phergy

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The band will make it, I have no doubt. Maybe not until tomorrow morning, but they'll make it!

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We had a bus break down half way across kansas on the way to play at Colorado vs Missouri. We were supposed to get to Boulder in the evening. I think it was 1am or 2am when we finally pulled into our hotel. That. Sucked.

I'll be there.

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He is mobile and mobile QBs give our defense fits.

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Really? I think we've done pretty well against mobile QBs. Shaw beat us with the screen pass to Mike Davis. We held him to 51 yards rushing (2.1YPC), but he had 99 receiving yards (9.9YPC). Connor Shaw didn't beat us with his legs, he did it with his head.

Every other game we've won by 15+ points, so I don't really care if a mobile QB gets yards.

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If we're gonna win out, he's got to be the man to do it.

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I don't disagree with that, but everything I've heard out of HCGP is that if Franklin is healthy (as determined by the medical staff), he starts tomorrow.

I really go back and forth on this. Part of me would like to see Mauk get one more start, but I really see the wisdom in getting Franklin some full speed reps against Kentucky before we face Ole Miss.

I think both Baylor and Ohio State get a loss. Baylor has to play at Oklahoma State and Ohio State will get beat by Michigan State in the B1G title game. I'm most concerned about 1 loss Stanford right now. They are already ahead of us, and I'm not sure they lose again.

I'll add that I think the score is the same no matter which QB plays. Mauk will make a couple of mistakes or Franklin will be a little rusty leading to a couple of stalled drives.

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One troubling item (over multiple games now) is how opposing WRs are consistently getting open down field

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Very good point, and something to watch.

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Another thing that really struck me is how well we played ball control in the 2nd half.

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Correct, and also a valuable ability to have. Would have been nice if we could have done that against South Carolina.

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we only threw the ball 5 times in the 2nd half.

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Also an important stat. We didn't have to throw so we didn't. We ran, Tennessee knew we were running, and we still picked up first downs frequently enough to control the clock.

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I also noticed he had a prolonged exchange with Butch Jones after the game - more than just the "good game" and a handshake standard.

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I would love to have heard that conversation.

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Now, given, it was a freshman QB in his first start, and Tennessee isn't quite there yet

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I would put an emphasis on Tennessee not quite being there yet. Their freshman QB did pretty good, all things considered. Tennessee could be really good in the years to come. I don't expect it to take too long for them to return to prominence, which is amusing considering how Dooley did there.

I know it is Wednesday and we are all thinking about Kentucky and what lies ahead, but I re-watched the game last night and had a few thoughts to share.

Mizzou did a great job of taking 2nd and long situations and either converting them or making it 3rd and short. I counted about 15 times we were in 2nd and long, but we ended up with only 5-7 3rd and long situations. Optimally, fewer 2nd and long situations are better, but making positive yards so frequently is a testament to how good our offensive line is playing.

The defense didn't get a ton of pressure on the Tennessee quarterback, but when they did get pressure they made it count by forcing turnovers and incompletions. Also, the defense held in 2nd and long situations, forcing over 3/4 of their 2nd and long plays into 3rd and long.

I continue to be amazed at how well our running back by committee approach is working. We are deep at the position, and I could see this working for years to come. It requires backs that don’t mind not being featured, and allows for the hot hand to get the ball. It would seem that is also makes us more difficult to game plan against, since all backs do all things: running, blocking, and receiving.

We didn't have as many dropped passes as I thought, but if we catch all of the balls that are catchable, Mauk is at 56% completion rate for the game, which is acceptable considering he is a freshman starting his 3rd game.

Mauk’s improvement was noticeable. He did a great job of running up the middle as the pocket collapsed rather than feeling pressure and trying to roll to the side. He only got flushed from the pocket a few times to the outside and was able to make modest gains or throw it away on those. His pocket presence appears to be improved from the South Carolina game.

Tennessee made costly mistakes at key points in the game. They had penalties and turnovers kill drives and lead directly to easy points for Mizzou. Had this not been the case, the field position game could have been an issue. They did a great job of pinning us in our end of the field, and had much better starting position throughout the game. They did a great job playing for field position, especially in the second half. Unfortunately for Tennessee, they could not move the ball or get into any sort of rhythm on offense. I counted one trip inside the 30. On this one trip, they turned it over on downs after 2 penalties and honestly the game was already decided at that point. We held them to 9 yards in Mizzou territory for much of the first 3 quarters and had it not been for a 51 yard field goal we would have shut them out.

This was about as complete a game as we have played with Mauk as quarterback, and should speak to what we can expect as the regular season comes to a close and hopefully next year as Mauk matures.

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I dunno if I'm in the minority or not, but I LOVED y'all's lids against SCar.

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Those are my favorite of all the new generation helmets. My favorite helmet of all time?