
A weekly list of fantastic stories (and quotes) you may have missed this past week at Rock M Nation dot com
Welcome to Rock M Digest, a weekly column where I, Madame Editor, share with you my must-read picks for the Rock M Nation content of the week. These stories made me think (sometimes too much), laugh, smile, cry… you get the picture. We’ve got a talented bunch of writers at this site, and since I have the distinct pleasure of reading all of it — I love reading it all, I swear — I want you, the readers, to know what you should be checking out if you don’t have time to read all the content. There was so much content; we put out 42 stories this week alone. And that’s not including podcasts (which I’ve linked to below) and Rock M+ content, which isn’t found on the main RMN page.
At the bottom, I’ve gathered up my favorite quotes of the week presented them with no context. There is a link to the story included, and I highly recommend reading the stories that go along with them.
And, as always I’ve gathered all the podcasts for you and put all my fave photos from the best photo team into a gallery for your viewing pleasure.
Enjoy! We’ve got a good mix of Olympic Sports, hoops, and both a fun win and a brutal loss for our football team.
Rock M Recs
NCAA Cross Country Championships: A reflective recap
In this beautifully written and must-read piece by Abigail, she takes readers through her experiences watching and interacting with the teams and coaches taking part in the NCAA Cross Country Championships. MUST READ, even for the most casual of fans.
Missouri stuck to the run game against Arkansas and it paid off on its final drive
In Adeen’s new sidebar, he asks, “So how could a team that is playing a more balanced attack lose to a team that was seemingly one dimensional?” Even with the passing game where 141 of Brady Cook’s 168 passing yards came after the catch, he writes, only 17 of Mizzou’s 361 total yards were through the air.
Missouri stayed true to itself, and it eventually broke the Razorbacks’ defense down enough to cause some leaks. Leaks that when the Tigers finally abandoned the run when they needed to, they were able to put up some points. Adeen identified some real nuggets in this piece; well worth a read.
The wonderfully wild football history between Mizzou & Arkansas
Arkansas, who has all the makings of a rival despite not being a natural one, has had some real, as Quentin writes in his new history piece, “staggering, heart-stopping football contests that throw normalcy into the wind.” This includes its inaugural class in 1906 (no, no not a typo), 2023 weirdness in which a UA player appeared on Luther Burden’s IG live to ask if there were spots open and Sam Pittman infamously answered a question about what’s next, “I don’t know,” the high-scoring absurdities of 2017 and 2020, and many more. This column is so much fun.
Mizzou Volleyball reaches 20 wins with sweep of Auburn on Senior Night
In front of a smaller crowd that usual — I blame the terrible roads in CoMo and the football game that left everyone frostbitten, Mizzou Volleyball ended their regular season and senior night on the highest of high notes, with a sweep of Auburn, winning the final four points of set three with kills by seniors Naomi Franco and Colleen Finney and a W-clinching ace by a Kiraliz Perez Catala. In fact, as Matthew writes, all seven seniors got into the match. It’s a great recap of the action, featuring some really good quotes by Dawn Sullivan and some of the seniors.
Mizzou ends season on a high note, survives Arkansas in the snow
Through two quarters, Quentin writes, Mizzou lacked a key component to victory in any sport: life. They’d registered a measly 107 total yards of offense, were 1/6 on third down, and had targeted Luther Burden III just once. But just like in three of MU’s previous four games, the Tigers got it done with the help of two of Mizzou’s top seniors. A good read about the Tigers’ final regular season game.
Hoopin’ & Hollerin: Three’s Company in Mizzou Arena
After a few days on the emerald shores of the Sunshine State, Mizzou women’s hoops, as Dylan writes, returns home for a three game set against a pair of solid mid-majors and the conference’s inaugural SEC-ACC Challenge matchup.
First up, Jacksonville State (Ala.), a team who, with one exception, has held its opponents to 60 points this season. Then comes SMU, who enters the ACC this season and are currently 5-3 on the season, but 0-2 against power opponents and their inability to make threes, sitting at just 25.9% on the season. And finally, they close out the week with the Northern Illinois Huskies, who have played five of their six games within a margin of 10 points or less.
Checking in with Mizzou Gymnastics
Aaah, yes, there it is. My long-awaited follow-up with Mizzou Gymnastics after their November 16 intrasquad, with photos — thanks, Cal! — and plenty of videos to whet your appetites for the upcoming season. Also, there were a couple judges on-hand, which provided very helpful feedback to know if what we were watching was as good as we thought. Being able to chat with head coach Shannon Welker after the event was also helpful, as he revealed not only the couple of others working on 10.0 SV vaults, but also thoughts on the freshmen, the transfers (who shouldn’t be called transfers now; they are on this team), the schedule, and the return of Helen Hu. Good stuff.
Five Takeaways from Mizzou’s 28-21 win over Arkansas
Sammy took a different and interesting approach to the five takeaways since it was the last game of the season (bowl game notwithstanding). Instead of focusing solely on this game, he provided takeaways about the season overall and the current state of the program. A great wrap up.
Quotables
“Call me a romantic, but I just don’t see how Brady Cook could possibly lose his last game on Faurot Field. Mizzou means to much to him, and vice-versa. The team cast aside any worries about not being motivated anymore last week at Mississippi State, so I feel like they’re fully vested still in putting it all on the line one more time.” —Chad Moller, Pregamin’ Arkansas
“It was a good ol’ fashioned whompin’. Like a molasses leak consuming a town. A whale devouring thousands of lifeforms by simply swimming with its mouth open. A supermassive black hole devouring a star. It ain’t fast and it ain’t pretty but it is inevitable. And it was very funny to watch Bulldog defenders be incapable of doing anything about it.” —Nate Edwards, Beyond the Box Score: Whompin’ MS State
“The in-stadium sound experience was brutal. The speakers were cranked far too loud, and far too often loud electric guitar licks or hip-hop bars filled the stadium. It sounded like a college bar, not a college game, and they should have let their band and natural noisemakers lead the charge here. Sure, the cowbells are annoying, but they are also part of the charm. (Their pregame hype video using the iconic SNL Will Ferrell “more cowbell” sketch was hilarious and well done.)” —Dan Keegan, A Fan’s Notes: Bustin’ Loose (Dan busts out of his NYC digs and heads to Starkvegas)
“I saw Josh Gray pull up for a three-pointer in the first half on Friday and took a photo. Ho-hum, I thought, a three, they shoot those all the time. Then I thought, wait…. isn’t Josh Gray a center? What’s he shooting a three for? After the game I learned it was Gray’s first made three ever in college. This is why it’s important to shoot EVERY play (and to do your research!)” —Cal Tobias, Tobias Ten: MBB & WBB Roll
“As much as I’d like to make the win against Mississippi State about the beauty of Mizzou’s passing game or the clinical, technical wonder of Corey Batoon’s defensive schemes, it’s hard to look past the body blows Eli Drinkwitz put on the Bulldogs by way of Marcus Carroll, Jamal Roberts and Nate Noel. Drink has mentioned during in-game interviews this season that he hopes Mizzou’s continued use of the running game would wear down opposing defenses. And boy howdy, did he ever get his wish on Saturday.” —Josh Matejka, The Revue: MS State
“Our whole program is based on energy-generating behaviors,” Warrick said. “(There were) not a lot of students out there. We got to do a good job ourselves making sure the energy is there for sure from the start.” —Marquez Warrick, via Quentin’s Lindenwood recap
“Trent Pierce is really stepping into the kind of role we’d hope he would. The shooting still hasn’t quite come around, everything looks like it should go in more but it just doesn’t yet. Another game of being excellent from 2FG, plus getting to the free throw line.” —Sam Snelling, Study Hall: Mizzou v. Lindenwood
“They didn’t choose (Mizzou) because of sold-out crowds. They didn’t choose it because of what it is now,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “They chose it because they believed it would become that. And they worked really hard for five, six, seven years, all of them, to get it to this point. And so, I’m really, really proud of this class.” —Eli Drinkwitz, via Quentin’s One Last Show in Faurot
Hot Shots
In this week’s hot shots, we’ve got some volleyball shots from me & Matthew and snow game shots from Mike and Cal! Enjoy!
Listen Up!
Here’s what you may have missed podcast-wise on the Olympic Sports, hoops and football fronts.
- Over the Net is back and Matthew brings on Mizzou right outside hitter, Naomi Franco. Naomi transferred in from Syracuse and has been an absolute force at the net this season. Matthew and Naomi discuss her time at Mizzou and how the season’s going. MIZ!
- Dive Cuts is back and the Tigers are taking care of business!
- On a new episode of Before the Box Score, the Nates take a closer look at Mizzou’s win over Mississippi State.
- The Nates also previewed Saturday’s final regular matchup with Arkansas
Mizzou Sports this Week:
- Sun, Dec. 1: WBB vs. Jackson State, 2pm
- Tues, Dec. 3: MBB vs. California, 6pm
- Thur, Dec. 5: WBB vs. SMU, 8pm
- Sat, Dec. 7: WBB vs. N. Illinois, 2pm | WR AT SIUE, 10am | T&F AT Boston U
- Sun, Dec. 8: MBB vs. kU, 12pm
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