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A win is a win, and the Redhawks might not be a bad team, but they've got to be better than that to stay ranked. Here's to making adjustments against Arizona State.

Coming in, you had to be curious about:

-Franklin. How would he do? We heard all summer that he was a pass-first guy despite the obvious assumption that he'd be a better runner. He didn't look like a pass-first guy today at all. In fairness, at least part of that was by design with all of the draw plays called early on. He wasn't awful, he got the job done, but they're going to need better play from him if they want to go beyond 8 wins. Mostly, he looks exactly like what he is- a young, unfinished product.

-The secondary. They lost so much off of last year's squad in the secondary, and then they lost Kip Edwards for today's game. It's going to be a work in progress. Like Franklin, you have to think it'll get better because there's a lot of raw talent, but you also have to know that there will be growing pains along the way. It needs to be better against the Big XII and ASU.

-The line. I figured they'd be ok with the injuries because of depth, but they played green and inexperienced today. Too many penalties.

EDIT: Also, it speaks volumes about how spoiled we've been at QB that Mizzou has a true sophomore QB who ran for 72 yards, went 17 for 26, accounted for both of the TD's... and it was mildly disappointing.

JL21 wrote:Coming in, you had to be curious about:

-Franklin. How would he do? We heard all summer that he was a pass-first guy despite the obvious assumption that he'd be a better runner. He didn't look like a pass-first guy today at all. In fairness, at least part of that was by design with all of the draw plays called early on. He wasn't awful, he got the job done, but they're going to need better play from him if they want to go beyond 8 wins. Mostly, he looks exactly like what he is- a young, unfinished product.

-The secondary. They lost so much off of last year's squad in the secondary, and then they lost Kip Edwards for today's game. It's going to be a work in progress. Like Franklin, you have to think it'll get better because there's a lot of raw talent, but you also have to know that there will be growing pains along the way. It needs to be better against the Big XII and ASU.

-The line. I figured they'd be ok with the injuries because of depth, but they played green and inexperienced today. Too many penalties.

EDIT: Also, it speaks volumes about how spoiled we've been at QB that Mizzou has a true sophomore QB who ran for 72 yards, went 17 for 26, accounted for both of the TD's... and it was mildly disappointing.

This might be the biggest one that goes overlooked. They lost their best lineman for the year because of injury and had a lot of guys playing out of position. Franklin was far from perfect, but that also was in part because of the O-line.

@Dave_Matter wrote:#Mizzou's 291 yards of offense marked its fewest since the 2009 loss at Texas

Also:

@GabeDeArmond wrote:PowerMizzou.com has learned that safety Tavon Bolden has been dismissed from the #Mizzou program for violation of team policies.

I actually watched most of the Missouri game today, and as a non-Missou fan, I was reasonably impressed. Franklin is a heck of an athlete, I think they're going to score plenty of points. But mostly I was impressed with the defensive effort of Missouri. I thought they really got after it. Missouri fans seem a little disappointed, but it's not like Missouri was playing against Podunk State today. Miami Ohio isn't going to be a championship contender, but they're usually no cakewalk, either.

What was wrong with the secondary? Pretty much every reception I can remember was under the coverage, and they acquitted themselves very well in one on one balls. Really, the whole defense looked very good. The only points were due to a short field, and they made Miami execute flawless 10 play drives to score(which Miami couldn't do).

Franklin seemed to get jittery and let his footwork fall apart in the pocket. A little different from Gabbert's tendency to flee the pocket like a spooked deer, probably more correctable too. I expected more from Lawrence, he was a disappointment after hearing all about him winning the rb job this august. The line blocked well, and some of the presnap mistakes I can write off to newness. I'm pretty sure every holding penalty against mizzou for the last 5 years has been committed by Palmgren. The kicking game was outstanding as always. All in all, a better result than the score indicated. I have confidence Franklin will get settled in better going forward, and the points should come with that.

Oh, and please give us more Marcus Lucas. Franklin needs his skill position guys to help him out with a few 2-3 play, 70 yard scoring drives. Lucas is a guy who can help with that problem.

Transmogrified Tiger wrote:What was wrong with the secondary? Pretty much every reception I can remember was under the coverage, and they acquitted themselves very well in one on one balls. Really, the whole defense looked very good. The only points were due to a short field, and they made Miami execute flawless 10 play drives to score(which Miami couldn't do).

Franklin seemed to get jittery and let his footwork fall apart in the pocket. A little different from Gabbert's tendency to flee the pocket like a spooked deer, probably more correctable too. I expected more from Lawrence, he was a disappointment after hearing all about him winning the rb job this august. The line blocked well, and some of the presnap mistakes I can write off to newness. I'm pretty sure every holding penalty against mizzou for the last 5 years has been committed by Palmgren. The kicking game was outstanding as always. All in all, a better result than the score indicated. I have confidence Franklin will get settled in better going forward, and the points should come with that.

Oh, and please give us more Marcus Lucas. Franklin needs his skill position guys to help him out with a few 2-3 play, 70 yard scoring drives. Lucas is a guy who can help with that problem.

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Transmogrified Tiger wrote:What was wrong with the secondary? Pretty much every reception I can remember was under the coverage, and they acquitted themselves very well in one on one balls. Really, the whole defense looked very good. The only points were due to a short field, and they made Miami execute flawless 10 play drives to score(which Miami couldn't do).

That's fair. It seemed like they were giving up a lot of 3rd down conversions but they certainly avoided the big plays. I guess it's like when a closer blows a few saves. It's high visibility so it looks worse than it really is. I suppose I'm worried that a higher caliber offense (and there are plenty on the Mizzou schedule) will poke more holes in the secondary than Miami was capable of doing.

JL21 wrote:

Transmogrified Tiger wrote:What was wrong with the secondary? Pretty much every reception I can remember was under the coverage, and they acquitted themselves very well in one on one balls. Really, the whole defense looked very good. The only points were due to a short field, and they made Miami execute flawless 10 play drives to score(which Miami couldn't do).

That's fair. It seemed like they were giving up a lot of 3rd down conversions but they certainly avoided the big plays. I guess it's like when a closer blows a few saves. It's high visibility so it looks worse than it really is. I suppose I'm worried that a higher caliber offense (and there are plenty on the Mizzou schedule) will poke more holes in the secondary than Miami was capable of doing.

They did seem a little inconsistent in their intensity, but agreed, they didn't give up much outside the wide open lane into the endzone.

And tt, thanks for the validation on frank the tank. My opinion is biased so it is good to see someone else see the same thing.

I don't know who was the analyst on the radio but he was talking about how accurate Franklin was. What was he watching? By no means am I giving up on the kid but he just wasn't good. The TD was not far from being a pick and one of his out completions went right through the defenders hands.

Really hope it's correctable footwork issues and that better decision making comes with time.