FOOTBALL Monday Morning, Back at the Office from Columbia MO.

[MTSUSkyman]

First as many of you know I am alum of both Mizzou and MT. I'm a 3rd Generation Tiger, but 100% cheered for the Raiders from the south endzone in Faurot Field. Here are my observations.
1. This is the worse Mizzou Defense I've seen in 30+ years. How does that happen when the top 10 D coach becomes head coach?
2. The Blue Raiders capitalized on every mistake, like I've not seen in my entire time as a fan/alum. So proud. Too often we've met the big dog on a down year, and made mistakes. Illinois last year is a good example. Saturday that did not happen. When it was 10-0 the boos and groans in the stadium were awesome. Tigers got punched in the mouth.
3. Mizzou fans were waaaaaaaaay too cocky before the game. My dad who follows MT, tried to tell friends at the tailgate. "Mizzou will struggle today." Their response, "Their not LSU." My dad's reply..."No, their offense is better than LSU."
4. Matt Bonidies laid a hell of a hit. Keep your helmet on dude.
5. My wife and I were screaming as the last Mizzou drive felt so much like WKU last week. However, 1 more first down was huge for the offense. 45 seconds to score is way different than 90. Defense held and the remaining fans of 52,000 disappeared quickly.
6. I was also at the OT game in 2003. Brian Kelly you are forgiven for the hit upright on the extra point.
7. Brent, Richie, Desmond, and I'Tavious need to buy the O-line a couple Pizzas. Each.
7. I'm not Greek, but my wife is, and I follow the MT struggles in Greek Life. We have not in the last 20 years had anything close to what I saw at Mizzou. Greek Town in Columbia Mo may be one of the most raucous places on earth.

As I've been in Tennessee almost as long as my youth in the Show-Me state, today I'm wearing blue. It's great to be from Middle Tennessee. On to FIU.

 

[Hop45]

Agree with #5 x 1,000,000. Driving back from Knoxville on Saturday and had to listen to the game on the radio. Felt like a carbon copy of the WKU game with about 3 minutes to play!

 

[C-Bow]

Great insights, MTSUskyman.

Our own Matt Dossett made the trip as well. He's put together an incredible piece for you guys about the trip and the insights he gained. That'll be up for you guys soon.

 

[blueboro007]

Loved your post. One of our SVP's at work is a MO graduate and was feeling pretty confident last week. She was rather quiet when I came in this morning.

 

[dukewayne]

Mizzou seemed to run all over MT's defense to score and chew up clock. Mizzou had moderate success throwing, but not great. That was a difference also in under a minute. Under a min with no timeouts about makes passing an absolute must. That difference at least provided some hope that Mizzou would not have time to run the ball.

 

[Blueraider_Mike]

While they had about 620 yards, it took them 110 plays to gain that much. They had to grind that out and at the end both their RBs were toast.

 

[TeKEraider]

Speaking of running backs, how was that one back allowed back in the game? His lights were out before he hit the ground. How could he pass concussion protocol?

 

[dukewayne]

Speaking of running backs, how was that one back allowed back in the game? His lights were out before he hit the ground. How could he pass concussion protocol?

I was thinking the same thing. They weren't doing that young man any favors. Brain injuries are serious business with possible devastating consequences in the long term.

 

[MT Glenn]

I was thinking just like Skyman on #5, when we punted away, having flashbacks to WKU.

Some of my observations from the game:
1. I thought it might be a good sign when they were playing Sam Hunt's music during a break.
2. Our O-line really did a great job. Their choice for the sponsored "Sack of the Game" was the play where they facemasked Stockstill.
3. The D-line was much better than last week. They got a little bit of a rush at times, but unlike last week, the arms were in the air when they didn't get a rush. Does coach West get credit?
4. I complained about the artificial noise in our stadium, when we were on offense. Mizzou did the same thing. EVERY third down that we had, they pumped the music up until around 10 seconds were left on the play clock. I thought that was against the rules, but apparently not.
5. Missouri fans didn't seem that fired up. Maybe it was homecoming drawing inexperienced fans or maybe they just weren't fired up for little ole us. They hardly ever made much noise, without being prompted by the PA announcer.
6. We didn't bring hardly any fans. It may have been 50, and it was mostly family of the team.

It was a great weekend. Doen't erase the previous weekend, but certainly took some sting away.