The Morning Commute for Nov. 18, 2024.
Welcome to the Morning Commute
Today we’re talking about the AP Poll, like we do every Monday morning.
First of all, and you should know this by now, but who gives a **** about the AP Poll right? You might think we do because we post about it every Monday. Buddy, we have content gaps to fill, what else do you think we’re writing about?
For the first time this season the Mizzou Tigers are not a part of the AP Top 25, instead sinking to the distinguished position of “first place in the others receiving votes” category. I find it somewhat funny given that Missouri had previously been legitimately killed by both Texas A&M and Alabama and found a way to keep their spot. But in their first close loss? Adios, Tigers.
Mizzou should find themselves favorites against Mississippi State next weekend, meaning there’s a good chance they’ll rebound next week. At least now there’s a tangible goal for everyone to work toward.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
HOLY SHIT, Cal was busy this week! Starting with most recent: On Saturday he shot the gymnastics intrasquad, on Friday Mizzou v. Florida volleyball and on Thursday it was men’s hoops vs. Mississippi Valley State. On Tuesday it was women’s hoops vs. Tulane and Monday was men’s hoops vs. Eastern Washington. On Sunday it was women’s hoops vs. Norfolk State. Mike handled the volleyball duties vs. South Carolina later that day. Enjoy! There’s SO much action to flip through! What are your faves?
Cal is always busy, this shouldn’t surprise anyone!
Corey Batoon’s soft zone coverage was back with a vengeance tonight and it flopped again. He tried it against Texas A&M and it worked similarly poorly. In the second half, Batoon switched to man coverage and the Tigers got multiple stops in a row to allow the offense to take the lead. Unfortunately the zone reappeared on a long completion on South Carolina’s first touchdown of the fourth quarter. The zone needs to get buried and not be brought out again this year.
We’ve been pretty pro-Batoon on Rock M this year, but I have to concur, the zone sucks and should be unalived.
Did Mizzou miss the opportunity? Yes, they did. But for what this season has become I feel pretty good with how things went.
For what it’s worth, I largely agree with Sam here.
In my amateur opinion, I believe keeping Averi Kroenke in the starting five would be best, as her defense and passing is unmatched by few on the roster. While yes, she isn’t much of a scoring threat, Schreacke and Slaughter will more than make up for it with their ability to pull the defense away from the paint and create space for their PG.
Losing to Norfolk State has already put the Tigers behind the eight-ball in a pivotal year for Pingeton. Let’s see how it shakes out from here.
NoW – Mizzou has proven resilient all season long, it’s just too bad they’ve had to be so resilient after a string of poor first-half performances have forced them to come from behind so often. It would serve them well to come out of the gates in better form against a Bulldog team that can score points in bunches…
The theme with all these drives was untimely mistakes, and it shows how mistakes can shift the game so heavily in another team’s favor. Running out of bounds, taking third down sacks, untimely penalties and drops are just what a well-oiled machine like South Carolina need to take over a football game. Mistakes like these can be attributed to three things: A hostile environment, lack of execution, and most importantly coaching.
Without that first quarter sleepwalking episode, Mizzou probably wins that game, maybe even handily. Coulda shoulda woulda!
Multiple weeks into the season, the Tigers are still forming their identity. Noah Surtin and Rocky Elam are out, replaced by freshmen Gage Walker and Aeoden Sinclair. Walker and Sinclair have shown tremendous promise so far, but Mizzou will want Surtin and Elam back soon as they look to begin solidifying the lineup.
We know that Brian Smith will have these guys competing for the big prizes by year’s end.
Over at Rock M+, we’re talking about Pro Football Focus grades, Anthony Robinson II’s chaos, and former Tiger John Tonje:
Anyone surprised by how well he’s playing for the Badgers so far? I‘ve been skeptical about how much Dennis blamed injuries for last year’s struggles, but Tonje dropping 41 on 14 shots vs. Zona (while locking up Caleb Love) has me reevaluating that take.
Honestly forgot about the name John Tonje until I read this post! Like a dream within a dream.
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