Quote:
Originally Posted by Mosbonian
duncan:
I'd be interested in getting your take on this year....while I am disappointed overall, it has been a year where MU has had a much stronger schedule so expecting a great year out of this first season might have been a stretch.
We've played Alabama, FL, GA, South Carolina and this game today against aTm.....that's a pretty rugged schedule compared to what we played in the Big 12.
What are your positives/negatives on this year?
(Any other MU fans can chime in here too)
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This year is a clear disappointment. I think you can point to several factors:
1) THe sudden frailness of James Franklin. Coming into Spring Ball, we were hearing how Franklin played through cracked ribs, swollen knees, back pain, etc throughout 2011. Then he injures his throwing shoulder in a freak Spring Ball accident, injures it again against Georgia, injures his knee against Vandy, gets a concussion vs. Syracuse.
Not having a healthy Franklin on the field definitely cost MIssouri the Vanderbilt game, likely cost Missouri the Syracuse game, and might have cost Missouri the Georgia game (Mizzou was up 14-7 when he was hurt, and had moved the ball well while hitting on some big plays early).
Just add wins instead of losses for Vandy and Syracuse, and you're looking at 7-4 heading into this aTm game - right where just about everyone predicted they'd be at the start of the season.
2) The OL woes. Yes, Pinkel and company have not done a super amazing job recruiting here. But the only members of the original, fall-camp two-deep who have played without any interruption are true freshman G Evan Boehm and walk-on G Max Copeland. Three of the two deep never made it to this season: No. 6 OL Taylor Chappell, the top reserve tackle, 3-year starter LG Travis Ruth (No. 4 OL), and solid reserve guard Mark Hill retired due to health issues (No. 7 OL). Then RG Jack Meiners (No. 3 OL) hurt his knee against SE LA, and has been hobbled ever since. Then Elvis Fisher (No. 1 OL) hurt his knee against Georgia, and has been hobbled ever since. Then Justin Britt blew out his knee against Florida (No. 2 OL). C Mitch Morse (No. 5 OL) has also missed time with knee issues.
Any OL is going to look rough in that situation.
3) Lack of adjustment offensively. I agree that Yost thinks too much and gets too clever sometimes. There's not enough willingness to just go to the well on his part.
4) Underperforming pass defense. Missouri still struggles to defend 4 WR sets, because Dave Steckel still insists on sticking with a nickel, 2 LB package even against 5 WR. THis does a few things:
- It signals to the offense you're almost certainly in a zone look.
- It forces you to give one of the LB extra safety help, which detracts from the two-deep zone look
I'd point to poor pass defensive scheme as the reason for the loss to Georgia and the loss to Syracuse.
I don't know that Mizzou's schedule is THAT much stronger than it was a year ago. The difference is not that big. Mizzou just isn't quite as good, mostly because of the injuries at QB and OL.
I'm ready to close the book on this season, and will be glad to see what changes come next year. It will be a big season for Mizzou, and the schedule becomes quite a bit easier, hopefully.
@ Ole Miss instead of Alabama at home (Much, much easier game, though Ole Miss will likely be solid)
Tennessee, Florida, aTm at home (Much easier, though that's likely a 1-2 stretch)
Non-con schedule becomes much easier, too.