Metro Sports 360 The Wire

Overview

This should be one of the most significant seasons of Gary Pinkel’s tenure at Missouri.  There are many unknowns going into this season, because the Tigers lost a lot of high quality players from last year’s team, 6 of which were drafted into the NFL.  This year’s team will be very foretelling about the direction of Missouri’s football program.  If the Tigers go out and win 8 or more games, it will prove to the naysayers, and some Tiger faithful, that they aren’t a flash in the pan, and it will prove the Tigers can sustain success for an extended period of time.  If the Tigers can win the Big 12 North for a third straight year, it will signify the arrival of the Tiger program as powerhouse in the North.  There will be many new, young faces on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball for the Tigers this year, and with that brings and unknown optimism and anxiousness.

Defense

The Tigers lost a lot on defense.  In total the Tigers lost 7 starters, 3 of which were drafted, and their defensive coordinator.  If you never watched the Tigers play but were told they had a DT tackle drafted in the 1^st round, a safety drafted in the 2^nd round, a DE drafted in the 6^th round, and a D-coordinator move on to coach in the NFL, you would assume they would be doomed for a defensive letdown the following year.  For the Tigers, however, this might not be the case.  There is no doubt the Tigers had a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball last year, but all that talent never materialized into even a good defensive.   

There are two questions that must be answered in order to judge how good, or bad, the Tiger defense can be this year.  First, will the secondary be improved?  The secondary was the achillies heal of the Tiger defense last year, and very little is known about the secondary this year.  The only known is Carl Gettis, but will Tiger fans see the Carl Gettis of his surprising freshman year or disappointing sophomore year.   The reports coming from spring practices and workouts are the Tigers will be much faster in the secondary, but without good coverage skills being fast won’t make a difference.  The good news is that Dave Steckel, the new D-coordinator, has simplified the defensive schemes and used his previous experience as a marine to light a fire under the young, fast defensive unit.

Question two, how will the Tigers replace Ziggy Hood?  Now that Ziggy is gone, Jaron Baston will have to step up and play a big role on the defensive line.  Jaron was very good last year, but he also had the advantage of playing next to Ziggy who commanded double teams on a regular basis.  Jaron must now take on the role of commanding the double teams so he can open up holes for others.   Outside of Jaron Baston, very little is known about the DT position and rotation.  The play of some of these unknowns will play a big role in the Tigers success this season. 

Now on to what we do know about the defense.  First and foremost Sean Weatherspoon will be a force to be reckoned with and is an absolute beast at the linebacker position.  He is the unconditional heart and soul of this defense and as Weatherspoon goes, so does the Tiger defense.   He is fully capable of putting the defense and even the team on his back to win a ball game, see the Illinois game last year.  Big things are expected of Weatherspoon this year, and I don’t believe we are going to be disappointed.  Also, the other linebackers on the Tigers defense aren’t too shabby, and the linebacker core should be a real strength for this defense.  Another relative known are the defensive ends.  The defensive ends are young , fast and very talented.  High praise has been heaped on Aldon Smith , Jacquies Smith and Brian Coulter as a unit.  This unit is expected to take a lot of pressure off of the secondary by getting to the quarterback on a much more regular basis. 

Overall the defense should be much improved.  The defense shouldn’t be on the field near as much, given the likely hood the offense won’t be as quick to score, and the simplification of the defensive scheme should really help the Tigers become a good defensive unit that might surprise a lot of people.

Offense

The Tigers also lost a lot on the offensive side of the ball.  They lost a total of 6 starters, 3 of which were drafted into the NFL, and their offensive coordinator.  Most likely, gone are the days of the pass happy, score fast and often days of Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman and Jeremy Maclin.  The Tiger’s offense is being molded into a more run-oriented offense in order to put the ball in the hands of one of their few established playmakers, Derrick Washington.  Last year D-Wash ran for over 1000 yards and 17 touchdowns and also established himself as a real threat to catch the ball out of the backfield.  This year even more will be expected of him and backup De’Vion Moore. 

The new direction of the offense doesn’t mean they are deviating from the spread that has made them so successfully over the last few years; it just means it won’t be as prolific.  No quarterback in the nation took the snap further in the backfield than Chase Daniel, and with the size of sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert, this won’t be the case.  Blaine Gabbert has come to Missouri with a lot of hype, being the first 5 star recruit in the history of Missouri football, and many people will expect him to produce like Chase Daniel right away, but this is an unfair expectation.  Blaine Gabbert has some advantages that Chase never had, his NFL arm and size, but to expect him to be nearly as accurate as Chase is unfair, especially without Jeremy Maclin and Chase Coffman.  The good thing for Gabbert is he should be protected by a very good offensive line.  Gary Pinkel has already stated that this could be the best offensive line he has ever coached.  An offense is only as good as its offensive line, and the Tigers have a very good one.  Their job all season will be to keep the young, talented quarterback upright and to open up holes for Derrick Washington. 

The Tigers will also need Jared Perry and Denario Alexander to have big seasons.  There is no replacing Jeremy Maclin and Chase Coffman, but if the Tigers don’t get solid production from the two senior receivers, then they could be in for a long season.  They will also need Andrew Jones to continue the success of tight ends at Missouri  and have a couple of young receivers step up to give Gabbert some more reliable offensive threats and options.   Overall the offense should be good, and should be able to help the defense by controlling the time of possession more with their run game.  The offense won’t be nearly as prolific as years past, but it should be good enough to keep us competitive. 

What can make the season a success?

For the Tigers to have a successful season, they will need Blaine Gabbert to mature quickly and provide the Tigers with solid quarterback play.  Also, if the Tigers hope to have any success this season they will need vast improvement from their secondary.  The combination of these two factors should give the Tigers a good shot at a successful season.      

What can make the season a disaster?

See above, but think the opposite.  If Gabbert comes out and tries to do too much and makes a lot of mistakes and if the secondary doesn’t improve, then the Tigers are in for a long season

Prediction:  8-5 

Schedule:
9/5 - Illinois
9/12 -Bowling Green
9/19 - Furman
9/25 - at Nevada
10/8 - Nebraska
10/17 - at Oklahoma State
10/24 - Texas
10/31 - at Colorado
11/7 - Baylor
11/14 - at Kansas State

11/21 - Iowa State

11/28 - Kansas