Connect with your Facebook Account

• Contact

Football Articles

4

Post-Mortem: Missouri Tigers vs. Nevada Wolf Pack

Posted by Guest Columnist on September 15th, 2008 under Football

Editor’s Note: More commentary from our friends at the soon to be re-launched Atomic Teeth blog and haberdashery. This time Gene Claude on the mic. – SR

______________________________________________

I imagine this is what it felt like to write the Spinks/Tyson post-mortem. 91 seconds in, Mike Spinks was battered and falling through the ropes; 178 seconds in, the Wolfpack were down 14-0, out gained 152 – 6 and the game was all but over.

This wasn’t an aberration—the Tigers ability to land knockout blows early and often (except against the dreaded Stoopsians) over the past two seasons has been rather Tysonic. Since the start of the 2007 season, Mizzou has played fifteen non-Sooner contests. In each, Missouri has either scored the first touchdown by the 10 minute mark of the first quarter or been up 14+ points at half. In fact, the average halftime score in those fifteen contests has been 29 – 8, and only once did Mizzou give up more than 17 points in the first half (18, at KSU last year).

The Tigers’ propensity for landing multiple first half haymakers in 2008—halftime leads of 31 – 13, 42 – 0 and 38 – 17—has made it difficult to determine if the defense is good, bad or simply unnecessary. To further confound the issue, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has exploited the combination of 10 returning starters and cushy double digit leads to do a bunch of truly bizarre shit. To wit, first two defensive plays of the season? Two corner blitzes!

In less than two full games, we’ve seen William Moore in more positions than Jenna Jameson in a double feature. A glass is half full guy would applaud Eberflus for showing future opposing coordinators more looks than Dennis Rodman at a transgender conference, all the while getting a veteran defense some valuable on-the-job experience at esoteric blitz packages. A glass is half empty guy would scream WHAT THE FUCK while throwing up his hands and spilling his friend’s carefully smuggled pint of Jack. An unscientific survey of Mizzou fans finds that the latter outnumber the former by a 5:1 margin.

Nobody knows how good this defense will be when Mizzou’s Buster Douglas comes a knocking. The defense has not yet played a snap without the lead, tip o’the cap to Jeremy Maclin. The only three second half defensive series that mattered thus far came with Mizzou up 10 against Illinois. Those series contained 2 sacks and 2 interceptions, the last a pick six by Sean Weatherspoon that effectively iced the game.

With all that in mind, we didn’t learn much about either the Mizzou offense or defense that we did not know coming into the game with Nevada. An inferior defense can still take it from Chase Daniel and company more ways than Lindsay Lohan at a Tailhook convention. The offense is humming along at about 98% efficiency. The keys have been an offensive line that Pinkel describes as the best he’s had in his 8 years at MU; a real, live downhill running game; and a dwarf as prolific at operating the spread offense as he is at metal working and gem cutting. It was nice to see Chase Coffman acknowledge Hurdlegate and branch out into other Madden multi-button tackle-dodging maneuvers. I believe the level of complexity, Knowshon, has been set at 4.5 successful stiff arms.

I hope this turns into an arcane tackle avoidance pentathlon between the two, everyone wins in that competition.

The defense continued to struggle, at least for a half, with either overly aggressive play calling or busted coverages. Or, in the case of Nevada’s first half ending touchdown, both. Seriously? You can’t play two safeties deep with eight seconds left in the half and your opponent on the 42 yard line with no timeouts? Eberflus continues to alternate a base 4 – 3 and a nickel package, with Garrett and Del Howard at safety and William Moore playing the hybrid OLB/safety nickel position, and Weatherspoon and Christopher at linebacker. He also continues to blitz Moore way too often, often from 10 yards or more off the line. I have no problem with using Moore in the nickel spot and blitzing him periodically to keep o-coordinators on their heels. I do have a problem with that approach representing 25 – 40% of his usage, and another 10 – 20% coming as a lockdown third corner. Moore is best used in space where he can read and react to the quarterback and effectively play the run and short passing game simultaneously. It was entertaining to watch him try to bait Kaepernick/Graziano into throwing 8 yard outs / pick sixes in the third quarter, though. Unfortunately for WillyMo, Graziano didn’t take the bait until something called a Jeff Gettys was there to set the hook. This engendered a spirited discussion amongst our group about how we were able to secure a walk on from Houston. My, how far we have come. Uh, no. Houston, Missouri. Nevermind.

Colin Kaepernick is the sort of non-BCS quarterback that can give any defense fits with his zone read and option running skills and strong arm. I don’t know how many times the entire crowd cheered a smack down on a Wolfpack running back only to realize Kaepernick was skipping to his lou 15 yards downfield, while the cameramen furiously zoomed out to wide angle. The dude has the ball hiding skills of Rupaul. (Seriously, WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY?) Ironically, once Pinkel called off the dogs, and Eberflus went to a base cover 2, the Tigers did a much better job controlling Kaepernick. Granted, by that point Kaepernick was probably exhausted from carrying 21 grown men on his back all afternoon.

All in all, I’ll take a vintage Tyson smack down over an inferior opponent, as opposed to the football equivalent of a Turkey – Ukraine welterweight Olympic quarterfinal.

Article Tags:

,

More from this Barker


Share This

  • StumbleUpon

4 Responses

  1. Phenomenal Smith said:

    September 16th, 2008 at 5:35 am

    Last year Dan Hawkins called the Mizzou offense The Blue Angels. More of the same.

    Ault was disappointed in the Wolf Pack, calling the game a “fiasco.” That seems a little harsh. I really enjoyed it.

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/15/sports/s143758D05.DTL

  2. ChicagoTTU said:

    September 17th, 2008 at 5:43 am

    I caught the first half of this game – Holy Shit, how good is Jeremy Maclin?

  3. Gene Claude said:

    September 17th, 2008 at 10:04 am

    Jeremy Maclin is, indeed, quite talented at football. I was impressed with Jared Perry as well, last year he seemed to be acquiring reptilian limbs at an alarming rate.

    Danario Alexander, however, did not look like he was back to 100%…not much explosiveness. He is still big and athletic enough to help this year, though.

  4. Euclid Pi said:

    September 17th, 2008 at 6:53 pm

    Denario looked about as fast and mobile as Josh Freeman. That might have been a redshirt we would like to have back. We can only hope he came back a couple of weeks early and will improve as the season progresses.

Leave a Reply

Follow Us

Related Articles

Hot Forum Topics

Activity

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Thoughts on Evan Turner’s Bomb   ago

    Then a fourteen to zero run by Illinois. Hmmm.

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Thoughts on Evan Turner’s Bomb   ago

    No worries whatsoever. Teams like kansas, duke, WVU, and Cuse have all struggled in the conference tourney. I think the close win is actually going to help OSU.

    whoopsat, I saw that too. I couldn’t figure it out.

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Thoughts on Evan Turner’s Bomb   ago

    Awesome play. Does struggling with Michigan in any way make you less bullish on the Bucks? Anything in that game from the Bucks that troubles you?

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas-El Paso Basketball On Now   14 minutes ago

    I wonder who had their bubble burst with the UH win. Conference USA has to be jumping for joy.

  • Bob in Houston commented on the blog post Texas-El Paso Basketball On Now   16 minutes ago

    UH: First four-game win streak of the season. The only other three-game win streak was in December. Between the two, 10-13.

    Listened to the AD on the radio postgame, and he never said a word about Penders.

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas-El Paso Basketball On Now   40 minutes ago

    Wow, maybe I’m the problem with the Horns. Utep going down.

  • HenryJames commented on the blog post Texas-El Paso Basketball On Now   50 minutes ago

    Shit just got real, imo.

  • Darius Pourceau wrote a new blog post: Arkansas Basketball 2010: Progression or Regression?   1 hour, 1 minute ago

    Culminating in a first-round loss to Georgia in the SEC tournament, Arkansas basketball in 2009-10 was so disappointing that I have trouble even writing this article and re-living the season. But let us try to find a little closure.
    The reasons given by this coaching staff to have hope for the future continue to be unimpressive.

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas-El Paso Basketball On Now   1 hour, 10 minutes ago

    Derrick Caracter is a bad vato.

  • Bob in Houston commented on the blog post Texas-El Paso Basketball On Now   1 hour, 18 minutes ago

    Houston is all TP, and by that I mean Typical Penders. Shoot when you’re open, some decent trapping defense, but some terrible mental mistakes.

  • Trips Right wrote a new blog post: Texas-El Paso Basketball On Now   1 hour, 45 minutes ago

    One of the two or three best basketball teams in Texas, the UTEP Miners are on CBS now playing against Tom Pender’s Houston Cougars. With John Calipari disciple Tony Barbee manning the opposing bench, the coaching mismatch in this game is stark, and eventhough UH is only down three as I type, so is

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Taylor Jungmann is the best pitcher in baseball   3 hours, 4 minutes ago

    You never mentioned bunting with your best hitter up. Nice restraint.

    I’m convinced this strategy implies Augie’s tacit approval of having Balbay and Mason on the floor together.

    Great article as well. I’m pretty fucking happy baseball season is upon us.

  • Farmer Ted wrote a new blog post: More Big Picture Stuff   3 hours, 27 minutes ago

    It’s the time of year when we see a lot of “state of the program” articles. The off season is a natural time to reflect; it’s also a time when there’s nothing really going on so we turn to big picture fluffery to fake like we’re busy.

    We took a shot this week at noting that

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • uthookem commented on the blog post Nick Saban to the SEC: WTF?   4 hours, 2 minutes ago

    Fried Rice, FTW!

  • uthookem commented on the blog post Taylor Jungmann is the best pitcher in baseball   4 hours, 6 minutes ago

    I was a little skeptical about Jungmann just due to the nature of the pitching beast, sophomore slump, I’m a fag, yadda, yadda. The dude is nails, and is going to be a multi-millionaire in the next two years.

    Pitching is usually ahead of hitting, and in our case, pitching is headed to Nebraska and

  • D W commented on the blog post Taylor Jungmann is the best pitcher in baseball   4 hours, 12 minutes ago

    17 strikeouts is incredible at any level of baseball. I still think the hitting will come around.

  • skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Rick Reilly Is A Walking Amber Alert   4 hours, 32 minutes ago

    FBR,
    Man that article fucking rocks !
    With all the basketball wisdom here at BC this article makes all our talking heads look like drunken sailors in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Why sailors in the Sahara because its where Barnes has landed with his scheme(?) on basketball.
    Barnes is going to war with

  • Gaylon Krizak commented on the blog post Taylor Jungmann is the best pitcher in baseball   5 hours, 7 minutes ago

    And why have we gone 9-1?

    Because of a 1-0 loss. Pitching clearly let us down in that one.

  • D W commented on the blog post Taylor Jungmann is the best pitcher in baseball   5 hours, 12 minutes ago

    17 strikeouts is incredible at any level of baseball. I still think the hitting will come around.

  • HenryJames wrote a new blog post: Taylor Jungmann is the best pitcher in baseball   5 hours, 35 minutes ago

    College baseball.

    He’s a witch. Last night he struck out 17 Iowa batters in only 7 1/3 innings of work. And got a no decision. More on that later. He’s filled out his frame and is no longer all arms and legs like he was last year. His fastball has gotten, uh, faster, and last night

  • Texoz commented on the blog post There’s Something about Avery.   5 hours, 40 minutes ago

    There are some some mighty good points and spectacular literary references in this thread, but I can’t remember a single one because one poster had to reference the Listeater and another one had to drop a neutron bomb.

    I think I would rather watch Precious & Monique rub one out together than watch our first round

  • Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Mike Leach with some VERY hot sports opinions   9 hours, 20 minutes ago

    You really think that’s a big deal? Or is this sarcasm?

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • ursa major wrote a new blog post: Baylor v. Kansas State – Postgame   10 hours, 31 minutes ago

    Loss in Waco = Loss in Kansas City

    A valiant effort by the Bears tonight, but alas, we lost.

    To win tonight, we need to knock down our free throws, limit K State’s 2nd chance opportunities by keeping them off the offensive glass, and take care of the ball on the offensive end. If K State gets

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Luke wrote a new blog post: ’Cats still charged up   10 hours, 58 minutes ago

    Jacob Pullen and Denis Clements aren’t quite good enough to win games by themselves.
    But they have no problems keeping the Wildcats competitive while their teammates are struggling. The top backcourt duo in the Big 12, and maybe the nation, scored 27 of Kansas State’s 36 points in a hard-fought first half against a red-hot Baylor

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Basketball Bets 3/12   10 hours, 58 minutes ago

    Not a good ending. Here’s tomorrow’s card.

    Kentucky minus 4

    Duke over 130

  • bigdukesix wrote a new blog post: Class of 2010 News : Latwan Anderson to Miami   11 hours, 8 minutes ago

    Cleveland, Ohio safety Latwan Anderson signed with the Miami Hurricanes last week. Rivals.com ranked Anderson as the 15th best player in the class of 2010 and the number 1 player in the state of Ohio.

    Landing Anderson adds a little luster to what was otherwise a rather disappointing recruiting class for a school

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post There’s Something about Avery.   13 hours, 43 minutes ago

    I’m thinking that the freshmen all return and Travelocity will have grown taller to be 5′ 5.5″ without his lifts.

    We get Ward ,Dog, and Ipower’s kid back plus add Tristan.

    Everybody comes back and we have a large cluster fuck rotation again. Barnes will try getting a tall white stiff hot for the season.

    I

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Basketball Bets 3/12   13 hours, 56 minutes ago

    Pretty lucky day so far with the Evan’s bomb to keep the future bet alive and then the two overs Diego is talking about.

    Looks like we’ll split the Byu and Washington overs. Profitable day and a lucky one at that. I’ll take it.

  • dick commented on the blog post MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference   14 hours, 7 minutes ago

    i can access BC on my Iphone.

    this blog takes offense to name calling such as “professional” but “dorky” is ok

    the odd thing about the Simmons/KO feud is that I like them both. I read Simmons every week and I miss the Dan & Keith SC glory days.

    I too was scratching my

  • P.Drez commented on the blog post Arshavin is the Best   14 hours, 9 minutes ago

    That is freakin’ brilliant. Deep guy that Arshavin.

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });