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phins wrote:On the bright side, Mizzou's got a defense. Wonder if Sheldon Richardson comes back?

Despite the worst accuracy problems of his career (and I'm not even talking about the passes he made under pressure -- I'm talking about the passes he made when attempting to step into them properly in the pocket), James Franklin led a strong offensive effort against the second-best defense in the country. With Franklin, Mizzou averaged more yards per play against Florida than Mizzou did with Corbin Berkstresser against Kentucky, the same Kentucky that allowed 40 points to Vanderbilt yesterday. As I wrote in last week's BTBS post, I'm not giving up on Berkstresser. But I've basically given up on him in the short term. He got almost four full games to prove himself capable of playing good offense in 2012. He didn't do it.

That Mizzou was able to move the ball against Florida, even with Franklin unable to throw an accurate pass more than about seven yards, ends the argument. With a healthy Franklin that wasn't coming back from his third extended absence of the last six months, Mizzou goes for over 400 yards. With the evidence at hand, we can't even guarantee Berkstresser gains 200 yesterday. The bad passes were incredibly frustrating. But Mizzou still gained 339 yards against, again, the second-best defense in the country. And again, that was more than Texas A&M or Georgia gained. That means something.

JL21 wrote:85% Franklin is still a [expletive] load better than 100% Berkstresser. It's not even close.

#4 is the most accurate by far. Did you see the Kentucky game? Alabama? 3/4 of the Vandy game? Berkstresser has clearly had a shot and he's looked horrible. Franklin made some huge mistakes in the game, but he had some success mixed around it. Berkstresser just makes the mistakes without the success. And Franklin looked great against Vandy until he got hurt with a SECOND injury. Bill Connelly at RMN hit it out of the park:

http://www.rockmnation.com/2012/11/4/35 ... eflections

Despite the worst accuracy problems of his career (and I'm not even talking about the passes he made under pressure -- I'm talking about the passes he made when attempting to step into them properly in the pocket), James Franklin led a strong offensive effort against the second-best defense in the country. With Franklin, Mizzou averaged more yards per play against Florida than Mizzou did with Corbin Berkstresser against Kentucky, the same Kentucky that allowed 40 points to Vanderbilt yesterday. As I wrote in last week's BTBS post, I'm not giving up on Berkstresser. But I've basically given up on him in the short term. He got almost four full games to prove himself capable of playing good offense in 2012. He didn't do it.

That Mizzou was able to move the ball against Florida, even with Franklin unable to throw an accurate pass more than about seven yards, ends the argument. With a healthy Franklin that wasn't coming back from his third extended absence of the last six months, Mizzou goes for over 400 yards. With the evidence at hand, we can't even guarantee Berkstresser gains 200 yesterday. The bad passes were incredibly frustrating. But Mizzou still gained 339 yards against, again, the second-best defense in the country. And again, that was more than Texas A&M or Georgia gained. That means something.

They have three games left, and the season is NOT lost because two wins means a bowl game and an extra month of practices, which can't be understated. Going with Berkstresser means taking a tiny chance at improving your backup QB while sacrificing a month's worth of improvement at every other position on the field.

I'd also add that there's a decent chance Berkstresser isn't even the #2 next year. If this season has been any indication, there's a good chance Mauk will leapfrog him. So you're throwing away a month of practice for a guy with a decent chance at being a career backup at Mizzou.

Vidor wrote:Congratulations to Missouri for beating a real SEC team and likely earning Derek Dooley a pink slip.