When the Defense Roars: Missouri Tigers Dynasty

[Kcordloh]

Oklahoma contains Franklin, Tigers offense falters

The Missouri Tigers made their trip to Gaylord Family Stadium with huge expectations on their offense. Giving up over 100 points and 1200 passing yards in their first 3 games with their defense made them prime targets for "OVERRATED" chants. DC Johnny Rock was actually cheered entering Gaylord Stadium, and the announcers pointed out that apparently there was going to be a party tonight where the challenge was to drink more beers then the amount of points the Sooners put up on Rock's defense. Early projections of the game had changed the score to 60-14.

#1 Oklahoma was 17 point favorites entering the game according to Vegas, but most people thought anything closer then 21 should be a more victory for the Tigers. Turns out they got more than that.

The Oklahoma Sooners held James Franklin and his recievers and the entire Missouri Tigers offense to a total of 170 yards. If you had told Coach Bob Stoops before the game that Missouri would score only 13 points and 170 yards of offense the entire game he probably would have been celebrating.

Unfortunately for Stoops and the entire Sooner Nation, the Tigers defense held Landry Jones to 131 yards on 16 for 31 passing and picked him off 3 times in route to a 13-3 victory.

The victory by the Tigers snapped the 37 game home winning streak by the Sooners, the last time the Sooners lost at home was to TCU back on September 3rd, 2005.

The game was entirely defensive until E. Gaines intercepted L. Jones late in the 2nd quarter. MU scored on that drive to take a 7-3 lead into the locker room. G. Ressel kicked a field goal in each of the final two quarters to give the Tigers the 13-3 win over the #1 Oklahoma Sooners. The victory marks the second season in a row the Tigers have beaten the #1 Sooners, and the 3rd time in the last 5 meetings that one of the two has been ranked #1 in the nation, and the 4th time in the last five meetings that one of the teams has been ranked in the top 2 in the nation.

E. Gaines nails a crucial interception of L. Jones

Sep 24, 2011 - MU at OU
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#21 Missouri (3-0)	0	7	3	3	13
#1 Oklahoma (2-0)	0	3	0	0	3

Team Stats Comparison
OU		MU
151	Total Offense	170
20	Rushing Yards	28
131	Passing Yards	142
17	First Downs	9

Oklahoma: L. Jones 16/31, 131 yards, 3 INT
Missouri: James Franklin 12/19, 142 yards, 1 TD
E. Gaines 4 tackles, 2 INT

[Kcordloh]

Around the league after week 4

In addition to #21 Missouri's rousing 13-3 over #1 Oklahoma there were several other major victories.
#5 Oklahoma State thumped #7 Texas A&M 35-30 despite A&M's heroic 21 points in the 4th quarter.
#10 Alabama defeated #17 Arkansas 31-17
And in a rousing upset previously unranked Tulsa overcame their 1-2 record and defeated #6 Boise State 45-35.

NCAA Football Rankings - Coaches Poll - Updated: Sep 25, 2011
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	Media Rank
1	2	Oregon (41)	4	0	1
2	5	Oklahoma State (20)	4	0	3
3	3	Stanford	3	0	2
4	4	Ohio State	4	0	5
5	8	Wisconsin	4	0	8
6	9	Auburn	4	0	4
7	1	Oklahoma	2	1	9
8	10	Alabama	3	1	11
9	11	South Carolina	4	0	15
10	12	TCU	4	0	10
17	21	Missouri	4	0	6

Matchups to watch in week 5

#6 Auburn (4-0) at #9 South Carolina (4-0)
#13 Nebraska (4-0) at #5 Wisconsin (4-0)
#12 Michigan State (4-0) at #4 Ohio State (4-0)
#8 Alabama (3-1) at #18 Florida (4-0)
#21 Arkansas (3-1 at #11 Texas A&M (2-1)
Nevada (2-1) at #15 Boise State (2-1)

[BleedBlue23]

The Mizzou defense might have struggled in the first few games, but holding Oklahoma to only 3 points is big time! Nice work!

[Kcordloh]

Around the league: Week 5

In a week with a lot of top 25 action, there were a few upsets.
#6 Auburn defeated #9 South Carolina 33-30 in overtime
#5 Wisconsin defended their home turf against Big 10 newcomer #13 Nebraska 49-21
#12 Michigan State shut down #4 Ohio State 21-3
#8 Alabama defeated #18 Florida for the third straight year 41-17
#21 Arkansas beat down #11 Texas A&m 37-14

For the second straight year Nevada upset #15 Boise State 16-14. Boise State's struggles are most likely the result of losing Kellen Moore for several weeks during the Tulsa game last week.

NCAA Football Rankings - Coaches Poll - Updated: Oct 2, 2011
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Oregon (37)	4	0
2	2	Oklahoma State (21)	4	0
3	3	Stanford (2)	4	0
4	6	Auburn	5	0
5	5	Wisconsin	5	0
6	8	Alabama	4	1
7	7	Oklahoma	3	1
8	12	Michigan State	5	0
9	10	TCU	5	0
10	4	Ohio State	4	1
14	17	Missouri	4	0

[Kcordloh]

Week 6

Matchup Preview *|* October 8, 2011
	@
#14 Missouri Tigers (4-0, 2-0 Away)		Kansas State Wildcats (2-2, 2-1 Home)
Game Notes The #14 Missouri Tigers (4-0) answered their critics last week against the Oklahoma Sooners. Now they have to see if they can live up to the hype coming this way. Some people suggest they deserve better then #14 in the nation as the coaches suggest, but HC Gary Pinkel says that the Tigers will end up where they belong in the end. Look for Kansas State's defense to try and stall the Missouri Tigers potent offense, as the Tigers defense should be able to hold the weak Wildcat offense that is struggling to average 200 yards per game.

Match ups around the league
#7 Oklahoma (3-1) @ #16 Texas (4-0)
#10 Ohio State (4-1) @ #17 Nebraska (4-1)
#4 Auburn @ (5-0) @ #15 Arkansas (4-1)
#26 Iowa (4-0) @ #18 Penn State (5-0)

[Kcordloh]

Tigers offense falters, defense holds

The Missouri Tigers defense has come on as of late, holding the #1 Oklahoma Sooners to 3 points and under 200 yards two weeks ago and this week they held the 2-2 Kansas State Wildcats to 164 yards and only 8 first downs.

The Kansas State Wildcats offense struggled enough that only the defense and kicker did anything effective past the 30 yard line. Ty Zimmerman scored KSU's lone touchdown early in the 3rd with a pick six of James Franklin and a 76 yard TD rush to make the game 17-10. Zimmerman forced a fumble of Wes Kemp later in the 3rd that put KSU at first and goal but the Tiger defense held and KSU had to settle for a field goal to make it 17-13.

The Missouri Tigers offense did just what they needed to get the victory. James Franklin went 19 for 30 for 242 yards and 2 TD. The Tigers got ahead 10-3 at the half and never trailed again, leading 17-3 before KSU's late rally to pull within 4 before G. Ressel nailed a 47-yard field goal early in the 4th to nail down the victory.

Oct 8, 2011 - MU at KSU
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#14 Missouri (4-0)	0	10	7	3	20
Kansas State (2-2)	3	0	10	0	13

Team Stats Comparison
MU		KSU
310	Total Offense	164
68	Rushing Yards	35
242	Passing Yards	129
14	First Downs	8

Missouri POTG: James Franklin went 19/30 for 242 yards and 2 TD and was intercepted 1 time
Kansas State POTG: Ty Zimmerman with 8 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 INT, 2 FF, and 1 TD

No pictures are available due to the digital stills not saving due to electrical activity.

[Kcordloh]

Around the league: Week 6

NCAA Football Rankings - Coaches Poll - Updated: Oct 9, 2011
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	Media Rank
1	1	Oregon (33)	5	0	1
2	3	Stanford (22)	5	0	2
3	4	Auburn (2)	6	0	4
4	5	Wisconsin (1)	5	0	5
5	2	Oklahoma State (1)	5	0	6
6	8	Michigan State (1)	5	0	3
7	6	Alabama	5	1	11
8	7	Oklahoma	4	1	8
9	9	TCU (1)	6	0	9
10	11	Virginia Tech	6	0	12
12	14	Missouri	5	0	7

Week 6 results

#7 Oklahoma defeated #16 Texas 24-7
#10 Ohio State welcomed #17 Nebraska to the Big 10 with a 35-12 beating
#4 Auburn slipped past #15 Arkansas 31-28 in OT
#18 Penn State defeated #26 Iowa 21-9


There are currently 15 undefeated teams.
In addition to the top 10 there are: #12 Missouri (5-0), #14 Penn State (6-0), #23 Cincinnati (5-0), #25 Ole Miss (5-0), Louisville (5-0), Illinois (5-0), and Southern Miss (6-0).

Illnois plays #11 Ohio State next week, and Louisville and Cincinnati play, so there is a maximum of 14 undefeated teams at the end of next week.

[tony kant think]

Early season jitters it would seem. Holding Oklahoma and KSU to 16 points total isn't too shabby at all. Great posts.