Mizzou Game Discussion/Prediction Thread

[MarkL]

This is a tough one to call. Mizzou runs very similar schemes to Troy on both sides of the ball, but with far better players. I wouldn't call Mizzou 3-deep at every position the way that the top few powerhouses are, but they are much deeper in talent than we are. And I love to talk about how we are 3-1 against Mizzou all time, but those old victories mean nothing on Saturday - all that matters Saturday is which team plays the better game. (Go ahead and arrest me, cliche police).

What does matter, though, is that BG is talented enough and deep enough to compete. Yes Pitt was a great team last year, and yes the Big East is a BCS conference, but the Big East is not as good as the Big 12. Big East defenses may be better, though ... I'm not sold at all on Big 12 defenses and I think all the offense talk last year was largely a result of poor defenses in most teams. Look at bowl results and decide for yourself. And speaking of defense ... Mizzou lost 7 all Big 12 defenders last year. Yeah Mizzou put on a defensive show against Illinois, but that was an Illinois team with an awful head coach that doesn't fully utilize his players and only knows how to recruit, not coach.

Two key points: Though the Mizzou games of old don't add up to anything about this game Saturday, the fact that BG has knocked off BCS teams in two consecutive years does.

And ... we are possibly too high on BG right now after one win, but Mizzou is probably in the same boat. We'll find out about both as the year goes on.

I'm not going to post a prediction. Same tactic as Pitt game last year

[JH5]

I really hope the Mizzou football team comes out with the same attitude that you fans have. You guys will get beat by 3 touchdowns. This is crazy. You just beat an Illinois team that lost there starting, All-American WR in the first drive and no weapons without him in a very down Big Ten (where they weren't even predicted to finish in the top 5). Troy probably could have beat that Illinois team without Benn. And its not like you looked THAT great anyway. Sure, we only beat Troy, but it seems like you really know nothing about our team--youre just basing your opinions on the fact that we're in a non-BCS conference.

Do people really have that opinion of us? Troy fans thought they were going to destroy us last week and you see what happened there. Go ahead, overlook us. But be prepared to eat crow.

Hm..overconfident Big 12 team playing a non-BCS school who is a huge underdog and has nothing to lose. Where have I seen that before?

[Falcon137]

60 teams would have beaten Illinois last week, they played with 0 effort. I know it's a rivalry, but Illinois looked like they wanted to go a Cardinals game not play a football game in St. Louis.

[mutiger91]

60 teams would have beaten Illinois last week, they played with 0 effort. I know it's a rivalry, but Illinois looked like they wanted to go a Cardinals game not play a football game in St. Louis.

Agreed. Although, they came out pumped up. They just weren't very mentally tough and gave up. Zook is a terrible coach and his team would be middle of the pack in the MAC. (They do still have some talent)

As far as Mizzou fans being over-confident, I've always considered that the benefit of being a fan. Other than buying the necessary tailgate supplies, fans don't have to prepare. We can simply be confident that our team is preparing to play you as if they were preparing to play Texas.

[LowryFalcon]

yes mutiger91, maybe thats just what coach pinkel "had" to say but that doesnt change the fact that hes still scared. Wouldnt you be after getting beat by bowling green so many times? We may not be as deep as MU or have the strength but against pittsburgh it was the same story. #25 team with more deepth and stronger bigger players but some how the falcon defense (which was a heck of a lot weaker than this years) still held them off. You talk about the tigers like they are such a powerhouse that is comparable to USC or OSU. Well believe me you guys would get spanked if you played any of those teams.

[mutiger91]

yes mutiger91, maybe thats just what coach pinkel "had" to say but that doesnt change the fact that hes still scared. Wouldnt you be after getting beat by bowling green so many times? We may not be as deep as MU or have the strength but against pittsburgh it was the same story. #25 team with more deepth and stronger bigger players but some how the falcon defense (which was a heck of a lot weaker than this years) still held them off. You talk about the tigers like they are such a powerhouse that is comparable to USC or OSU. Well believe me you guys would get spanked if you played any of those teams.

Luckily we don't have to play USC. You are right, they would beat us pretty good. I think if you watch any other football this weekend, you will see that for the umteenth year in a row tOSU is a paper tiger. I would gladly play them in a bowl game. As far as Pittsburgh goes, we have more ways to move the ball than they did.

As far as Pinkel being scared, I would say that he is scared before every game to the extent that he wants to respect all opponents and properly prepare for them. I'm sure losing to BG bothers him as he is a competitor. If anything, I would think Pinkel being pissed about how the last two games turned out works very much against you, because he won't overlook you and he won't let this team overlook you. You can't really sneak up on him if he is plotting his revenge.

If you do manage to pull off the upset, I will be back on this board to congratulate you as I did in 2002.

[FortWayneFalcon]

The stars align.
BG goes into the Boise St game 3-0.
Freak finds center, and makes it just in time for kick-off.

At the end of the season, Missouri is still ranked above the Falcons.

[reid_82]

This is a tough one to call. Mizzou runs very similar schemes to Troy on both sides of the ball, but with far better players. I wouldn't call Mizzou 3-deep at every position the way that the top few powerhouses are, but they are much deeper in talent than we are. And I love to talk about how we are 3-1 against Mizzou all time, but those old victories mean nothing on Saturday - all that matters Saturday is which team plays the better game. (Go ahead and arrest me, cliche police).

What does matter, though, is that BG is talented enough and deep enough to compete. Yes Pitt was a great team last year, and yes the Big East is a BCS conference, but the Big East is not as good as the Big 12. Big East defenses may be better, though ... I'm not sold at all on Big 12 defenses and I think all the offense talk last year was largely a result of poor defenses in most teams. Look at bowl results and decide for yourself. And speaking of defense ... Mizzou lost 7 all Big 12 defenders last year. Yeah Mizzou put on a defensive show against Illinois, but that was an Illinois team with an awful head coach that doesn't fully utilize his players and only knows how to recruit, not coach.

Two key points: Though the Mizzou games of old don't add up to anything about this game Saturday, the fact that BG has knocked off BCS teams in two consecutive years does.

And ... we are possibly too high on BG right now after one win, but Mizzou is probably in the same boat. We'll find out about both as the year goes on.

I'm not going to post a prediction. Same tactic as Pitt game last year

Who are these seven all-big 12 defenders you speak of? Missouri had five last season: Weatherspoon (returning), Hood (1st round pick of Steelers), Moore (second-round pick of Falcons, got honors on rep last season), Sulak (2nd team, seventh-round pick of Raiders) and Baston (HM, returning).

Calling Pitt a great team last year is a stretch, in my opinion. Good, not great. Their best win was against South Florida, which finished the season unranked...

This Missouri team will prove to be better than the 08 Pitt squad on both OL and DL as the season bears out.

And finally... laughable to say Pinkel is scared of BG. As mentioned... this is pretty typical coach speak that we heard from him before the Nevada and Buffalo and Illinois State games last year, before the Ohio game in 06, etc, etc. Him saying that is about keeping his team focused (so it doesn't letdown) and not giving the opponent bulletin board material.

[MarkL]

Who are these seven all-big 12 defenders you speak of?

According to Phil Steele. Not sure which source he uses, but I know he also includes honorable mentions. Basically he wanted to emphasize that there is a TON of defensive talent graduating. Phil Steele's known for being incredible accurate with knowledge and great at predicting but sometimes blows big calls (Toledo MAC champs 07 and potential BCS buster ...). Mizzou's still a deep team.

[jpfalcon09]

Wow, this thread got ugly. There's good reason Mizzou fans should be high on their team, they've been one of the elite teams the last 2 years in college football. I think any fans, including BG fans would be tooting their own horns if that were the case about their program.

As CW said, you can't really measure a team after one week. We BG fans were in this same boat last year after Pitt and it didn't do us any good vs. Minn or Boise. I know you can't compare years or coaches, but just keep that in mind.

As I said before, I hope BG competes. I'm not expecting them to win this game at all, I admire those of you who are picking them but they'll need to play a flawless road game in a big time setting. The better team will show itself after 60 minutes of football, and I hope we can all agree to leave it at that.

[TG1996]

My only prediction is that Sunday morning, BG will still lead the all-time series and Gary Pinkel will still have lost more games to BG than he's won.

[always a falcon]

MU fans. Please note that the person posting quite bombastically has only 10 posts to his credit. And yes I apologize for getting personal. But geez......

I hope we play well, you play well, no one is hurt, and of course, we win. I am sure you feel the same. As an article about the MAC read earlier states, we just want respect for the effort and the game we give you, no excuses either way.

We are a team that is finding itself. And I hope it finds itself Saturday evening with the most points!

Falcon Fan 1 is going out. Missouri fans beware, he is always in danger of spontaneous combustion if BGSU is playing in any sporting event.

[Dayons_Den]

Got in to kansas city around 10pm local time. Looking forward to boulevard wheat and kc bbq on friday!

Hoping to run in to more falcons in the next couple days.

[reid_82]

Who are these seven all-big 12 defenders you speak of?

According to Phil Steele. Not sure which source he uses, but I know he also includes honorable mentions. Basically he wanted to emphasize that there is a TON of defensive talent graduating. Phil Steele's known for being incredible accurate with knowledge and great at predicting but sometimes blows big calls (Toledo MAC champs 07 and potential BCS buster ...). Mizzou's still a deep team.

Personally, I find Steele to be a little overrated (His over-reliance on returning starters/production is a problem). He can be extremely off the mark when a team isn't returning a ton.

I have no idea who he's talking about as far as seven lost all-big 12 players from Mizzou's defense. If he's talking about the whole team? Yeah, they lost six all big 12 players (Daniel, Maclin, Coffman, Sulak, Hood, Moore). But there were only three graduated/departed defenders who were all-league last year. Heck, Missouri returns four starters defensively (and a fifth who started for part of the season). So Steele is saying Castine Bridges, Tommy Chavis, Brock Christopher, and Justin Garrett were all-league, too?

I wish.

[SB-50]

Do not underestimate what BG Offense did to Troy's Defense. Consider the following from NFL.com as it previews college games with pro prospects (http://www.nfl.com/draft/story?id=09000 ... nfirm=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;):

Troy at Florida
Troy, the unheralded school in Alabama, has a burgeoning reputation for producing NFL talent, and the Trojans have three players (DE Brandon Lang, DE Cameron Sheffield and LB Boris Lee) that are regarded as solid prospects. Facing a star-studded Gators offense that loves to pass, the trio has a chance to boost their draft status. Lang, in particular, can rise up the charts by displaying the pass-rushing skills that have some pegging him as an early round selection.

For the Gators, scouts are closely monitoring Tim Tebow's development as a passer. While the former Heisman Trophy winner has been lauded for his intangibles, his pro potential will hinge on passing the ball. The game against Troy gives him another chance to showcase his ability to do just that.



That's 3 players in Troy's front 7 that may be playing on Sundays soon. The BG front was able to handle that for 31 unanswered, and only 1 sack. Who else does Troy have that's the next DeMarcus Ware or Leodis McKelvin (CB, 2009 1st round to Bills ) ?????

Mizzou is a good team, but this won't be the quiet stroll on the beach that some Tiger fans think. You better bring a lunch, because the Falcons can "Ball".


SIDE NOTE: I wonder was going through Urban's mind as he watched the BG film this week???