Nevada gave Mizzou the game I knew they could and the Tigers still came out on top.
Kaepernick did NOT get to his magical 7.0 yards per play threshhold. I am not sure if I spelled that right but I'm plenty deep in Busch Light and not about to check so we'll just assume I know what I'm doing. By my rough mathematical skills, he passed 28x for 146 and ran 13 for 59...so that's 41 plays for 205...not close to 7 per play. in fact. it's exactly 5 per play. Sayonara Kaepernick.
Any time you win by 10 on the road, regardless of the opponent, you take it and go home happy. This is no different. But there are some definite areas of concern. 78 rushing yards and 2.3 yards per carry is a HUGE concern. Clearly NV's strategy was to kill the run and make Gabbert beat them with his arm. While I wholeheartedly disagree with that philosophy from a strategic standpoint (um, have you watched film there Wolfies?) kudos to them...it worked. This one is on the O-Line. They're just not creating the running lanes. I don't know what else to really say about that. NV has two stud DE's but in the Big XII season, the Tigers are going to face some pretty talented defensive lines and the inability to effectively run the ball is a big issue. Pay no mind to D-Wash's 16 for 75 (4.7ypc) - all of it came on a 42 yard run in the 4th. Absent that, we're talking 15 for 33...barely 2 per carry. HAS to improve. One dimensional attacks might work vs the worst Pass D in the nation (Nevada) but not against Nebraska, OSU and Texas. Fair warning. Another thing is the play calling, more specifically the 2-pt conversion calls. Pay attention. Under no scenarios, absent a complete lack of all placekickers on one's roster, should you EVER go for 2 in the first 3 quarters of a football game. For me, this is a hard-and-fast rule. Until the 4th quarter, no need to chase points. Take your PAT and move on. I am dumbfounded at the necessity to try and make it a 7pt game that early in the contest. Especially when you have an offense that you know will score more. Seriously, take the point.
On the good side. Mr. Gabbert, despite being off, by my estimation, 
for a lot of the night - overthrowing DA twice in the end zone, missing Perry and Jackson in the end zone and Perry another time down the seam, plus throwing a prayer under pressure right into the Nevada secondary - despite all that....he was freaking M O N E Y tonight. His scramble-pass to DA for his first TD and his roll-out fling to Kendial Lawrence down the right sideline for a huge completion were ab-so-lutely unbelievable. To even ATTEMPT those throws shows giant gonads. I'm sorry, but if our QB last year did that, the Tigers fly home from Reno 3-1 instead of 4-0. No disrespect, but, once again, that's the difference that elite arm strength makes. And uncanny confidence in one's receivers.
for a lot of the night - overthrowing DA twice in the end zone, missing Perry and Jackson in the end zone and Perry another time down the seam, plus throwing a prayer under pressure right into the Nevada secondary - despite all that....he was freaking M O N E Y tonight. His scramble-pass to DA for his first TD and his roll-out fling to Kendial Lawrence down the right sideline for a huge completion were ab-so-lutely unbelievable. To even ATTEMPT those throws shows giant gonads. I'm sorry, but if our QB last year did that, the Tigers fly home from Reno 3-1 instead of 4-0. No disrespect, but, once again, that's the difference that elite arm strength makes. And uncanny confidence in one's receivers.So at the end of the day, here we sit with our Tigers 4-0. Most didn't predict this. I would've taken 3-1 back in August. The hairy part of the schedule looms with the conference season beginning and three straight games against ranked opponents. It's a new season, come October 8th when the Huskers come to Columbia. I think Nebraska is overrated, I'll just put that out there right now. I think their QB is mediocre at best, Helu is a solid back and Ndamoanbaonaoinoneaiobinaoeihoaboiaoejuoadkhalogg Suh is a real threat on the interior DL. Not impressed with their early season wins and not surprised by their loss at Va Tech (who will get ROLLED by Miami on Saturday). It's 13 days out but I'll go 31-20 Missouri at this point. I'm not convinced UL-Lafayette won't give them all they can handle on Saturday...
And with that, I bid thee farewell. Big fraternity golf tournament tomorrow. Time to pound some water and mentally prepare for a complete blood-bath tomorrow.
(Last thing...Wainwright can sew up the Cy Young with a dominant performance on Saturday)
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