Dive into the Heart of Mizzou Athletics

The Tigers came to Amherst, they saw the pretty leaves, they conquered the UMASS Minutemen.

A brisk wind, a chill in the air, leaves changing, pads popping, nothing like football in… Amherst? The Tigers have finally put to bed one of the strangest scheduling quirks in recent major college football history, wrapping up three trips in seven years to the college football hotbed of New England. With no more trips to the Northeast on the horizon, the program can finally cast its recruiting gaze away from a region where they cashed in by pulling a grand total of 0 recruits in the last forever. So what did we take away from this shellacking of the Minutemen? Let’s get to it.

1. Why are we here?

I promise I’ll stop whining about this game soon, but really. Why did Mizzou play this game in this location? McGuirk Alumni Stadium fits a grand total of 17,000 polite, demure New Englanders, though at kickoff the stadium featured no more than half that number. I don’t blame them, with the beautiful fall foliage this time of year, I’d much rather go leaf peeping than watch a UMASS team get pummeled mercilessly at home. The only group today that showed less energy than either team on the field was the crowd.

2. Fast starts are fun

It has been a minute (since week one actually) since the Tigers came out fast on both sides of the ball. Since the Buffalo game, the Tigers have had slow starts and taken into the second quarter to wake up the offense. Well the offense chugged their coffee this morning as Luther Burden III took a hand off on the second play of the game 61 yards to the house. In fact, the offense was humming in all phases early, scoring three touchdowns on their first three possessions. The defense followed suit, forcing punts on the first two UMASS drives and bowing up in the red zone on drive number three, forcing a field goal.

3. How hurt is Luther?

Perhaps the most concerning thing coming out of a largely meaningless blowout is the apparent injury to Luther Burden’s left shoulder. Early in the third quarter, Burden ran a slant into the middle of the field and went up for an errant Brady Cook pass. The pass sailed high which left Burden exposed to a major (and legal) hit from a UMASS defensive back. Burden landed hard on his left elbow, jamming his arm into his shoulder. He walked off the field but spent time in the injury tent and never returned to the field.

Getting the ball to Luther was clearly a priority for the offense today, as he finished the day with two carries, five catches, 127 total yards and a touchdown. The question now is how much, if any, time will Luther miss due to the injury? It’s too early for us to know, but it could be anything ranging from a bruise to a broken collarbone. With Auburn, Alabama and Oklahoma on the horizon, any missed time for the star receiver will be too much time.

4. Injuries starting to build up

The Tigers have experienced a good deal of positive injury luck to this point in the season. The only two major injuries they’ve had to deal with occurred before the season in quarterback Sam Horn and defensive end Darris Smith. Well, that luck might be starting to turn. Luther Burden wasn’t the only player to get banged up during this week’s game as linebacker Khalil Jacobs also left the game early with a right shoulder injury.

Before the game, linebacker Donavin Newson and defensive end Joe Moore were scratched with unspecified injuries suffered either during practice or in last week’s game. Running back Nate Noel also missed today’s game with back tightness. Noel did dress for the game, so it’s presumed he suffered his setback during warm ups before the game. Since this was not an SEC game, the coaching staff was not required to submit an official injury report before the game, so we’ll have to wait until the post game press conference concludes to find out more.

5. We can’t take anything away from this

Winning is good. Winning on the road is even better. Winning by a lot on the road is the best. The problem is, the now 1-6 UMASS team is such a moribund program that nothing positive can be gleaned from today’s blow out. The offensive line looked improved in the running game, gaining 231 yards on 38 carries and four rushing touchdowns, but will that carry over to Auburn? It’s impossible to tell because the UMASS defense is terrible. The defense was infinitely better than last week, allowing just over 3 yards per carry and an excellent 2-14 third down conversion rate. But will that matter for next week? Once again, it’s impossible to tell.

The one thing we can take away is that the Tigers were able to rinse the awful taste left in their mouths after last week. Will that carry forward now that the schedule ratchets up to 10 for the last half of the year? Time will only tell. We’ll find out starting next week.