Missouri Team Report
Yahoo! Sports
Oct 15, 12:49 am EDT
After a team meeting that was spent correcting mistakes from the past and sharing some motivational thoughts for the future, the Tigers had what quarterback Chase Daniel called one of their best practices on Sunday.
The Tigers spent the evening flushing away the sorrow from Saturday?s 28-23 loss to Oklahoma State and gearing up for a much stiffer challenge this weekend, a trip to No. 1 Texas.
?Everyone woke up heartbroken Sunday morning,? defensive end Stryker Sulak said. ?Nobody was happy. But after the team meeting Sunday, we knew we had to flush it and move on. There?s nothing we can do about it.?
Missouri (5-1, 1-1 Big 12 Conference), which dropped to No. 11, still controls its own destiny as far as the Big 12 North Division, but the Tigers are part of a crowded mix of teams still alive as national championship contenders.
:scared :scared
?If we win at Texas, it?s a statement game,? :142smilie Daniel said. ?I think Texas knows it. I think we know it. It?s going to be a great game. It?s one for the ages.?
Especially for Daniel, who shrugged off an 11th-hour call from Texas? staff when one of the Longhorns? prized recruits reneged on his verbal commitment. Daniel never wavered from his commitment to Missouri and wound up leading the Tigers to uncharted territory the last two years. This week, with his once-beloved Longhorns looming, Daniel?s talked at length about his decision to play for Missouri.
?There was no way I was going to switch,? he said. ?I?d already helped recruit guys who were coming here. What was I going to say to those guys? ?Oh, no, Texas came back on me late.? When I committed to Missouri, I truly believed this is the place I?m going to go. I cut off all other ties. I didn?t take another visit anywhere else. This is where I wanted to come.?
One of Daniel?s most anticipated regular-season games comes on the heels of one of his worst. In Saturday?s loss to OSU, Daniel completed 25 of his final 27 passes, but the two misfires were fourth-quarter interceptions that stalled MU?s comeback.
With the Tigers? postseason BCS hopes riding on Saturday?s trip to Texas, Daniel understands his margin for error has suddenly narrowed.
?What we should focus on is what we?re focusing on, and that?s Texas,? he said. ?Underdogs, overdogs, whatever you want to call it, it doesn?t matter to us. They?re the No. 1 team in the nation. They present a lot of problems for us.?
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: Missouri finally faced a defense capable of slowing its attack. The Tigers blamed their offensive struggles on three turnovers, but blocking breakdowns and uncharacteristic mistakes in the passing game doomed Missouri?s chances against a physical and aggressive OSU defense. Missouri couldn?t generate a good push in the trenches to open the running game, leading to just 11 yards on eight carries by TB Derrick Washington, while QB Chase Daniel was under duress more often than in any other game this season. A stronger commitment to establishing the run?Washington?s last carry came midway through the third quarter?could help stabilize the rest of the offense and take some heat off Daniel in the pocket.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: Missouri?s defense made enough clutch stops to give the offense an opportunity to pull out the victory, but more incidents of busted coverage in the secondary and lost leverage against the run put the Tigers in a hole early. The Tigers? three takeaways couldn?t counter two deep touchdown passes by QB Zac Robinson and a 68-yard touchdown run by RB Kendall Hunter that featured fundamental breakdowns in poor angles and bad tackling. NT Jaron Baston continues to make plays up front, and LB Sean Weatherspoon makes plays all over the field. But Missouri needs more consistent play from its defensive ends and tighter coverage in the secondary?or Big 12 teams will continue to feast on the defense.
QUOTE TO NOTE: ?He beat himself up trying to make it look like it was all his fault. But a lot of things went wrong on that field. It didn?t all start with Chase Daniel. We just played with our ?B? game, not our ?A? game. Play with your ?B? game and anyone can beat you. I think Chase understands he?s the leader of this team, and that?s his job. He?s going to take the fall for us. That?s the kind of guy that he is, and we?re just going to rally around him.??linebacker Sean Weatherspoon
Strategy And Personnel
THIS WEEK?S GAME: For the 11th time in school history, Missouri gets to face the No. 1 team in the country. The previous 10 haven?t gone so well: 0-10 for the Tigers, including one under Gary Pinkel?s watch, a 2003 loss to top-ranked Oklahoma. But the Tigers know there?s no better way back into the national championship conversation than with a road victory over the current king of the polls. For Missouri to have any chance, it?ll have to protect Daniel with a competent running game and solid pass protection against what might be the Big 12?s best defensive line.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WR Tommy Saunders?Very quietly the Tigers? No. 3 receiver is five yards away from matching his receiving yardage total from a year ago. Daniel might be better served finding the reliable senior more often. The offense has been leaning on TE Chase Coffman and WR Jeremy Maclin significantly the last few weeks?even Oklahoma State defenders admitted after Saturday?s game they knew Daniel was zeroing in on Maclin. If Saunders can beat coverages and find holes in the defense, Missouri?s passing game should benefit.
RT Colin Brown?MU had some trouble protecting the edge of its offensive line against Oklahoma State, and it didn?t help when the mammoth right tackle twisted his ankle. At Texas, Brown and LT Elvis Fisher will have to do a better job keeping Daniel safe from DEs Henry Melton and Brian Orakpo, one of the nation?s leading sack artists.
PK Jeff Wolfert ?- Wolfert set Missouri?s career scoring mark with his first PAT against Oklahoma State, but it came on a bittersweet night for the senior kicker, who also had a field goal blocked and missed another against OSU. The Tigers can?t afford to come away from scoring opportunities without points at Texas. For the first time in his career, Wolfert also punted against OSU, using a rugby style kicking style that paid off for the Tigers.
ROSTER REPORT:
?WR Jeremy Maclin suffered a bruised knee when he collided with teammate DE Brian Coulter on a second-quarter punt return. He still managed to catch eight passes for 120 yards after the injury but said he had trouble running at full stride. He didn?t practice Sunday but was expected to practice in some drills on Tuesday. Pinkel said he?s considered probable to play at Texas.
?FS Hardy Ricks replaced Del Howard as the second deep safety in MU?s nickel package against OSU. Ricks came up with a few big plays in pass coverage and against the run and earned himself another week of extensive playing time on passing downs.
?Missouri?s 28 players from the state of Texas will play their first game in Austin, Texas, on Saturday. Six of those players are starters: QB Chase Daniel, WR Jared Perry, LB Sean Weatherspoon, DE Stryker Sulak, DT Ziggy Hood and DE Tommy Chavis. The Tigers have gone 2-3 in the state of Texas, including two bowl games, since their last trip to Austin, a 28-20 loss to the Longhorns in 2004.
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Yahoo! Sports
Oct 15, 12:49 am EDT
After a team meeting that was spent correcting mistakes from the past and sharing some motivational thoughts for the future, the Tigers had what quarterback Chase Daniel called one of their best practices on Sunday.
The Tigers spent the evening flushing away the sorrow from Saturday?s 28-23 loss to Oklahoma State and gearing up for a much stiffer challenge this weekend, a trip to No. 1 Texas.
?Everyone woke up heartbroken Sunday morning,? defensive end Stryker Sulak said. ?Nobody was happy. But after the team meeting Sunday, we knew we had to flush it and move on. There?s nothing we can do about it.?
Missouri (5-1, 1-1 Big 12 Conference), which dropped to No. 11, still controls its own destiny as far as the Big 12 North Division, but the Tigers are part of a crowded mix of teams still alive as national championship contenders.
:scared :scared
?If we win at Texas, it?s a statement game,? :142smilie Daniel said. ?I think Texas knows it. I think we know it. It?s going to be a great game. It?s one for the ages.?
Especially for Daniel, who shrugged off an 11th-hour call from Texas? staff when one of the Longhorns? prized recruits reneged on his verbal commitment. Daniel never wavered from his commitment to Missouri and wound up leading the Tigers to uncharted territory the last two years. This week, with his once-beloved Longhorns looming, Daniel?s talked at length about his decision to play for Missouri.
?There was no way I was going to switch,? he said. ?I?d already helped recruit guys who were coming here. What was I going to say to those guys? ?Oh, no, Texas came back on me late.? When I committed to Missouri, I truly believed this is the place I?m going to go. I cut off all other ties. I didn?t take another visit anywhere else. This is where I wanted to come.?
One of Daniel?s most anticipated regular-season games comes on the heels of one of his worst. In Saturday?s loss to OSU, Daniel completed 25 of his final 27 passes, but the two misfires were fourth-quarter interceptions that stalled MU?s comeback.
With the Tigers? postseason BCS hopes riding on Saturday?s trip to Texas, Daniel understands his margin for error has suddenly narrowed.
?What we should focus on is what we?re focusing on, and that?s Texas,? he said. ?Underdogs, overdogs, whatever you want to call it, it doesn?t matter to us. They?re the No. 1 team in the nation. They present a lot of problems for us.?
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: Missouri finally faced a defense capable of slowing its attack. The Tigers blamed their offensive struggles on three turnovers, but blocking breakdowns and uncharacteristic mistakes in the passing game doomed Missouri?s chances against a physical and aggressive OSU defense. Missouri couldn?t generate a good push in the trenches to open the running game, leading to just 11 yards on eight carries by TB Derrick Washington, while QB Chase Daniel was under duress more often than in any other game this season. A stronger commitment to establishing the run?Washington?s last carry came midway through the third quarter?could help stabilize the rest of the offense and take some heat off Daniel in the pocket.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: Missouri?s defense made enough clutch stops to give the offense an opportunity to pull out the victory, but more incidents of busted coverage in the secondary and lost leverage against the run put the Tigers in a hole early. The Tigers? three takeaways couldn?t counter two deep touchdown passes by QB Zac Robinson and a 68-yard touchdown run by RB Kendall Hunter that featured fundamental breakdowns in poor angles and bad tackling. NT Jaron Baston continues to make plays up front, and LB Sean Weatherspoon makes plays all over the field. But Missouri needs more consistent play from its defensive ends and tighter coverage in the secondary?or Big 12 teams will continue to feast on the defense.
QUOTE TO NOTE: ?He beat himself up trying to make it look like it was all his fault. But a lot of things went wrong on that field. It didn?t all start with Chase Daniel. We just played with our ?B? game, not our ?A? game. Play with your ?B? game and anyone can beat you. I think Chase understands he?s the leader of this team, and that?s his job. He?s going to take the fall for us. That?s the kind of guy that he is, and we?re just going to rally around him.??linebacker Sean Weatherspoon
Strategy And Personnel
THIS WEEK?S GAME: For the 11th time in school history, Missouri gets to face the No. 1 team in the country. The previous 10 haven?t gone so well: 0-10 for the Tigers, including one under Gary Pinkel?s watch, a 2003 loss to top-ranked Oklahoma. But the Tigers know there?s no better way back into the national championship conversation than with a road victory over the current king of the polls. For Missouri to have any chance, it?ll have to protect Daniel with a competent running game and solid pass protection against what might be the Big 12?s best defensive line.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WR Tommy Saunders?Very quietly the Tigers? No. 3 receiver is five yards away from matching his receiving yardage total from a year ago. Daniel might be better served finding the reliable senior more often. The offense has been leaning on TE Chase Coffman and WR Jeremy Maclin significantly the last few weeks?even Oklahoma State defenders admitted after Saturday?s game they knew Daniel was zeroing in on Maclin. If Saunders can beat coverages and find holes in the defense, Missouri?s passing game should benefit.
RT Colin Brown?MU had some trouble protecting the edge of its offensive line against Oklahoma State, and it didn?t help when the mammoth right tackle twisted his ankle. At Texas, Brown and LT Elvis Fisher will have to do a better job keeping Daniel safe from DEs Henry Melton and Brian Orakpo, one of the nation?s leading sack artists.
PK Jeff Wolfert ?- Wolfert set Missouri?s career scoring mark with his first PAT against Oklahoma State, but it came on a bittersweet night for the senior kicker, who also had a field goal blocked and missed another against OSU. The Tigers can?t afford to come away from scoring opportunities without points at Texas. For the first time in his career, Wolfert also punted against OSU, using a rugby style kicking style that paid off for the Tigers.
ROSTER REPORT:
?WR Jeremy Maclin suffered a bruised knee when he collided with teammate DE Brian Coulter on a second-quarter punt return. He still managed to catch eight passes for 120 yards after the injury but said he had trouble running at full stride. He didn?t practice Sunday but was expected to practice in some drills on Tuesday. Pinkel said he?s considered probable to play at Texas.
?FS Hardy Ricks replaced Del Howard as the second deep safety in MU?s nickel package against OSU. Ricks came up with a few big plays in pass coverage and against the run and earned himself another week of extensive playing time on passing downs.
?Missouri?s 28 players from the state of Texas will play their first game in Austin, Texas, on Saturday. Six of those players are starters: QB Chase Daniel, WR Jared Perry, LB Sean Weatherspoon, DE Stryker Sulak, DT Ziggy Hood and DE Tommy Chavis. The Tigers have gone 2-3 in the state of Texas, including two bowl games, since their last trip to Austin, a 28-20 loss to the Longhorns in 2004.
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