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3rd & 7 37yd

IF they get the defense straightened out. It's one thing to give up more points because you're creating more possessions for your opponent. It's another thing to allow your opponent to shoot 41% and 50% from 3, which is what happened the last two games against Wichita State and SEMO. MU's opponents are shooting 35.8% from 3, which ranks No. 255. Not good. Every Cuonzo Martin team was better defending the 3 statistically. Now, this team creates a lot of scoring chances with all the turnovers it faces, but what happens when you're not getting those steals? You better buckle down tighten up against perimeter shooters.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:21:14 PM
Dave, What is your take on Trajan Jeffcoat. He was All SEC as a sophomore. dropped off some last year but at least his TFL went up. Then this year he seemed to basically disappear. Did he even play much or was his snaps limited and do you see him coming back for a 5th season?

by Bill 12/8/2022 6:21:23 PM
To the naked eye, he just doesn't look as athletic as he did in 2020. He seems easier to block for whatever reason. He had his moments this year when he got into the backfield but he didn't cause as much disruption as McGuire and Coleman.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:22:30 PM
Sean East has had two great games back to back. Honor has been super efficient from the get go and Tre is Mr. hustle/ intangibles. Our upgrade at guard play has been a major positive this season. Is East the only one with eligibility? Any freshman point guards coming in? Thanks

by Tiger joe 12/8/2022 6:22:45 PM
East and Honor both have a year left after this season. Mizzou signed four-star point guard Anthony Robinson from Tallahassee.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:25:05 PM
Dave, other than Lovett, has any other starter on the team entered the Portal

by MAR 12/8/2022 6:25:08 PM
Hyrin White started at right tackle last year but has missed this season with an injury. He could have started next year. Otherwise, it's all backups in the portal.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:25:32 PM
We've already seen it....but will the bowl games (other than the top 6 bowls) take a hit with all of the players sitting out due to prepping for draft or transfer portal. Most are already insignificant. Who would travel to a bowl game 1000 miles away for a 6-6 team where many top players sit out. Hypothetically speaking of course.

by Evil Calvin 12/8/2022 6:25:42 PM
Yes, it's been happening the last few years but will happen this year more than ever. It's just hard to drum up excitement for a non-playoff bowl game when the best players aren't playing. I understand why, to some degree. But I also understand the frustration from the part of the coaches and the fans. Marginal NFL prospects are sitting out their last chance to play in a college game at NFL stadiums against quality opponents. I'm not just talking about Mizzou, but it's true most places.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:27:18 PM
The thought seems to be Drink would bring a transfer QB to add a third arm to the competition. I assume this means that Gabarri Johnson is not enrolling early to participate in Spring practices? I may have missed where that was already announced.

by Wachto 12/8/2022 6:27:26 PM
Johnson had initially talked about enrolling in January but he's expected to be here in June.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:27:54 PM
Will the refs for the MU-KU b-ball game be from the Big 12, SEC, or another conference? I'm hoping for a fair game w/o controversial calls.

by Dave B 12/8/2022 6:27:58 PM
This is a misconception with college basketball officiating: The officials work for multiple conferences. It's not like football where the crews work exclusively for one league.
For example, on Tuesday here was the crew for Illinois (Big Ten) vs. Texas (Big 12): John Higgins, Roger Ayers, Keith Kimble. Higgins has done games all over the country this year involving teams from the Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC. Last year he did a lot of Big 12, Pac-12 and Mountain West games. Ayers does a lot of Big Ten, ACC and Big East games. Kimble does a lot of Big Ten and Big 12.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:34:46 PM
Dave, I know Mizzou WBB is not your primary coverage. But are you surprised by their start of the season? Is the team playing better than most thought?

by Russ 12/8/2022 6:35:05 PM
They're playing well against mid-majors and struggling high-majors but lost their only game against a ranked opponent. 9-1 is a very strong record but not all that shocking considering the schedule. They've been pretty solid defensively but still turn the ball over a lot. The good news is they don't have a bad noncon loss. No shame in losing to Virginia Tech away from home. Nice start for sure. Schedule cranks up in the SEC.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:38:44 PM
You guys ever gonna make another podcast? Been waiting weeks for one

by Dentgrs 12/8/2022 6:38:47 PM
Schedules just haven't aligned lately. We'll get to it.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:39:23 PM
How do you think the team is ranking their transfer priority list? Something like QB, DL, RB, OL, LB, DB, WR?

by Wachto 12/8/2022 6:39:33 PM
I'm not sure how it would line up exactly. If I were in charge I'd be looking for O-line help, a tight end, linebacker, edge rusher and a quarterback.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:40:18 PM
I’m surprised with how little of a role I Mosley has had. Is this going to change or is he struggling to transition to Mizzou? We need our best players playing if we want any chance this month…

by Dentgrs 12/8/2022 6:40:26 PM
He's got a personal issue he's working through. Gates is not disclosing that publicly and wants to keep the matter private. But he's not in trouble. He's not hurt or sick. I've heard some things, but nothing substantive enough to report. He's part of the team and they have high expectations for him this year. He's not in the coach's doghouse or anything like that.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:45:31 PM
Many fans are obnoxious when it comes to college sports, many tip toe that line towards 18 year old college athletes. Now with NIL does that give those fans more of a right to scrutinize these “student athletes”

by Mikeb 12/8/2022 6:45:40 PM
They've never NOT had the right to scrutinize college athletes. I think it's tacky for adults to attack any athlete on social media - college or professional - if we're just talking about their performance on the field.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:46:40 PM
Do you think many players will enter the transfer portal and remain at Mizzou? seems like there is very little downside to putting your name in the portal every offseason to see your opportunities and then go back to school if nothing better comes along.

by Bill 12/8/2022 6:46:48 PM
But that't not how the coaches view the portal experience. If you enter the portal, that's essentially a statement that you plan to leave. Mizzou has removed its portal players from its official roster. There's enough back-channeling going on that players are getting feelers from other schools - either directly or through their agents, parents, HS coaches, etc. - that they know their market before they officially enter the portal. Now, there are cases when athletes enter the portal then decide to return to their team - SLU's Yuri Collins is an example - but those are few and far between.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:49:52 PM
I read an article yesterday that said JT Daniels was entering the transfer portal again this year. I thought a second transfer required the player to sit out a year. Daniels is looking for a medical redshirt for 2019. You said MIZ needs an upgrade at QB. Would Mizzou be interested in Daniels for possibly 2 more years? I would be OK with letting Cook and Horn compete for the job in spring practice. Do think Eli might be interested?

by Ric 12/8/2022 6:50:27 PM
I don't see the fit this time. They chased Daniels once before and got turned down. He didn't have a very good year at West Virginia. To transfer multiple times you need an NCAA waiver and I assume he expects to get one so he can play at his fourth school.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:51:29 PM
Hi Dave. How are the Gasparilla Bowl ticket sales going? What are the prices? I'm in the area but would have to cancel current Busch Gardens paid tickets for 12/23. Wish I had known the bowl date sooner. P.S. I'd rather see Sam Horn qb this game than Cook.

by TPA 12/8/2022 6:51:46 PM
I haven't gotten an update on ticket sales yet.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:52:03 PM
Hey, Dave ... so, my sense is this whole portal stuff will look a bit different in about four years. Once we have a full, five-year set of NIL players (so we don't have freshman with outsized incomes vs. juniors who have nothing because they came before NIL - though I realize many of them have deals, too) as well as people beginning to see how the portal works - and doesn't work - for many players, I suspect we'll end up in a more manageable set-up that is understood and navigated better by all involved. What do you see?

by Out of Towner 12/8/2022 6:52:21 PM
I agree. Great points. Also, in five years we're not going to have these classes of players with the extra COVID year that has blurred the lines in terms of how many years players have left on their eligibility clock.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:55:00 PM
Just jumping in, here, so not sure how much it's been addressed but it seems obvious that Drink is very interested in his former recruitee, Devin Leary, after those in-home picks with HCED not just in Wolfpack gear but doing the Wolfpack hand gesture (something that is sacred in my house, where my older son is, perhaps, NC State's most dedicated fan) ... but my son says the NC State consensus is they love Devin but it was time for him to move on for two reasons: 1) He appears injury prone and 2) They're afraid they'll lose their highly-touted freshman if Leary stays. They'd rather have 3 years of the youngsters over one year of Devin Leary but I can tell you, Leary throws a great ball.

by Out of Towner 12/8/2022 6:55:29 PM
I'm confident in saying Mizzou would take Leary in a heartbeat. Trouble is, so would many other Power Five programs. Drinkwitz has a relationship there, obviously. He's got some returning talent at receiver to use as part of the sales pitch. It's definitely worth monitoring. But the market will be highly competitive.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:56:40 PM
I think this

"The best programs will be the ones that master both approaches: recruiting and developing high school talent and supplementing the roster with quick fixes via the portal."

is the way the Cardinals would prefer or should manage their own business - draft and develop otherwise use free agency to fill in the gaps or to find that one player that puts them over the top.

by Roy Earl 12/8/2022 6:56:56 PM
That's one way of looking at it.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 6:57:09 PM
Basketball is definitely trending in the right direction and I would argue football is, too. My question is if you can give us some insight into the higher ups that, it seems to me, are crucial in a mid- to upper-mid level athletic department like Mizzou to succeed. I'm talking about Chancellor Mun Choi, in particular, and then AD DRF, who I've been very impressed with, so far. To what degree (and how) are they driving everything vs. the curators and boosters?

by Out of Towner 12/8/2022 6:57:26 PM
Mun Choi doesn't get involved in the nitty gritty of MU athletics. Yes, when it's time to make changes - Jim Sterk, Cuonzo Martin - he'll make his opinions known internally, but he's not trying to micromanage athletics. He has a very good relationship with Reed-Francois. He trusts her to run the department. He let her manage the Gates hire without looking over her shoulder. That was essentially DRF and one curator who handled that search process.
Now, the Drinkwitz extension was driven by the Board. He's been smart to develop strong relationships with influential members. That's not to say Choi and DRF didn't sign off on the extension/raise, but this was the Board taking the lead.
I'm more impressed with DRF the more I'm around her, including a couple meals in Vegas this week. She's got a clear vision, lots of innovative ideas and holds people to a high standard.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 7:04:11 PM
With PortalPalooza ramping up, do you have any names that you feel we will go after and have a real shot of getting? I have seen some offers here and there but what is realistic? Devin Leary seems like the bell of the ball and would look great in black and gold.

by mdorz8 12/8/2022 7:04:23 PM
Missouri offered the Monmouth QB last week. I think we'll see more offers come out here soon.
Drinkwitz might decide to keep things more quiet this year when it comes to the QB pursuit. He made it clear they were going after big targets last year - and when they fell short it left the impression that Mizzou fumbled.

by dmatter 12/8/2022 7:06:23 PM
Is Mizzou FB players still practicing daily? The bowl game is 15 days away. How many first team players are opting out of the bowl game? Is HCED not allowing any players to play in the game like he did with Tyler Badie last year. That presumably cost them a chance to win that game. I guess Wake Forest is in the same boat, but you probably don't have any idea of what their situation is?

by Phil 12/8/2022 7:06:40 PM