Join Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter for his live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday
Bring your Tigers football, basketball and recruiting questions, and talk to Dave Matter in a live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday.
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The baseball team is better than last year, but it was a low bar to hurdle. With two series left, the Tigers are last in the SEC, two games behind Kentucky and Mississippi State in the standings. Only 12 teams make the SEC tournament based on conference record, so the Tigers have no room for error these final two weeks and will need some help across the league to squeak into the SEC tourney.
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Some thoughts on some mizzou programs. Mizzou Baseball has made some strides forward long way to go to compete in top of Sec but they are headed in right direction. Mizzou softball is playing like they were predicted to at the right time should be a 2 seed in regional. Womens basketball can't figure out what is going on without some portal players the current roster is not a good SEC roster the bigs aren't good enough. I think men's basketball has a much better roster but we need a good big and a shooter not sure really good players are left in the portal. Football I am hoping for 7 wins but I think 5 is probably it but 6 is very possible QB and running back 2 key position I don't think is SEC caluber.
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I can't really have an opinion on something without knowing the facts. They didn't explain publicly why they didn't choose Missouri. And it's naive to think all three based their decision on the same factor(s). I always thought JT Daniels was a long shot. It was known he didn't like the idea of playing in the SEC and playing against his former team. Jayden Daniels went to a more established program that's two years removed from winning the national championship that's now led by a more proven head coach. As for Bohanon, not sure. Maybe he really likes Tampa. Sure sounds like he really clicked with Jeff Scott and his staff and his offense. If he's planning on playing just one more season of college football to polish his NFL credentials, then he can do that at USF.
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Not really. He's 5-8 and 190 pounds. His size was always going to work against him - especially at a position the NFL doesn't value as much as it used to. When NFL coaches and executives have to invest draft capital in a player, no matter the round, many will prefer the bigger bodied athlete because it suggests they'll be more durable over the course of the season. Badie was pretty damn durable last fall, but some might have viewed him as a one-year wonder. Either way, none of that really matters now. I think he went to an ideal situation in Baltimore. You don't have to be Walter Payton to be a productive running back in that system playing alongside Lamar Jackson. And it's not like the Ravens have a deep team of established backs. Most of them are coming off major injuries.
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Looks like Eli is 0-3 in the QB transfer portal. It is hard to understand why.Bohannon chose The American Athletic conference and South Florida over Mizzou and the SEC. seems like a big dropofffrom the Big12 to the AAC whereas the SEC would be a step up in competition. Maybe Eli didn’t promise him the starting job. With Mizzou’s receiving corps especially with the addition of Luther Burden, it would have been interesting to see if he could match his 2021 passing yardage of 2200 yards.
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Maybe Bohanon wasn't really looking to play against better competition. Besides, the Big 12 has become a much better defensive league. He wouldn't necessarily play better defenses on Mizzou's schedule. He might even play a better schedule at USF: BYU, Florida, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville and UCF. Those are some very good programs. Then again, he might be able to put up better numbers and showcase more of his abilities in an offense that developed two NFL starters in Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. How many NFL QBs has Mizzou's offense developed?
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Greetings Chatinator. After a slow start it appears the women’s softball team is hitting its stride. Although it looks like they’ll be on the road for the ncaa tourney, I like their experience to give them a chance to make run. I think that if they win the SEC tourney or at least make the finals they might even host a regional. Thoughts?
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Mizzou began the day No. 19 in the RPI. There will be 16 host teams in the regionals. The Tigers play No. 4 Alabama today. That would be a valuable RPI win. No. 8 Tennessee could be the semifinal opponent. So, I'd say it's still up for grabs in terms of Mizzou hosting.If not, they've earned one of the mores favorable No. 2 slots. The home team won't be happy to see Mizzou in its regional.
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Ryan Hoerstkamp, who played in a few games last year and most of the bowl gameTyler Stephens, transfer from Buffalo. He missed last few weeks of the spring with an injury. He's got the most FBS playing experience.Gavin McKay, redshirt freshman. Only tight end to catch a pass in the spring game.Max Whisner, true freshmanKibet Chepyator, walk-on senior who played some in the bowl game
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The roster isn't complete and still lacks a true center, but if the season tipped off today, I'd go with something that looks like:1. Nick Honor2. Sean East3. D'Moi Hodge4. Kobe Brown5. Mo DiarraThat's with both point guards on the floor together, which is something Dennis Gates said we'll see this year. You can sub out Honor or East and start Hodge at the 2, then maybe move Noah Carter or DeAndre Gholston or Tre Gomillion into the 3 position.
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I don't think I expressed myself well enough, when I sent you a question, a couple of weeks ago. I said that I would have felt very good about where the men's basketball program is, if we had this staff three or four years ago. I said my worry was that Mizzou will never compete well in the SEC NIL game. You mentioned that Mizzou is at/near the bottom in its athletic department spending, anyway, and of course that's true but my point is that we have facilities that are high-enough quality to get the better players; we now have a MBB staff that appears to be very high-quality when it comes to their recruiting skills but in the NIL world, that's not enough. You have to answer those two questions before many of the players say, "Okay, so how much cash can you throw my way, too?" You've often said that has always gone on and, to a degree we all know that ("Coach Self, the FBI on line 2 - wait, never mind, they hung up.") But the amount of money - and the ubiquitous nature of it - means that our facilities and coaches only get us mid-table in the SEC, at best. That's my concern.
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That could be true. If so, if NIL is the only key to unlock the program's potential to compete at a national level, then it comes down to raising money through the boosters and collectives. The collectives have to be aggressive and organized. The support has to be widespread around the fan base and can't just come from a few select millionaires.
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If you've already answered this question, please feel free to skip it but I was curious why a kid like Bohannon would commit to a program that was 2-10 last year, finishing below Tulane and Navy in their conference, as opposed to Mizzou? Frankly, I'm fine with it - I'm happy to see what Cook & Macon can bring (which I think can be good and their development timeline will coincide with when I think we have the potential to really make some noise in 2023 & '24). Of course, my $4M salary doesn't depend on getting this team competitive ASAP, so I suppose it's easy for me to say as a fan that I can wait. But back to that initial question - isn't the Mizzou QB room at least a solid step up from the USF QB room?
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It all depends on what Bohanon is looking for. His values might not be the same as your values or my values. He appears to have really clicked with Jeff Scott and his coaches. Maybe he was more impressed with the offense and its success rate at Clemson with quarterbacks. Maybe he likes the USF schedule better this fall. Or the Tampa weather. Or the uniforms.It's natural as fans and media for the rest of us to put ourselves in the transfer's shoes and weigh all the factors at play, but ultimately it's their choice - and they might weigh some factors differently than the rest of us.
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It's hard to win fewer than 12 college basketball games in a season unless you go schedule too many good nonconference teams or you get smacked with too many injuries to overcome. This staff still needs to address the roster's lack of size. I think they could afford to add another proven shooter. But the addition of two competent point guards could make a major difference, especially late in close games when ball-handling and decision-making is at a premium.Gates believes having two point guards will make the rest of the team shoot better from 3 because they'll be taking better shots and getting the ball in more favorable shooting positions. He's studied all 11 players' 3-point shot and believes they can all be productive shooters. We'll see.
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1. I don't know of any specific targets the staff is after. St. Bonaventure's Osun Osunniyi would be a great addition, but Mizzou hasn't been connected to him. He's visited Florida and Iowa State. Former Maryland/Georgetown big man Qudus Wahab would be intriguing, too.2. This much I know: Heading into last weekend, the staff fully expected Sharp to transfer to Missouri. The plans were in motion for him to move to Columbia. Then things went quiet between the two sides on Sunday and he shocked everyone Monday when he announced he was staying at WKU. The staff was blindsided. By Wednesday, Sharp was publicly lobbying WKU fans to support the NIL collective that WKU boosters have established to help benefit their athletes, which is perfectly legal and wise for players to promote. (Mizzou's main NIL collective isn't public yet.)3. I don't know of any specific names the women's team has targeted. Pingeton expects to add two or three transfers.
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How would you compare where Brady Cook is in his development to where Chase Daniels was coming into 2006, Blaine Gabbert coming into 2009 and James Franklin coming into 2011? It seems like Daniels got the most in game experience as a back up and Gabbert had the 5 star credentials. But is it fair to expect Cook to have the type of success Franklin had as a first year starter?
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Who is Chase Daniels? I should disregard this question, but I'll bite anyway.Daniel appeared in 10 games as a true freshman and attempted 66 passes.Gabbert appeared in three games as a freshman and attempted 13 passes.James Franklin played in 10 games, attempted 14 passes and ran the ball 23 times.Then you have Cook, who in two seasons at Mizzou has appeared in seven games, attempted 65 passes and ran the ball 23 times. So, he's a year older in terms of being on a college campus compared to those three guys who became starters as true sophomores. He's thrown the ball a lot more than the latter two. I wouldn't compare him to Daniel, though, because Daniel played in more of high-leverage situation in that 2005 Iowa State game that essentially saved the season and saved Gary Pinkel's job. Cook mostly got mop-up duty until starting and playing the entire bowl game - with most of MU's starters on the sideline sitting out.Is it fair for Cook to have Franklin's 2011 success? That year, James threw for 2,800 yards and 21 TDs (11 INTs) with a 140 rating and also ran for 981 yards and 15 touchdowns. That's nearly 4,000 yards of total offense. More important, he won eight games, beat nationally ranked Texas and Texas A&M, beat rival Kansas and was MVP of a bowl win over North Carolina. That's a pretty impressive season for a first-time starting QB in a power conference. High bar for Cook to surpass. But not impossible.
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Dave - If we are looking at a rough 2022 with hopefully, maybe 5 or 6 wins, why do we think 2023 is going to be any better? The revolving transfer door is not in our favor, we have two defensive coordinators in 3 years - along with other changes at position coaches, who knows what quarterback will be here, the entire SEC east is getting better etc. After two season, I don't see where ED is positioning this program. Thank You
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I think Missouri wins more than five games this year. I wouldn't be shocked by six or seven.Why would 2023 be better? For starters, recruiting. Drinkwitz has signed back to back top 20 classes. That indicates a surge in talent is coming through the program. That doesn't guarantee more wins, but teams that recruit on a national level consistently win more games than teams that don't. If Sam Horn is the eventual answer at quarterback, he'd be a year older and ready to embrace the job in 2023. Possibly. The core at receiver is all back - at least on paper - and MU has young linemen and running backs they expect to be good. They've recruited well on defense too and filled in holes with transfers at positions of need.I'm not here to say Mizzou is winning the SEC in 2023, but a 6-6 finish in 2022 doesn't necessarily translate into doom in 2023.
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Good day to you Dave and hope all is well your way. Okay, let me start my questions off to you today with a REALLY important one: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your interest in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series? You know, one thing I already don't understand about it is rumors are there's going to be a "rematch" between Kenobi & Vader in a lightsaber duel which seems to me will then not make sense for what we all thought was their only rematch in Star Wars '77! Well hopefully the writers will come up with a good idea for covering up that potential plot-hole. Thanks for letting me vent on that. May The Force Be With You.
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I've written about this before, but Drinkwitz historically leans hard on one primary back - and sometimes gives the No. 2 back a smattering of carries. In the spring it sure looked like Nate Peat would be the No. 1 option. But is he a 20-carry-a-game kind of tailback? He hasn't had that kind of workload since high school. I figure it'll be more of a committee approach than the last two seasons. The staff loves Tavorus Jones. He should get a chance to make an impression this summer. I liked what I saw from Cody Schrader in the spring. He runs hard and always moves the pile. Elijah Young? Played well in the bowl game but he vanished in the middle of last season? Michael Cox? He produces when he gets the ball but that doesn't happen very often.
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Nah, don't read into that. Good staffs take a quarterback every year, even if they're stacking four- and five-star QBs in back-to-back-to-back classes every recruiting cycle. You get as many good QBs as you can carry on the team and you let the depth sort itself out. Some are going to transfer no matter what. You can't keep everyone happy. But it's always better to lose a talented QB because he can't win the job because there's too much talent on the roster. Mizzou was taking a QB in 2023 regardless of the Horn situation.
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Good afternoon Dave,
Were you planning to write a going-away-farewell and best-of-luck column on Javon Pickett? Lots of season ticket holders hate to see him go and to make matters worse... where he ended up. His efforts many a night made the 2-hour trip I make from STL to MIZZOU Arena worth it. Javon, good luck. ? -