(Big 12) The Tigers play home games on artificial (FieldTurf) at Memorial Stadium (seats 68,349)
- Gary Pinkel’s 11th year as head coach at Missouri. Last year they went 10-3 with losses to Nebraska, Texas Tech and Iowa (Insight bowl).
- While their offense returns 9 starters from the 2010 team, unfortunately, they don’t return the most important part of that offense: their quarterback. Blaine Gabbert was a first round
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
pick in the NFL draft this year. His brother Tyler had a chance at the starting position, but when James Franklin won it after spring, Tyler chose to transfer. That limits Missouri’s options if Franklin is injured or doesn’t otherwise work out. Franklin has a strong arm, but has just 14 passing attempts in his career.
- The top running backs all return as does the entire receiving corps. And the carries and receptions were pretty spread out amongst those players . As for the rushing game, De’vion Moore, Henry Joesey and Kendial Lawrence all had about an even share of the ball and all averaged over 5 yards per carry. And in terms of receptions, T.J. Moe and Michael Egnew had about 90 catches a piece. The difference this year is that there won’t be over 300 catches to split amongst receivers, so when they do catch the ball, they will need to make even more of their opportunities. Moe and Egnew combined for 1807 yards and 11 Touchdowns (comparable numbers to 2009 when 1st round NFL draft pick Jeremy Maclin and Danario Alexander were the duo)
- The only offensive linemen they need to replace is at Center and they have 9 of their top 10 back. One thing to watch on the line is that the Offensive Guards (the two players lined up on the outer edges) will be lining up in a three point stance. This means they will have one hand on the ground when the ball is snapped. This is not typical for Pinkel (even in his time as head coach at Toledo, his offensive linemen stood up at the line in a 2-point stance rather than crouching down in a 3-point stance). And why do they do this? Offensive linemen will line up in a 3-point stance because it puts them lower to the ground for run-blocking purposes. For plays where their team is trying to run the ball it is more effective for them to sink their hips and get their bodies lower. Thus, starting from a position with one hand on the ground as supposed to straight up helps the linemen get in this position more quickly. Heading into 2010 run blocking was a concern considering that the rushing average had decreased to 3. 7 yards per carry in 2009. However, it was back up to 4.6 yards per carry last year. And chances are with the quarterback situation the way it is, Missouri will need to rely more on their running game this year so those numbers will be critical.
- Defense returns just six starters and the biggest hit spot is the defensive backfield. That’s a blow considering the vast improvements they made in 2010. They went from the 104th ranked passing defense to 37th and improved their interceptions from just 8 to 18. But, they had all four starting defensive backs in 2010. This year they have significant losses and have to replace three of their four starters.
- With September games (click here for their schedule) at Arizona State and at Oklahoma, the new starters are going to have to jell quickly. It will be hard for them to match last year’s 10-3 record with the key losses.
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