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MISSOURI at NEVADA WOLFPACK
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Tonight the Missouri Tigers travel to Nevada to take on the struggling Wolfpack. This game should be much more entertaining than the debacle we witnessed last night when a "highly" touted Mississippi U team visited the the South Carolina Gamecocks, but forgot to show up in the first half. I picked the birds to cover and they did win the game, but I wasn't contented with just picking the winner and also tried to pick the over/ under and failed dismally. That will not happen again. So on to tonights game.
Last year Missouri boasted of having the services of Chase Daniel ( 528 att/385 comp for 4335 yds, 39 TDs to 18 INTs and an outstanding, to say the least, 72.9 comp %). They also had Jeremy Maclin(102 rec for 1260 yds and 13 TDs)(40 rushes for 283 YDs and 2 TDs) and Chase Coffman(90 rec for 987 YDs and 10 TDs. Well, those guys are gone, and it's a brand new year for the Tigers. But it is hard to perceive how the Tigers will make up for the 64 TDs and 7146 offensive YDs that these men put on the boards last year. Most professional sports buffs had written Missouri off and predicted a rebuilding year. They said the defense was pourous and would have hugh holes in 2009, and that the QB position had little, if any , chance of success. But to their dismay it hasn't turned out to be that way entirely.
Blaine Gabbert, a sophmore, will be under center this year, and so far in 2009 he has been nothing short of impressive with an explosive 68% comp rate. He has thrown 8 TDs, has had exactly "0" INTs while compiling a 166.1 QB rating. These figures are all better than Chase Daniels' first three starts when he entered college football. The offensive line that lost three starters have given Gabbert plenty of time to throw the ball, exactly what a rookie QB needs.
MLB Luke Lambert, due to an ankle injury, was replaced in the last game by Will Ebner. Ebner went on to record a game high 9 tackles in the game and will certainly pose a presence tonight.
DE Aldon Smith had a sack in each of the first 2 games and knocked down 2 pass attempts in the game vs Furman.
In the defensive back field, Hardy Ricks and Del Howard are recovering from an ankle injury and shoulder injury respectively which will put the pressure square in the hands of SS Jarrell Harrison who has seen little action up till now with a dislocated elbow. So, there is some concern in the defensive secondary.
WOs Jared Perry and Danerio Alexander, and WR Wes Kemp and Jerrell Jackson have been doing a respectable job at their positions, totaling 51 catches for 842 YDs and 9 TDs in three games. A walk on TE named Beau Brinkley, who has never caught a pass in a college football game, has been named the starter over former starter Andrew Jones.
Rushing the ball is Derrick Washington who this year has 226 yds on 52 carries for a 4.3 ypc average. Joining him is Kendial Lawrence has an average 5.9 ypc on 21 carries for 124 yds.
Jake Harry is doing the punting chores and has a decent average of 45.1.
Looking at the Wolfpack we have Colin Kaepernick doing the play calling. He was the WAC player of the year in 2008, and by Nevada standards he is 6th in all time passing yds at 7210, 8th in career passing TDs at 42 and 9th in total pass completions. In 2008 he was 208 of 383 for 2849 yds, 22 TDs and 7 INTs. He rushed for another 1130 yds on 161 carries and scored 17 TDs. He was a pretty busy fellow, but he is struggling this season with 4 INTs already in 2 games and some fumbles. But you must keep in mind that this all happened against Notre Dame and Colorado State. Two very decent clubs, with outstanding athletes. Kaepernick is listed as 89th in the country and 7th in the WAC.
Along with Kaepernick, rushing the ball will be Vai Taua. Taua registered 1521 yds on 236 carries and 15 TDs in 2008. He is keeping pace with those nunbers in 2009 and is averaging 104.3 rushing yards per game, has 2 TDS and is clicking off 6.5 yards per carry. Pretty good numbers against the likes of Notre Dame and Colorado State. This guy is 5'10'', weighs 225 lbs and is all muscle.
Kaepernick will be trying to find Chris Wellington and Virgil Green with his trajectories, when he is not busy rushing the ball. Tray Session and Brandon Wimberly have 21 receptions and 277 yds between them and 1 TD in two games, and they will pose a problem for the Missouri defense.
Taking everything into perspective Nevada will rely heavily on Taua and Kaepernick, and Missouri will key in on them. Missouri is a much better balanced team and comes from a much stronger conference. They weren't tested much against Furman landing a 52-12 win, but Illinois and a pesky Bowling Green team did test them and came up short. Missouri should win this contest by 12 or more.
Good luck in whatever you do.
"Everybody plays the fool, sometimes....there's no exception to the rule"
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Last edited by anjac; Today
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Tonight the Missouri Tigers travel to Nevada to take on the struggling Wolfpack. This game should be much more entertaining than the debacle we witnessed last night when a "highly" touted Mississippi U team visited the the South Carolina Gamecocks, but forgot to show up in the first half. I picked the birds to cover and they did win the game, but I wasn't contented with just picking the winner and also tried to pick the over/ under and failed dismally. That will not happen again. So on to tonights game.
Last year Missouri boasted of having the services of Chase Daniel ( 528 att/385 comp for 4335 yds, 39 TDs to 18 INTs and an outstanding, to say the least, 72.9 comp %). They also had Jeremy Maclin(102 rec for 1260 yds and 13 TDs)(40 rushes for 283 YDs and 2 TDs) and Chase Coffman(90 rec for 987 YDs and 10 TDs. Well, those guys are gone, and it's a brand new year for the Tigers. But it is hard to perceive how the Tigers will make up for the 64 TDs and 7146 offensive YDs that these men put on the boards last year. Most professional sports buffs had written Missouri off and predicted a rebuilding year. They said the defense was pourous and would have hugh holes in 2009, and that the QB position had little, if any , chance of success. But to their dismay it hasn't turned out to be that way entirely.
Blaine Gabbert, a sophmore, will be under center this year, and so far in 2009 he has been nothing short of impressive with an explosive 68% comp rate. He has thrown 8 TDs, has had exactly "0" INTs while compiling a 166.1 QB rating. These figures are all better than Chase Daniels' first three starts when he entered college football. The offensive line that lost three starters have given Gabbert plenty of time to throw the ball, exactly what a rookie QB needs.
MLB Luke Lambert, due to an ankle injury, was replaced in the last game by Will Ebner. Ebner went on to record a game high 9 tackles in the game and will certainly pose a presence tonight.
DE Aldon Smith had a sack in each of the first 2 games and knocked down 2 pass attempts in the game vs Furman.
In the defensive back field, Hardy Ricks and Del Howard are recovering from an ankle injury and shoulder injury respectively which will put the pressure square in the hands of SS Jarrell Harrison who has seen little action up till now with a dislocated elbow. So, there is some concern in the defensive secondary.
WOs Jared Perry and Danerio Alexander, and WR Wes Kemp and Jerrell Jackson have been doing a respectable job at their positions, totaling 51 catches for 842 YDs and 9 TDs in three games. A walk on TE named Beau Brinkley, who has never caught a pass in a college football game, has been named the starter over former starter Andrew Jones.
Rushing the ball is Derrick Washington who this year has 226 yds on 52 carries for a 4.3 ypc average. Joining him is Kendial Lawrence has an average 5.9 ypc on 21 carries for 124 yds.
Jake Harry is doing the punting chores and has a decent average of 45.1.
Looking at the Wolfpack we have Colin Kaepernick doing the play calling. He was the WAC player of the year in 2008, and by Nevada standards he is 6th in all time passing yds at 7210, 8th in career passing TDs at 42 and 9th in total pass completions. In 2008 he was 208 of 383 for 2849 yds, 22 TDs and 7 INTs. He rushed for another 1130 yds on 161 carries and scored 17 TDs. He was a pretty busy fellow, but he is struggling this season with 4 INTs already in 2 games and some fumbles. But you must keep in mind that this all happened against Notre Dame and Colorado State. Two very decent clubs, with outstanding athletes. Kaepernick is listed as 89th in the country and 7th in the WAC.
Along with Kaepernick, rushing the ball will be Vai Taua. Taua registered 1521 yds on 236 carries and 15 TDs in 2008. He is keeping pace with those nunbers in 2009 and is averaging 104.3 rushing yards per game, has 2 TDS and is clicking off 6.5 yards per carry. Pretty good numbers against the likes of Notre Dame and Colorado State. This guy is 5'10'', weighs 225 lbs and is all muscle.
Kaepernick will be trying to find Chris Wellington and Virgil Green with his trajectories, when he is not busy rushing the ball. Tray Session and Brandon Wimberly have 21 receptions and 277 yds between them and 1 TD in two games, and they will pose a problem for the Missouri defense.
Taking everything into perspective Nevada will rely heavily on Taua and Kaepernick, and Missouri will key in on them. Missouri is a much better balanced team and comes from a much stronger conference. They weren't tested much against Furman landing a 52-12 win, but Illinois and a pesky Bowling Green team did test them and came up short. Missouri should win this contest by 12 or more.
Good luck in whatever you do.
"Everybody plays the fool, sometimes....there's no exception to the rule"
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Last edited by anjac; Today
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