Missouri Tigers 2007 Preview Capsule

Coach: Gary Pinkel (37-35) Seventh Year
Last Year: 8-5, 4-4 Big 12, Second in the North 
Returning Starters : Offense 8, Line 3 | Defense 5, Line 2

Three Things You Should Know
1) Gary Pinkel is the Prince of Darkness.
2) They like to talk about the tight ends and wide receivers, but Chase Daniel (JR, 6-0, 225, #10) is the difference at Mizzou. The kid can run the offense, throwing for 3,527 yards with 28 TDs and 10 interceptions. The defensive coordinators of the Big 12 have some film now, so it'll be interesting to see how they approach the Tiggers this season. Of course, film of Texas Tech has been around for years and it hasn't really helped anybody. Senior center Adam Speiker (6-3, 305, #77) is a leader and a big part of the success of the offensive unit.
3) The defense is still a question mark in my opinion. They return only five starters to a unit that ranked seventh in the conference with 375 yards allowed per game. MU dominated the 'Hawks last year, but frankly that was an offensive game plan only Nick Q could have conceived. A truly un-inspired effort by KU with a one-armed QB until the game was out of hand. The TD's by Cornish and Talib were among the longest offensive plays of the year for KU. Junior LB Brock Christopher (6-2, 240, #34) is the leading returning tackler for Mizzou with 87 tackles last year with 6.5 for loss.

Trends
The Border War series is either tied at 53-53-9 or KU leads 54-52-9 depending on where you live ... both teams generally keep each other in check, MU had a five-game win streak from 1938-1942. KU preceeded that with a five-game win streak 1930-1934. KU did have a nine-game winless streak from 1958-1966. This stroll through ancient history has been brought to you by Phil Mayer ... Looking toward Arrowhead, MU is 4-2 at neural sites (KU 1-2).

How KU Wins
We'll know a lot this Saturday night. If the defensive ends can get pressure on CMU's Dan Lefevour, then KU will have a great season. If not, then we're looking at another 2005 or 2006. How is this relevant here? To stop Daniels, you've got to get pressure with the d-line  ... expect Bill Young to have his defense breathing fire for this year's edition of the Border War. The KU defense was confused last year at Columbia and didn't have the aggresive edge as the MU offense certainly played to KU's weakness. MU players wanted to mix it up after plays (that's not a criticism), but the Hawks just wanted to get back to the huddle and figure out what the hell was going on. The common theme for the three-game win streak KU held against the Tigers was that they were able to intimidate QB Brad Smith. Daniels was pretty much un-touched last year, so I believe that Young will have the D focus on knocking him to the ground. He may get his yards, but he'll have to pay for it.

2007 Missouri Schedule
Sat, Sep 1 at Illinois
Sat, Sep 8 at Mississippi
Sat, Sep 15 Western Michigan
Sat, Sep 22 Illinois State
Sat, Oct 6 (20) Nebraska
Sat, Oct 13 at (8) Oklahoma
Sat, Oct 20 Texas Tech
Sat, Oct 27 Iowa State
Sat, Nov 3 at Colorado
Sat, Nov 10 (25) Texas A&M
Sat, Nov 17 at Kansas State
Sat, Nov 24 at Kansas