So When do we get to talk about OU-Mizzou on the board?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I know espn, sporting news, fox, cbs, hornfans, and pretty much most of planet Earth thinks that the horns got the shaft, but at some point I'd like to discuss the championship game...

How injured is Maclin?

[CaliBornSoonerBred]

I haven't looked into it too much but I believe Maclin is probable but with any leg injury to a speedster, it's going to hurt him. Their D looked VERY suspect against Kansas and the offense did score a bit, but sputtered at times. I'll have more to post later but I'm ALL for ended the bcs argument and moving on to Mizzou discussion. Let it begin!

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I know he missed some down the stretch against KU when they needed him..Anything that slows him down will help out OU...Daniel ran the ball quite a bit against KU(100 yards on the ground I think)..You know he has never done much running against OU in the past, but I bet he takes off more this year..Hopefully Balogun can't put the pain on him that Lofton did

[bri]

Mi-who? There's another game? I thought we'd already won the national title and THAT'S why everyone was p*ssed at us?

Heh.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

All I know is if the fans don't get focused on Missouri, the Tigers might upset OU

[Blues1]

Do they (Mizzou) Wear Those **** ugly mustard uni's ~~~~ ??

Anybody have a 7 day Weather Forecast for KC ...??

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Colder. Highs in the mid 30s. North winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.
» ZIP Code Detail
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday
Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 30s.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows around 19.

Friday
Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 40s.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 20s.

Saturday
Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Highs around 40.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 20s.

[OUinFLA]

I hate playing in that cold environment.
As I sit at my computer inside my air-conditioned house here in Florida, it almost makes me want to put on a windbreaker.
Im not sure Im at my best when we play in the cold.

Why don't they play in the afternoon since they insist on playing in the frigid north?

Or better yet, move the dang game permanently to Dallas every year

[Blues1]

Saturday
Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Highs around 40.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 20s.

Hope it warms up a little more than that ---But they both have to play in the same conditions --- :)

[Dan Thompson]

Texas over Mizzou 56-31, that pretty much explains it to me. We need to win like 62-28, but then Texas was playing at home.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I hate playing in that cold environment.
As I sit at my computer inside my air-conditioned house here in Florida, it almost makes me want to put on a windbreaker.
Im not sure Im at my best when we play in the cold.

Why don't they play in the afternoon since they insist on playing in the frigid north?

Or better yet, move the dang game permanently to Dallas every year

Come on..you gotta pull it together! OU can't win with you at your best

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

1. bradford's thumb - especially if its that frickin cold - will pretty much force us into the shotgun.

a) we are NOT as good of a running team from the shotgun as we are from the I.
b) mizzou can't defend the pass worth a crap

2. chase daniel's feet - after the last several years, i'd figured that the days dreading the mobile QB were gone. however, this year's defense has me once again in that continual state of panic when the opposing QB starts to move.

3. chase daniels pucker factor - game is on the line, you need to move 80 yards for the score in 2 minutes. who would you rather have? chris simms or chase daniels

4. travis lewis - this may just be me, but did anyone else feel like lewis looked slow against pokey state? i went back and watched texas tech and there was a noticeable difference - hopefully it is just a freshman road thing. we need him to bounce back "in a great way" this weekend.

[IBleedCrimson]

Once again I wanna officially thank bri for posting. :D

Hopefully sammy works on taking snaps under center. A good game while having that thumb hurt could clinch the heisman. All in all I feel pretty confident:pop:

[oumartin]

supposedly there is gonna be a soft cast on bradfords thumb that will allow him to work under center.


Lewis might have looked slow against the aggie offense because we was reacting to the action instead of playin' the game. you know what I mean. he was watching then reacting instead of knowing what he was gonna do from the snap of the ball. freshman learning curve maybe.

Mizzou will score. OU will score more

[yermom]

with Bradford's thumb, we'll just need to wildcat the ball to Murray some more

[Jacie]

But for a scheduling quirk, the KU-MU game would have been for the North Division lead.

Kansas had to play (and lost to) Tech, Texas and OU.

Missouri had to play (and went 2-1) versus OSU, Texas and Baylor.

Unless we lose Bradford or some combination of three of OUr RB's, O-line, D-line, LB's during the game, I expect the Sooners to send the tigers into misery.

[TexasEx4OU]

My question is this: with Box out, do we a) hope to coach up Balogun enough between now and Saturday to think he's a capable replacement?, or b) go back to what we did vs. Kansas, after Reynolds went out, and move Harris over, or c) go to a 4-2-5? Or some combination of all three?

With Daniel's ability to scramble, do we want more speed on the field? I certainly don't think that Mizzou's run game is nearly as effective as OSU's, so maybe we can afford to go with two LBs. It seems that we've always managed to contain Daniel (and other mobile QBs), but Zac Robinson gashed us up the middle several times (which leads me to another theory re: Daniel's inability to see running lanes due to his height vs. taller QBs, but that's for another thread).

Balogun seemed to play well in limited minutes, but I also wonder if he came into the game at a time when OSU was almost forced to pass on every down, so the D assignments were easier to mentally manage.

But with Harris moved over, Kansas (and Desmond Briscoe) gashed us through the air.

Discuss.

[TexasEx4OU]

Missouri had to play (and went 1-2) versus OSU, Texas and Baylor.

Fixed.

[JLEW1818]

STEP when we posting scores?

[oumartin]

Balogun is the guy. They are not gonna move Harris there. Thats already been decided I have heard.

They thought Balogun was a stud in the fall so hopefully he lives up to it.

[GrapevineSooner]

I know the mobile QB should scare the hell out of me. Especially when I saw what Zac Robinson was able to do against our defense.

OTOH, I don't think it's a stretch to say that OSU, with Robinson, Hunter, and Bryant, may have the most athleticism at the skill positions of any of our Big 12 opponents.

Yes, more athleticism than Mizzou.

Not to mention, the fact that Chase is 0-3 against OU in his career, their most lethal weapon is going to be hobbling a bit, and their defense scares me not one iota, and I actually go into this game more confident than I did this time last week going into Stillwater.

That's not to say the Tigers can't pull the upset. But we've handled their offense pretty well in the last three meetings with them holding them to 10 in 2006, 31 at Norman in 2007 (with a late TD mixed in), and 17 in San Antonio at the Big 12 CCG.

I think Chase will do more running if Maclin is limited and he'll cause some problems at times. But I don't think he'll be able to keep up with a Sam Bradford led offense, injured thumb on non-throwing hand or not.

[JLEW1818]

We will do exactly what Texas D-Line did to Missouri.

[IBleedCrimson]

They thought Balogun was a stud in the fall so hopefully he lives up to it.[/QUOTE]

that does sound promising. He looked damn good against puke state.

[cvsooner]

What will win this game for the Sooners is going into the game with the attitude that we have to prove we belong there. We also need to show the tiebreaker put the right team into the CCG. A more convincing win (on a neutral field) than Texas had in Austin will help. But this bunch seems to have not taken anyone lightly all year. I think that will continue.

BTW, that's the same attitude that needs to be there for the bowl game. We belong here, and somebody's going to pay for thinking we don't belong here. Last four BCS games? Phfft. That was then. This is now. Man up and let's roll.

I do hope Sam's hand isn't an issue, though I'm not so sure their defense is worth a lick. Pass defense is really a weakness and they're about to face the best one-two punch running game in the league, overall, not to mention a QB who will do what it takes to win and receivers who will help him out. Gresham made his big-time debut on a cold night in Kansas City two years ago. Don't forget that.

Box going down is a problem (who'd have ever thought we'd lose yet another MLB?), but our d-line should be able to handle Daniel and their running game. English may play, if he's in decent shape.

I worry as much about Coffman, their really good tight end, over the middle, but Balogun played well in his (very little) action against OSewe. Keenan Clayton makes a great blitz and drops Robinson for a nine-yard loss, and then Balogun takes on Hunter and drops him with a textbook one-on-one tackle for no gain.

Maclin banged up is still a pretty good receiver. But special teams, anyone?

As we've done all season, we'll probably give up some points.

The goal is to have more points on the board at the end of the game than the other team. I really don't care how many points we give up as long as we've got one more point at 00:00. I say, Sooners 52-22.

Vegas has us as a 17 point favorite right now.

[SoonerBacker]

Do you think Dave Christensen accepting the Wyoming job will affect their team at all? And does anyone know when he'll be leaving for Wyoming?

[OUMallen]

3. chase daniels pucker factor - game is on the line, you need to move 80 yards for the score in 2 minutes. who would you rather have? chris simms or chase daniels


Depends on where Roy Williams and Teddy Lehman are...

[birddog]

Do you think Dave Christensen accepting the Wyoming job will affect their team at all? And does anyone know when he'll be leaving for Wyoming?

sure doesn't help but they don't have anything to lose anyway. at this point no one cares about them because they aren't in the nc mix.

that scares me a bit but we definitely have everything to play for so i see our players flying around like their hair is on fire.

[aurorasooner]

Do you think Dave Christensen accepting the Wyoming job will affect their team at all? And does anyone know when he'll be leaving for Wyoming? I've been wondering about this, but since our D coaches have got a portfolio on Christienson, not knowing whether he's in or out may be have a detrimental effect on our preparation. Pinkel's has an MO for trick plays but if I remember right didn't use any against us last year.
Mizzou has nothing to lose in this one after their embarrassing loss to KU, so I would expect for Mizzou to leave nothing in the bag Saturday night. Mizzou will play with plenty of emotion and Nick Harris needs to play like he did against Tech instead of the way he played against OSU. (I know he had 5 tackles but at least 2 were after big-gain seam catches, and not get any stupid UR penalties. Our D needs to do the same thing they did to GH. Rush in their lanes to keep Booger in the pocket and when they can't get to him get their hands up to knock a few down. When he scrambles downfield, we need to unload on him with quality hits and not just drag him down from behind.

[cvsooner]

From Dave Matter's excellent Missouri Tiger football blog (http://blogs.columbiatribune.com/football/):

Note the stuff I've bolded...

Monday Night MU Notes

A few bits of news and notes from Missouri’s weekly press gathering …

• As of 5 p.m., offensive coordinator Dave Christensen was not Wyoming’s head coach … yet. He was reluctant to talk specifics about the new job before putting his signature on the contract, but he expects to sign the paperwork as soon as both parties complete some language in the contract, perhaps as soon as Monday night. He expects to have a media teleconference after MU’s practice on Tuesday or Wednesday.

If you thought Gary Pinkel would let Christensen take any of Missouri’s assistant coaches with him to Wyoming, think again. “I would suggest that won’t happen,” Pinkel said.

Pinkel said he’d address finding Christensen’s replacement later. “That’s for time down the road,” he said.

• Also, Pinkel confirmed that defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus interviewed for the head-coaching position at Toledo on Sunday. Eberflus declined to talk discuss the situation. “I’ve got a great job here at Missouri,” he said. “I’m working for Mizzou, and that’s what I plan on doing.”

• Sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Maclin hasn’t changed his stance on entering the NFL draft in 2009: He’ll make that decision after the season. I asked him if Pinkel’s hire for the offensive coordinator position would factor into his decision: "It could in a way," he said, "but the most logical thing to do is promote somebody who’s already here to be in that position, which means we run the same style of offense. So, that isn’t really a factor.”

Care to endorse a candidate? Maclin declined.

“All of them would do a terrific job,” Maclin said. “Coach Hill, Coach Yost, Coach Walker. They all have the same mentality, so I wouldn’t mind it at all.”

• Senior cornerback Castine Bridges’ MU career is over. Bridges tore the meniscus in his right knee late in the third quarter on Saturday and will undergo surgery on Tuesday. Team surgeons told him he’s facing at least a four-month recovery. Bridges said he could have opted for a different surgery that would have given him a chance to play in MU’s bowl game, but it would have removed his meniscus and risked further issues. Instead, he’ll take on a new role, much like safety Pig Brown did last season after rupturing his Achilles’ tendon.

“It hurts, but I’m still here,” Bridges said. “I’m still going to do everything, still going to watch film with my corners. I’m going to make sure they stay on top of everything.”

Tough break for a good kid who was really developing into MU’s best player at the position. Oddly enough, he suffered the injury breaking up a pass on third down.

Eberflus said senior Tru Vaughns would be first in line to replace Bridges in the starting lineup but others will be in the mix, too, presumably Kevin Rutland and Trey Hobson.

• Backup offensive tackle Mike Prince will miss Saturday’s Big 12 championship game after undergoing an appendectomy last week.

• Missouri players will not have a walk-through at Arrowhead Stadium on Friday as they customarily do the day before a road game. Pinkel and OU’s Bob Stoops will be on hand Friday afternoon for a media conference. The team will arrive in Kansas City later that night.

• Quarterback Chase Daniel was in an extraordinarily chippy mood during his weekly turn at the podium. When asked about Oklahoma’s defense, Daniel came prepared with some offensive statistics for several of his teammates.

“They’re a great defensive team, but you want to talk about their guys,” he said. “What about our guys? I’ve got some stats right here.”

With that Daniel rattled off several season and career numbers for six of his teammates, reading off from a piece of paper — though he could probably recite them for memory. He mentioned numbers for Chase Coffman, Jeremy Maclin, Tommy Saunders, Jared Perry, Jeff Wolfert and Derrick Washington.

“You look at their weapons. Well, I want to look at ours and what we have to bring to the table,” he said. “I feel good about our guys.”

Daniel responded the same way last year on the two Mondays before MU’s meetings with Oklahoma when the topic of the Sooners’ defensive personnel came up. The first time came in a group setting, the second during a 1-on-1 interview with me.

A couple things at play here: Daniel’s got something for the Sooners. That’s obvious. He grew up a Texas fan, so no surprise there. But over the last three years, Daniel’s been more than willing to discuss and dissect the defensive players for every other team on MU’s schedule. Just not Oklahoma.

“We want respect, and it’s not going to be given to us,” he said. “We just have to go out and get it.”

Now, I wouldn't be surprised a bit if Stoops and OU's coaches twist Daniel's comments and turn them into a cheap shot at the Sooners. More than anything, I think Daniel's trying to remind everyone that he's got some talented teammates, too.

• Daniel said he talked on the phone for an hour with Texas quarterback Colt McCoy on Sunday. “He was crushed,” Daniel said of McCoy’s reaction to not playing in the Big 12 championship game. “Obviously he’s pulling for us to win.” Not just because they’re pals but because a Missouri upset most likely puts McCoy’s Longhorns in the BCS National Championship Game.

• Pinkel and Eberflus both said they were surprised and disappointed with the coverage breakdowns in the secondary on Saturday against Kansas. That’s a topic our new reporter, David Briggs, will be exploring for a story in Thursday’s Tribune.

Tigers Coach Gary Pinkel and quarterback Chase Daniel discussed Dave Christensen’s hiring at Wyoming during Monday’s Big 12 teleconference, plus other topics. Here’s a sampling …

• Pinkel on …

* MU’s season being a disappointment:
“The national championship, as you all know, there’s only two teams who have a shot for that. That’s just the way it is. To aim at that as the goal … then if you don’t, it’s a disappointment. We haven’t done that and will never take that approach. If you can make a run at the Big 12 championship and be in the position we were last year and get the right wins and be in the hunt for it in the end, then that’s good. That being said, Texas did a heck of a job against us. Then we had a five-point and a three-point loss. Both of those, turnovers had a huge impact in those games. That’s probably the most disappointing thing for me. I’m disappointed with a couple of losses, but that being said we’re where we wanted to be. We wanted a chance to win a Big 12 championship. So, most teams you go back and look at a game or two and you wish you could have done better. That’s my frustration as the coach here, but I’m also pleased we won the North championship and have a good chance to compete for the Big 12 championship.”

* On stopping Oklahoma’s offense:
“If I had an answer for that I’d be solving a lot of problems. I’d be sitting in a high-rise somewhere taking phone calls. I honestly don’t know. We’re looking at them. Everybody’s going to try and do the best you can. You try to limit the big plays. You try to do that. You try to contain it that if they’re going to score, you make them work for it. They’re very effective running the ball, they’re very effective throwing the ball. They’re difficult to stop. Nobody’s really stopped them all year.”

* On Christensen …
“He will be taking the head-coaching job at Wyoming. I’m very proud of him. I think it’s a great re-flection of our program. He’s just done a great job. I’ve been with him for a long time. He’ll do a great job. He’ll obviously be doing some administrative things and hiring and doing things like that in terms of his new job. He is going to stay with us. He’ll be the coordinator and calling plays through the Big 12 championship game — he’s here working today — and also through our bowl game. He’ll finish his responsibilities here. That’s his desire. He’ll also in-between times … He won’t be recruiting anymore for us. He’ll be recruiting for Wyoming. But we’re going to make the whole thing work. I’m certainly very proud of him.”

* On Missouri players looking back at last year’s losses to Oklahoma:
“Obviously, if you’re going to be spending your time thinking about all those things, you’re not going to play your best game. If they want to watch TV, if they want to look at the Internet, if they want to read newspapers, they’re probably going to hear those things. You’ve got two ways to look at that: You look at it as a competitor. It drives you to prove people wrong. Or you become a victim. I’d be very disappointed if our team didn’t take the competitive side. They’re a great football team. they’ve had great records. Last year they were one of the best teams in the nation and they played better than us and deserved to win. It’s a new year. We’re still playing a great team. But I’m a competitor. I think we have a lot of competitors around here. And we’re excited about the opportunity.”

* On the South Division tiebreaker:
“I feel bad for Texas Tech and certainly for Texas. There’s no right answer for it. They’re all three great teams. I don’t care what the tiebrearker was, two people are going to be disappointed. It’s unfortunate, but certainly it’s a great reflection for what a great league we have.”

• Daniel on …

* Christensen to Wyoming:
“He’s going to take that program to levels it’s never seen. What he’s going to bring is an offense that’s insane. It’s a player’s dream to play for a coach like that, the type of things he does on the offensive side of the ball are second to none.”

* On feeling pressure to score every time against OU:
“We just want to go out there and execute every time we have the football. I’ve said this a thousand times before. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. It’s a tough test, but that’s how it is through all conference games. This conference is definitely the best in the nation, I believe, and we’re excited for the test.”

* On last year’s losses to OU:
“It’s a new year. Oklahoma’s a great team, but we’re here for a reason as well. We’re excited about the task at hand. We know it’s going to be a great week for all Missouri fans and for the players as well.”

* On MU’s season being a disappointment:
“I don’t necessarily think it’s been a disappointment. We just haven’t played as well as we wanted to in games we should have. … Did we want three losses on the year? No, we didn’t. It’s just a one-game season right now. It’s our playoff. It’s Oklahoma’s playoff. They’re playing for the national champion-ship. We’re playing for a BCS bowl. So, there’s a lot on the line Saturday night.”

* On Christensen’s successor as offensive coordinator:
“I’m not going to get into that right now. Coach Pinkel and his staff will do a great job with whoever they hire. The most logical choice, I would think right now, would be our quarterbacks coach” David Yost. “He’s done an excellent job. I’m behind him through and through. He’s really made me into the player I am today.”

* On Christensen’s new job becoming a distraction:
“Not at all, and that was one of stipulations on being hired as the Wyoming head coach. He was going to finish off here. He was going to finish the championship game and finish the bowl game. His preparation here has nothing to do with what he’s going to be doing at Wyoming. He’s an excellent coach, and he knows how to keep his priorities straight. His priorities are obviously the Wyoming job, but first and foremost, is to send his guys out as champions.”

• If anyone knows anything about handling the loss of an assistant coach, it’s Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops. In 10 years, he’s had five assistants leave his staff for head-coaching positions: Mike Leach (Texas Tech), Mark Mangino (Kansas), Chuck Long (San Diego State), Mike Stoops (Arizona) and Kevin Sumlin (Houston). Stoops said some left before OU played its bowl game, some stayed on and coached through the postseason. Stoops downplayed the concern that a coach could handle juggling two jobs for a month.

“We’ve had both,” he said. “I think each case is different depending on the situation and what they have to deal with. These guys, and not just my guys but everyone around the country, we’re all professionals. To me, you can do one thing and put it aside and concentrate on what you’re doing at the time.

“I think it’s possible because of the dead period in recruiting. You’re not allowed to be out recruiting leading up to the bowls and during the bowls. And you’re only allowed one phone call to a prospect a week at that time. so it doesn’t have to eat up your time. I think in some cases you can definitely work though it and it doesn’t bother you. Sometimes it’s too hard to work through and you have to move on.”

[bri]

Oklahoma’s a great team, but we’re here for a reason as well.

Yeah, because in the land of suck, you suck slightly less. Mizzou would be sucking hind tit in the South, as evidenced by their 1-2 record against South teams this year.

I guess I should thank the mouthy piece of sh*t, though. I was still wrapped up in hating Texas for being simpering bitches, but thanks to this trophy-less blowhard, my mind is now in the right place. F*ck Mizzou. F*ck them so f*cking hard, they curl up in a fetal ball and sob uncontrollably at the feet of the Beetle Bailey statue, begging him to make it stop.

[leapin_lizard]

I hate playing in that cold environment.
As I sit at my computer inside my air-conditioned house here in Florida, it almost makes me want to put on a windbreaker.
Im not sure Im at my best when we play in the cold.

Why don't they play in the afternoon since they insist on playing in the frigid north?

Or better yet, move the dang game permanently to Dallas every year

It's football. Who cares.

[leapin_lizard]

Anyone know where the OU hot spots are going to be for the game in KC???

[OKC-SLC]

Originally Posted by Worthless Overrated Fat F*ck Punk *ss Bitch QB That We F*cking Own...
awesome.
(thanks for posting, Bri)

[soonerfan28]

Is there anybody out there who still thinks we should take Daniel over Bradford?

[SoonerLB]

"Worthless Overrated Fat F*ck Punk *ss Bitch QB That We F*cking Own..."

Without a doubt, that is one of the best descriptions of Chase Daniel that I have ever read! :D

[Leroy Lizard]

Box's injury really worries me. You don't want to be exposed over the middle with a QB like Daniel.

And yeah, no one is giving Daniel credit for being a good QB. But he can hurt you. Real bad.

[Wishboned]

Missouri is coming in with nothing to lose. Nobody really expects them to win. OU has everything riding on this game.

IMO that could almost make Missouri play a little looser, while OU might be a little tight.

Bradford's injured hand, and Box being gone make me a little more nervous.

But one thing that reassures me is the attitude of the Sooners this year. They've been all about taking care of business. One game at a time. I don't expect this one to be any different. They've matured light years from last season.

I can't wait for the game.

[oubose]

OU hot spots in KC for the game?? Yeh the end zone!!!
Everybody have there ticket? I do haha!

GO SOONERS!!!

[SoonerLB]

Good point about attitude Wishboned, this team has shown that. And they have shown more maturity on the field. Although not perfect, there have been far fewer stupid penalties this year it seems. Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be more of "team" attitude as opposed to the "me" thing.
We need that this coming weekend with the injury list the way it is, 'cause you can bet Booger is having sweet dreams of his receivers taking advantage of the absence of our starters in the middle.

[soonerfan28]

Oh how the tables have turned. At this time last year we were playing spoiler to the #1 team in the country. Too bad it won't happen. We gonna smoke dat a$$!

[GottaHavePride]

Anybody have a 7 day Weather Forecast for KC ...??

Cold and cloudy with a 75% chance of PAIN.