrian Peterson didn’t start until a few games into his freshman season), so I would figure Patrick is still #1 to start the season. With OU breaking in a new QB, though, you figure there will be plenty of carries to go around for Patrick, Murray, and Chris Brown.

The new QB will also have some strong weapons ready to catch some passes. Everybody knows about Malcolm Kelly, but RSFr Adron Tennell emerged as a strong threat in the spring, and sophomore TE Jermaine Gresham has started to prove why he was the #1 TE recruit in the country coming out of high school. This OU offense, with a strong load of freshmen and sophomores, could be OU’s most explosive offense in quite a while, but with such young personnel, OU fans must worry a bit about inconsistency.

As for the defense, there were quite a few new faces to work into the mix on the D-line (doesn’t it seem like every school in the conference lost their DE’s??). You never worry about OU’s talent level, but the same inconsistency bug I mentioned regarding the offense could bite the D as well.

LB Ryan Reynolds was lost for the spring to a knee injury—after being lost all of last season due to a knee injury—and that was a disappointment, but JUCO transfer Mike Reed and junior Curtis Lofton emerged as big-time hitters. Overall, the offense crushed the defense in the Spring Game, and while you don’t want to read too much into that, a scenario in which the defense starts slow and improves throughout the season (a la 2006) is definitely plausible.

Fun With Numbers

By the numbers*, here are the five biggest keys to success for OU in 2006:

(* The numbers have changed slightly from this linked post as I tinker with ways to calculate correlation)

1. Opponents’ Completion %
2. Penalty Yards
3. Opponents’ Yards Per Pass Attempt
4. First Down Ratio
5. Opponents’ Rushing Yards

First of all, this does suggest that OU’s breaking in of a new QB won’t be the make-or-break issue for OU in 2007. Like everybody else in the conference, OU will be breaking in new pass-rushers, and how fast they find them (Alonzo Dotson appears to be the most likely candidate) will dictate how quickly the pieces of the defense fall into place. If the opponent’s QB is under pressure and the pass defense is solid, then OU will likely find success, new QB or no new QB.

OU was also the only team in the conference whose success was so strongly altered by their number of penalty yards. A team with this level of experience (and, one would hope, more discipline) on the O-line and in the secondary should be able to cut their overall number of penalties, and taking that out of the equation could lead to more success.

It would behoove the Sooners to not wait a month before playing defense like last season, though with this year’s slate, they might get away with it. Last year’s trip to Eugene is replaced this year with a trip to Tulsa—definitely not a gimme, but being that they’ll have half the fans in the stands, it’s definitely a better situation. Last year they hosted Washington, this year it’s Miami-FL. Sadly, Miami isn’t much of a step up from Washington, but you know they have athletes. Breaking in a new QB and playing so many freshmen and sophomores on offense, you could definitely see OU slipping up at some point, but I have to think that they still have pretty good odds of duplicating last year’s 10-2 regular season record, especially if they emerge from the non-conference slate unscathed.

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