Murray State vs. Missouri - Thoughts and Numbers

First off let's start by saying that it was hotter than a two dollar pistol on Saturday and attendance suffered because of it. 58,038 was the final attendance and while not bad it wasn't close to last years opener of nearly 63,000

The Stats:
Rushing: Mizzou had 6 individuals rush the ball for 45 times and gained 358 yards, that's a 8.0 yard per carry clip. The running game was completely different from years past, due to the fact that at all times there was a running back directly behind the Quarterback. I think I only saw 5 wide once in the game. The welcome back celebration for Henry Josey led to a 68 yard touchdown run in the 3rd Quarter to put the Tigers up 51 to 14, and for a guy that had a devastating knee injury, he looked really fast. Russell Hasbrough impressed with a 51 yard run of his own. All in all, the Tigers have a three headed monster with Josey, Hasbrough, and Murphy.

• Henry Josey: 13 Carries, 113 yds, Long: 68 yds, Per Carry Average: 8.7 yds
• Russell Hasbrough: 8 Carries, 104 yds, Long: 51 yds, Per Carry Average: 13 yds
• Marcus Murphy: 7 Carries, 56 yds, Long: 31 yds, Per Carry Average: 8.0 yds
• James Franklin: 6 Carries, 44 yds, Long: 26 yds, Per Carry Average: 7.3 yds
• Morgan Steward: 8 Carries, 29 yds, Long: 10 yds, Per Carry Average: 3.1 yds
• Greg White: 3 Carries, 16 yds, Long: 10 yds, Per Carry Average: 5.3 yd

Passing: The passing game look great and crisp. James Franklin was throwing balls with power and we saw no floating duck balls come from his passing. Maty Mauk saw limited number of passes and did make an appearance in the second quarter. After he subbed in for Franklin in the second half he threw the ball once and Mizzou ran the ball from there on out. Berk came in to get mop up time and made one pass to the bench. Looked like he overthrew his man, and why he is now #3 on the depth chart.

• James Franklin: 26 for 38, 318 yds, 68.4% completions, 3 TD's, 0 Int
• Maty Mauk: 2 for 3, 18 yds, 66.6% completions, 0 TD, 0 Int
• Corbin Berkstressor: 0 for 1, 0 yds, 0% completions, 0 TD, 0 Int

Receiving: Tall could be a one word description of what the receiving corp but that leaves out strong, fast and athletic and that they are. With no starters under 6'4" tall, and Hunt and Coplin being the two short kids at 6'1" tall, the Tigers have talent. The Tight ends caught two passes during the contest but it seemed that they weren't targeted like they might be later in the season. Culkin is big and can be a very valuable weapon for the Tigers. Jaleel Clark is who impressed me the most, made some tough catches and showed some great awareness on the field.

• Jaleel Clark: 5 rec, 51 yds, Long: 14 yds
• Dorial Green-Beckham: 4 rec, 83 yds, Long: 44 yds
• Bud Sasser: 4 rec, 41 yds, Long: 18 yds
• Marcus Lucas: 4 rec, 33 yds, Long: 10 yds
• L'Damian Washington: 3 rec, 32 yds, Long: 16 yds
• Darius White: 2 rec, 44 yds, Long: 37 yds
• Jimmie Hunt: 2 rec, 26 yds, Long: 22 yds
• Eric Waters: 1 rec, 11 yds, Long: 11 yds
• Levi Copelin: 1 rec, 7 yds, Long: 7 yds
• Sean Culkin: 1 rec, 6 yds, Long: 6 yds
• Henry Josey: 1 rec, 2 yds, Long: 2 yds

Special Teams: The return game didn't impress much on Saturday, maybe because the punter for Murray State would hit a line drive style rugby kick and they covered the kick well. Murphy just didn't get a real opportunity to take one back. The field goal team didn't impress when Baggett shanked a 30 yd field goal in the first half and missed one extra point, but came back to hit a 43 yd field goal right before half time. One caveat though was Baggett's kickoffs. Seemed like everyone he kicked landed in the end zone for a touch back or went completely out of the end zone. Christian Brinser is a great punter and will be a great weapon for the Tigers in flipping the field position.

• Punting: Christian Brinser: 3 punts, 145 yds, Avg: 48.3 yds, Long: 51 yds
• Field Goals: Andrew Baggett: 1 for 2, 50%, Good: 43 yds, Miss: 30 yds
• Extra Points: Andrew Baggett: 7 for 8, 87.5%
• Kickoffs: Andrew Baggett: 9 kicks for 584 yds, 8 Touchbacks, Avg: 64.9 yds

Defense: The night started out poorly. After Bud Sasser put the ball on the turf, Murray State proceeded to drive down and score on Missouri, and everyone in the crowd had this thought on their head, "Oh NO!, here we go again." The good news is that Missouri had limited information on the new QB for Murray State and once they adjusted the team settled in and didn't let them score again after the 1st Quarter. I did see some problems, like Dan Hoch not getting a push and noticed that Andrew Wilson wasn't on the field much during the game, he only made one special teams tackle later on in the game. I am not sure if the turnover started the defense off guard or what but Steck has to have his kids ready and they need a lead to be successful. They have to be able to pin their ears back and get after the QB, then the game gets easier for them. 

Other Thoughts:

The New Rock M: The "new" rock M looks great. It should have been done a long time ago, and Alden does get props for that. The way that it joins right up to the field and allows for a larger concourse, where several people were watching from the railing (Reminded me of watching the Royals above the fountains). The brick wall really enhances the look of the facility and it shows how they will head with the East Expansion.

The East Expansion: Wow! They are really moving along on that project. It won't be long and all the towers will be cast and they will be working on the trusses that support the upper deck. It will be a nice addition to the facility once it gets completed.

The Uniforms: The uniforms didn't look that bad and they don't when you are winning in them, but lose and they become the butt of the joke. When Mizzou wins the fans don't really have a need to worry about them looking weird or non-traditional.

The Attendance: Attendance was good for a 97 degree day in late August. The stadium didn't look that empty to be honest and could have swore their were at least 62,000 people in attendance. Realizing that it was a FCS opponent, we still need to call out the students of this University. It is you job to stay for the entire game and cheer the team on. We need to get this notion out of our heads, that when we are up a ton we leave. That is one place we are not fitting in with the SEC for now.

The Corny Advertisements (Pun intended): First it was the CaseIH Red zone now it is the Missouri Corn Growers sponsoring every first down, and their interesting looking mascot shaking Truman's hand. I understand that Agriculture plays a big part into the state's economy and the University, but we will be laughed at because it is just too "silly." At least we don't have the Barilla "Noodle Dance" like they do at Iowa State. You go to an Iowa State game and you know that you are in a state that is predominately agrarian in nature.

Two No Big Deal complaints: The cannon doesn't have the same boom that it used to, maybe because the government is running out of blanks for "Little Joe." The government doesn't see the need to make high powered blanks for demonstration shooting, which makes sense. Also, the North End zone goal post is not straight up and down, and it just bothers me. I think that it should probably be fixed before a team comes in and loses on a field goal and put in a protest.

Stock Up, Stock Down: I will do a weekly things that are trending up and things that are trending down in Mizzou football.

Up

1. Head Coach Gary Pinkel - After last season, every one said he was on the hotseat but after the offensive performance the Tigers should make a bowl game this year and that will keep him safe for now.
2. Quarterback James Franklin - After being injured during last season and really struggling it looks like that James is going to be a solid QB with a chip on his shoulder, which could lead to great things for the Tigers this season
3. Henry Josey - What else can be said about the halfback from Texas. He has a major(one of a kind) knee injury that could have threatened his career. He rehabs and comes back 685 days later and looks just as fast as before. Josey will be a threat all season for Mizzou.
4. Snaps - Remember last season when the QB has to bend or jump to catch a snap, well I only counted one bad snap from Boehm to Franklin so I think we might have our timing back up to par this season.
5. The Offense - This team will get up and down the field and in a hurry. The ball was snapped with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock all the time. It makes for a lot of action and it might be Mizzou's only chance to win some games and put other teams out of reach.

Down

1. Andrew Wilson - The Tigers leading tackler from last season only managed one tackle against Murray State and wasn't on the field much in the first half. Andrew needs to step up for the Tigers to have a chance against stronger competition, well unless one of the young Linebackers are just better.
2. Matt Hoch - Hoch had real trouble getting a push on a FCS defensive line. It might been a part of the strategy for him to occupy a couple blockers so the ends and backers could make the plays but we will need a push from him or Harold Brantley might find his way to the starting rotation.
3. The Check In - When walking in the stadium we had to wait in line for at least 15 minutes to get checked in, all this would have been solved by adding one additional scanner to the Express lane. I mean it says Express, so it might would need to be faster.
4. Bud Sasser - The only reason I put Bud on this list is because he had a key fumble to start the game and it kind of put our defense in a bad spot. He also dropped a couple of passes later. For this team to be successful the receivers need to catch the ball and not give it away. It doesn't matter in this game but it will in the future games.