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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I touched on this earlier. Mizzou wants to add a quarterback, but they can't let the pursuit cost them what they already have - especially if they come up empty. Should be interesting over the next few weeks. Remember, the portal opens again for two weeks after spring practices in May. -
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Diarra is a project. He needs more strength and polish. You can get away with playing Shaw against good teams because he gives you energy and rebounding - just very little touch on the offensive end. When Diarra has played he doesn't look very comfortable yet. He's not a guy who's going to bang around with SEC bigs like Makhi Mitchell and Kamani Johnson. Shaw will go toe to to with those guys because he plays fearless.
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Is it Drink or Baker that deserves credit for so many players on defense returning next season?
Do you get the sense that players believe something special could develop next season?
Of course for that to happen the offense has to be better, still a good look with the bulk of the D returning.
What are your thoughts on the possible return of Lil Hopp and Foster? -
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I don't think it's only one reason why guys are coming back on defense. First of all, we're not talking about NFL first-round draft picks. These are marginal prospects. But they clearly like Baker and his scheme. He's the head coach of the defense. I give him and his style and his system a lot of credit.At this point, I'd expect Hopper and Foster back because I haven't heard otherwise, but until it comes directly from them or the team ...
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I see it as a positive for teams that need to address immediate needs. TCU added 13 transfers and is playing in the national title game under a first-year staff. Mizzou rebuilt its defense with a bunch of transfers. I know fans like their rosters intact from year to year but I think the portal makes the sport more interesting.
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Gabe D and others said something similar to, "I wouldn't be surprised if Horn was the starter by the fifth or sixth game of the season."
It only matters because he hardly saw the field even with Cook's struggles.
I like many hope he's the real deal, but find his lack of playing time curious, if not frustrating.
Again, it seems an odd situation. -
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Will HCDG get a similar raise/ extension to the one HCED got for beating no. 25 ranked South Carolina? The BB Tigers beat top 25 ranked Illinois and Kentucky and for awhile looked like thay would beat Arkansas in the hostile Fayetteville environment. At least they competed for 40 minutes and based on the first half it looked like they might actually beat the Razorbacks too. I don’t know what MIZ athletics based HCED’s raise on, but it seems to me you get a raise on producing, not trying to encourage future improvement. MIZ did this once before when they extended Bob Stull for a fifth year and he led the team to a 3-7 final season record and finally fired him. Look at Tulane, a school that Is more noted for academics and not football. Tulane went 12-2, beat Kansas St in Manhattan, and scored an excting 47-46 Cotton Bowl victory over USC which would have made the 4 team college playoff had they beat Utah. Meanwhile MIZ trudged through another .500 season and yet another bowl loss.
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Was Lovett recruited by UGA, Bama, USC and the other schools who he considered transferring to originally out of high school or was Mizzou the only school to offer a scholarship out of high school.? Is this the new trend for Mizzou recruits - take the scholarship that Mizzou offers and in addition to helping Mizzou win games, improve yourself so that other schools can reconsider in future years like Lovett to UGA this year and Wingo to LSU last year? There used to be just a revolving door on the coach’s room. Nowadays there’s a revolving door on the players’room also.
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I wouldn't say two players in two years counts as a trend. Those guys enhanced their value with strong years at Mizzou. We're not seeing other Mizzou players transfer to better Power Five programs. For the most part it's guys who aren't playing much and leaving for Group of Five or FCS teams. Travion Ford to Toledo. Tyler Macon to Alcorn State, etc.Lovett was committed to Arizona State in high school, but the ASU staff lost interest late and he flipped to Mizzou. Wingo was committed to Mizzou long before other schools had a chance to really recruit him hard.
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I respect your opinion that Mizzou will never be able to hang with the big dogs in the SEC in this era of money. My question is why never? Mizzou is the lone major university in the state for sports. It's also the 4th most populous state in the SEC and has two major metro areas, much more than what alabama, mississippi or arkansas can say. What is holding the university back? Is that the reason DRF and Choi hired the consulting group a few weeks ago?
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I wouldn't say never - but outside of an eight-year stretch under Pinkel Mizzou has never proven it can have sustained success in the sport of football at the highest level. And back then they weren't doing it with finances/resources.The fan base here is passionate but limited in numbers. There are far more other professional teams that compete for fans' attention and dollars in the state of Missouri. And the fan culture at Mizzou hasn't always been the same as it is at places in the SEC where it's practically a birthright to support your team by attending the games through thick and thin. That's not a criticism, just the reality of the history.
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OK, folks. Back on the road for me. I'll have more time for a longer chat next week.Be sure to subscribe to my new newsletter, which should debut tomorrow in your inbox.
