One of the great SBN blogs out there is Rock M Nation which covers the Missouri Tigers. You might remember them from last year as we exchanged information for the Big 12 Championship Game in
CCM:
RMN: If I were to compile a list of reasons why I thought
would struggle and/or lose in the Big 12 Championship to Missouri , I'm not sure Christensen's departure would crack the Top 25. Christensen has chosen to stick around for the Big 12 Championship as well as Oklahoma 's bowl game, and even if he had not, his eight years at Missouri have pretty much made his system second nature to his players. Not to mention, his quarterback knows the offense almost as well as he does. I think it may be a bit of a motivator more than anything. Missouri isn't Missouri - it's not used to having its assistants be coveted and/or poached. Christensen's new job is validation that other programs want what Oklahoma is building. That's a huge boost of confidence for this program. Missouri
CCM: Despite being ranked second in the conference in both points allowed and points scored the Tigers dropped three games in conference. What is it that they are missing this season from last year's team?
RMN: That's been a huge enigma for all of us who follow
. All the pieces should have been in place. I think the only thing that's been missing is the swagger and the "us against the world" mentality. It took a couple of weeks, but a few Missouri players finally admitted that they weren't as focused for the OSU game as they should have been since they had watched the Red River Shootout earlier in the day and knew they were playing for No. 1. That OSU loss really deflated the team, and what transpired in Missouri was as painful of a football game as I've seen in a long time. Furthermore, Austin 's pass defense has fallen off the face of the earth from last year. Last year, if William Moore wasn't the best safety in the country over the last eight games, he was at least in the conversation. This year, he's gotten lost in the scheme while playing a lot of nickel back, and while he provides a major boost in run support, the unit really misses his contribution to the pass D over the top. Missouri
CCM: The talk of the town this week so far has been
CCM: Jeremy Maclin seemed to get a little banged up against RMN: I've heard almost nothing on Maclin's health this week, so I assume he's good to go. It seemed like a weekly occurrence last year that he'd get shaken up, send us all into panic, and then be back five plays later. I haven't heard otherwise, so I'm guessing Maclin will be a full speed. The bigger concern is the health of Chase Coffman. The
RMN: Honestly, the best thing that could have happened would have been for OSU to beat the Sooners and send Texas Tech to
CCM: Todd Reesing threw for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns against
RMN: I really don't know to be honest. Even when things seem to go wrong for CCM: Finally, how about a score prediction?
RMN: We're all hoping for the 2003
formula. We're hoping the Big 12 North underdog upsets the unbeatable Kansas State team in Oklahoma despite a rough stretch in the middle of the season that cost it national title aspirations. I think Kansas City ought to be able to put up points on Missouri , but unless Oklahoma commits several turnovers or stops itself, I don't see the Oklahoma defense being able to give the Tigers a shot to win. In the end, I'll say something along the lines of 48-34 in favor of Missouri . Oklahoma
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