Missouri hopes to fulfill lofty expectations
editor1 |Aug 19,2008
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By Alan Eskew
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
A 12-2 record, the Big 12 North title, a 38-7 Cotton Bowl
thumping of Arkansas and the No. 4 overall ranking in the final
national poll.
That was Missouri in 2007, but that won't be good enough for the
Tigers in 2008.
"We don't want to replicate (the 2007 season)," All-American
quarterback Chase Daniel said. "Because then we'd lose in the
Big 12 Championship game. I want to play in Florida."
That would be January 6, 2009 in Miami, the site of the BCS
Championship Game.
That would be a giant step for the Missouri program, which prior
to the Cotton Bowl victory had not played in a New Year's Day
game since 1970, was 1-1 in two Independence Bowls and lost the
2006 Sun Bowl to Oregon State.
"We certainly haven't arrived," said head coach Gary Pinkel, who
is beginning his eight season with the Tigers. "We won the Big
12 North last year, so we've made progress. Missouri hasn't won
a Big 12 championship, yet."
Missouri has reasons to believe it can contend for the No. 1
ranking, which it held briefly last December after beating
previously undefeated Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium. But the
Tigers lost to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game the
following week, their second loss of the season to the Sooners.
"We think we're the hunted now," Daniel said. "That's exciting
to me, and I'm embracing every bit of it."
The Tigers return 17 starters, including 10 on defense. While
the offense lost tight end Martin Rucker and wide receiver Will
Franklin - both third-round picks in this year's NFL draft - and
running back Tony Temple, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards
in his final two seasons, the Tigers still have plenty of
weapons.
Daniel, a Heisman Trophy hopeful, passed for a school-record
4,306 yards as a junior with 33 touchdowns and only 11
interceptions.
"I'm not trying to sound cocky," Daniel said. "But I think I'm
the best quarterback in the Big 12."
Chase will be throwing to Chase a lot this year and the defenses
will be doing a lot of chasing. The other Chase is All-American
tight end Chase Coffman, the son of former NFL tight end Paul
Coffman, who has 157 receptions for 1,672 yards and 20 TDs in
his first three seasons.
Speedster Jeremy Maclin may be the most exciting player in the
Big 12. He set an NCAA single-season freshman record with 2,776
all-purpose yards in 2007 and was the only player in the nation
to score touchdowns via receiving (9), rushing (4), punt return
(2) and kickoff return (1).
Junior Danario Alexander, who broke his wrist in the 2007 season
opener and then tore knee ligaments in the Big 12 title game, is
back. He should be at 100 percent after having offseason knee
surgery.
But the Tigers also have an underrated running game, as
evidenced by Temple's Cotton Bowl record 281 rushing yards and
four touchdowns.
To replace Temple, Pinkel has several options: fifth-year senior
Jimmy Jackson, who rushed for 342 yards as a junior; Derrick
Washington, who rushed for 199 yards as a freshman, and De'Vion
Moore, a redshirt freshman.
Pinkel also could turn to highly touted freshman recruit Drew
Temple, Tony Temple's younger brother, who rushed for more than
1,500 yards and led Kansas City Rockhurst High to a 13-0 record
and a state championship.
Despite the overwhelming depth in the backfield, Missouri's
running game lacks star power, meaning opposing defenses likely
will stack the secondary to slow down Daniel and the aerial
attack.
But Pinkel is not at all worried about an offense that ranked
fifth nationally in total yardage and scored nearly 40 points
per game last season.
In order to replicate those numbers, however, the Tigers will
need to rebuild an offensive line reeling from the void left by
Adam Spieker and Tyler Luellen.
Returning starters to the offensive line are senior right tackle
Collin Brown, junior right guard Kurtis Gregory and senior left
guard Ryan Madison.
"We'll be OK, but I think it's going to be like our defense was
a year ago," Pinkel said. "Our offensive line is going to be a
lot better in October and November than they are at the
beginning."
The Tigers open with a dangerous game against Illinois, which
appeared in last year's Rose Bowl, and begin Big 12 play at
Nebraska, where they have not won since 1978.
Two other key Big 12 games are October 18 at Texas and November
29 against Kansas at Kansas City. If the Tigers win those,
there could be another rematch with Oklahoma in the Big 12
championship game.
The fact that Missouri is even mentioned as a Big 12 contender
is surprising. But the Tigers have worked hard to change the
culture of mediocrity in Columbia.
"The older guys on this team were around when we were winning
five or six games," Maclin said. "And they don't want to go
back there."
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