Its all about the D in Game 1

Well the time has come for the beginning of the season.  I have tried to be patient, but I am done.  The season begins on Saturday evening matching My Tigers against the Illini.  So how do I think this game is going to turn out?  I am glad you asked.

This game will mark the beginning of a season when the national media becomes impressed with Missouri's Defense.  I expect the offense to struggle in this game, and by struggle I mean they won't be putting 40 on the board.  I see something more like 31 - 14 with the Tigers victorious.

The offense will look great a times and sputter to a few 3 and outs.  But this defense is going to be stellar.  The 14 I am giving Illinois might be generous.  This group is fired up and ready hit someone.  And while everyone will be keying on William Moore at safety, I think it will be our D-Line that is dominant.  They will harass Juice Williams, he will start to run only to find a collection of linebackers that are more pro speed and size than college.  Yes this defense is the real deal and they will have their coming out party on Saturday.

So you might wonder if I will be heading to St. Louis for the game.  I would love to tell you that I won the lottery last night and I was getting a suite and taking all my friends, but I didn't.  So I will be heading to Jay and Kelly's and we will be having a full day of Tiger football.  Starting with the 07 highlight DVD, followed by the Cotton Bowl Romp, then finally the 08 season will begin.  They are having a whole bunch of people over for the game so we will be having a great time watching our Tigers roll to victory.

Predictions

I know it has no right to it, but the freaking gnomes have been kicking me in the ankles and this was the only way to get them to stop.

So here we go:

Lets fist look at the schedule;

08/30/08	vs. Illinois	St. Louis, Mo.	7:30 p.m. CT
09/06/08	vs. Southeast Missouri State	Columbia, Mo.	TBA
Salute to America
09/13/08	vs. Nevada	Columbia, Mo.	TBA
Family Weekend
09/20/08	vs. Buffalo	Columbia, Mo.	TBA
10/04/08	at Nebraska *	Lincoln, Neb.	TBA
10/11/08	vs. Oklahoma State *	Columbia, Mo.	TBA
10/18/08	at Texas *	Austin, Texas	TBA
Homecoming
10/25/08	vs. Colorado *	Columbia, Mo.	TBA
11/01/08	at Baylor *	Waco, Texas	TBA
Black Out
11/08/08	vs. Kansas State *	Columbia, Mo.	TBA
11/15/08	at Iowa State *	Ames, Iowa	TBA
11/29/08	vs. Kansas *	Kansas City, Mo.	11:30 a.m. / 2 p.m. CT
Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship
12/06/08	vs. South Division Champion	Kansas City, Mo.	7:00 p.m. CT

OK so we have to come out of the gates firing on all cylinders because we certainly know that we will get the very best the Illinois has to offer. That said I think that we will be fine. I believe this will be a coming out part for a Defense that is still not getting the recognition it deserves. Final Score - 34 - 14 Mizzou

We then come home for 3 straight games that we should clean up in. Note to all Tiger fans. Nevada is improving and could end up being a trap game. They will also help our strength of schedule at the end of the year. We have now won 4 straight and we take a trip to Lincoln.

Off to Lincoln where we have not won since the Great Wall of China was built. I would like to tell you that we are gonna roll this game. And I will! Mizzou will be hyper focused on this game and will come out and shut down any Husker offense while rolling to a 41-3 victory.

Back home we go to face off against Okie St. He's a Man and He's 40! Mike Gundy will roll into Columbia undefeated but will take his Cowboys out of town with their tails between their legs. Mizzou wins 35 - 21, Maclin will return his first kick of the year in this game.

The Game of the Year in my estimation is next up. The Tigers head on the road to Austin. If the Tigers have not won in Lincoln since the Great Wall of China was built then is must be since the Jurassic period since the Tigers have emerged victorious. But this time the Tigers have something to prove. Chase Daniel is fired up and ready to show Mack Brown exactly what he missed out on by passing on him. Darnerio Alexander will be full speed by this game giving the tigers more weapons in the passing game than anyone can cover. Maclin, Alexander, Saunders, Perry, McGaffie, Coffman, Thomas, Goldsmith..... you get the idea. This day will showcase Chase Daniel as he throws for 5 TD's and runs in for another. The Defense is gelling by this point and felling good, Colt McCoy is knocked out of the game in the first quarter after throwing 2 pics and putting the pall on the ground. The tigers absolutely roll in this one. 52 - 17. Notes on the game, William Moore with have his first Pick 6 of the season and will lead all of college football with 6 interceptions.

The #2 ranked tigers bring their undefeated record back home to a sell out crowd at Memorial Stadium to meet the Colorado Buffaloes. This game will be one of the more entertaining of the year if you enjoy last second victories. After being up so high for the Texas game the Tigers return to Columbia a bit dazed and confused. A much improved Buffalo squad lead the game 21 - 7 at halftime. Coach Pinkle shows some moxie in this game and makes some halftime adjustments and gets the troops fired up. The tigers begin the 3rd quarter with a pick 6 by William Moore and the defense is again fired up. Colorado however uses the aggressive tiger defense to its advantage and comes right back with a play action pass deep over the middle for a long TD. The fans are getting nervous, but Chase and company finally gat on the field and drive down for an easy score to Chase Coffman. The score is now 28 - 21 Buffs. The Defense come up with a stop and puts the Chase and co. back on the feild and they stall a bit as well giving Jeff Wolfert the chance at a 42 yard field goal. With the kick up and good the Tigers now trail 28 - 24. With 10 minutes remaining in the game the Tiger defense comes up with another big stop and puts the offense back on the feild and they do not dissapoint as Daniel hooks up with Coffman for the second TD of the game. As the ensuing kickoff is fielded the Scoreboard reads 28 - 31 Tigers with 3:48 remaining. The Buffaloes set up a brilliant return and if not for a great play on special teams it would have been a touchdown. As it was the Buffloes started a the Tiger 25 and efficiently moved down the field and scored with 59 seconds remaining. The tigers are down 35 - 31 with only 0:59 to go. In a totally different look the tigers line up Maclin and Alexander to field the kick. The run a perfect fake reverse as the Buffs kicked the ball to Alexander and the tigers set it up for Maclin. The buffs bought in and Alexander was all alone with the ball racing down the sideline. Knocked out of bounds at the 42 of Colorado with 38 seconds to go the tigers are in hurry up mode. Last year at times hurry up mode looked like a mess, but this year it is well thought out and planned. The tigers move quickly and move down the field to the 5 yard line on consecutive out routes to Saunders. With 7 seconds remaining the ball is snapped and and once of the most genius plays ever devised by Dave Christianson is run. Coffman is running across the back of then end zone and is being covered like a blanket, Maclin is head to one corner and Alexander to the other and then there is Jared Perry who trails Coffman by about 10 yards, Daniel pumps toward Coffman as a signal to Perry to stop and the pursuit follow Coffman as perry is left wide open as Daniel fires to Perry for the score. A sell out crowd is in a frenzy as their Tigers are now the #1 team in the land as Ohio State will lose to Penn State early in the day. Final Score 38-35 Tigers

The #1 ranked Tigers roll into Waco to face Baylor and are more focused because of the issues they had with Colorado and put the beat down in on the Bears. In a quickly played game as Derrick Washington rushes for 150 yards and 2 TDs. The tigers emerge victorious with a 35 - 14 victory.

Kansas State comes to Memorial Stadium having played better than in years past but this looks to be the year of the tiger as Missouri begins to assert itself on opponents and manhandles K-State to the tune of 45 - 7 as the defense has its best outing in Big 12 play.

The trap game in Ames is anything but as the Cyclones are reeling as they fight through injuries and inconsistent play. The Missouri defense is even more inspired than last game as they shutout the clones as the 1st team offense takes a half off. Final Score 38 - 0 Missouri.

Armageddon at Arrowhead is anything but as KU fans unload their tickets to MU fans because their season has gone so far south. The normally red back drop at Arrowhead is gold this day as the Tigers come out for one last tune up for the Big 12 Championship game. The defense is now the most fear part of this team as there is no weak part. Beginning with the linebackers who can stuff the run, cover the pass, and rush the QB. Then moving to the D line who has come together and and shut down the opposing running game and get consistent push to the QB. Coulter sets a record for sacks during this game and know Reesing out of the game. The DBacks are so good and this is a big reason why the the Tigers will lead with nation in sacks this year. William Moore will be a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft, just behind Jeremy Maclin. The Tigers shut down the Hawks and allow only 10 points as the offense rolls and puts up 52 on the Jayhawks. Final Score 52-10 Missouri!

So there you have it. A really tough game in the middle and so good old fashioned butt kicken of Kansas. Sounds about right.

Black and Gold Game

The Black and Gold game went off without a hitch. There was no tailgating, but instead pizza from Shakes. I will be brief as I am sure that the 3 people who read this are already up to speed on whats happening in Mizzou football. The first team offense looked crisp for it being April. Chase Daniel tried to force a couple of balls, but that is just him. The one I saw that I was not a huge fan of was a pass to Maclin in the end zone, Maclin looked covered from my angle and Tommy Saunders looked like he was wide open in the corner. Could be my angle from the stands but I hope the Daniel is not focusing in on Maclin to much. He does not seem like the type.

The first team defense was just flat out awesome. They only let the second team O past the fifty once and then they did not get past the 35. Granted it is against the 2nd team O, but there is a new attitude on the defense. This squad could really be tough on opponents next year. Lets wait and see how it turns out, but I would say that this should be quite a good year to be a tiger fan!

A cotton bowl post in March?

Touchdown Tony Temple - photo by Jay Hurst

So I will make this short and sweet. Carrie, Kelly, Chickenbone, Tori, Snack Pack and Pringles all made the trip to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl. It was a fantastic way to end an amazing season. Tony Temple made Darren McFadden take second seat as Temple broke all Cotton Bowl Rushing records. The defense came up HUGE and held two of the best running backs in the nation at bay all day.

This sets the Tigers up for an even bigger season next year. I am not going to mention it but should we make reservations for Miami in January? Look for a post after the conclusion of the spring Black and Gold game when Mitch the Gnome, Jay, Kelly, Carrie, Matt, and possibly a few others will make the trip to Columbia to do some pre-season scouting.