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 45 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
How a military-esque offensive attack clinched a victory in Starkville
In this awesome sidebar by Quentin, who was on the IR this week and didn’t make the trip to Starkville, he talks about how the Tigers’ ground and pound attack effectively silenced those annoying as all hell cowbells, which, when ringing J-School alum Pat Forde called an “ear-splitting slice of hell” in a 2014 story. Another must-read by the junior J-Schooler.
Mizzou Volleyball survives five set nailbiter at Ole Miss
On Friday night, the same time that everyone was likely watching Mizzou Hoops annihilate Pacific (read the Study Hall here), volleyball teed off against Ole Miss, a team, who, Matthew tells us in his recap, has been Tiger kryptonite the last six matches. The Tigers were victorious in this one, pulling out a five-set thriller on the road for their 10th conference win of the season, and you should check out this well done recap.
Hoopin’ n Hollerin’: Strutting into the Sunshine State
While it can certainly be argued that Missouri’s coach should have been fired by this point, we also know that the University isn’t one to fire a coach mid-season, so let’s just enjoy what (should be) Robin Pingeton’s last season in the black & gold. The Tigers are heading to Florida during Feast Week for two games at the Emerald Coast Classic, and Dylan is here to cleverly preview three possible opponents (Tuesday’s opponent is unclear) while also pointing out what Missouri is doing well in their latest stretch. It’s a good read during a season when we just don’t know how often we’ll get to read about wins, especially as SEC play starts as the calendars move to 2025.
Road Woes: Why can’t this team get off to a good road start?
In this sidebar by Adeen after the shocking ending to Mizzou’s game vs. South Carolina, he noticed that Mizzou’s early game woes came back to haunt them once again. This time, he writes, South Carolina outgained the Tigers 177-49 in the second quarter, picking up 14 points to the Tigers zero. Even worse, the Gamecocks accumulated eight yards per play to Mizzou’s 2.7 in the quarter, marking it as total domination. Is it bad play-calling? Tired defense? Penalties? Read this piece to find out!
Beyond the Box Score: The Road is F***in’ Hard
Welp. After Saturday’s loss to South Carolina, there went Mizzou’s Playoff dreams. As Nate Edwards writes in his weekly analytics piece, he’s not sure that Mizzou ever felt like a Playoff team, though. They just cut it too damned close time and time again, and while they’ve been incredibly lucky up to this point, that same luck ran out on Saturday vs. the Gamecocks. (Quentin says something similar here).
Edwards writes, “If you have a great quarterback, a reliable kicker, and manage the clock well, you can win a ton of games that way. Hell, even with this most recent loss Drinkwitz is 16-8 in one-score games so it clearly works. But it can also feel frustrating. Like you’re leaving points off the board, or not utilizing offensive pieces well, or being way too conservative at, like, all times and letting teams hang around too long.” If you find yourself nodding your head vigorously at this statement, this piece is the one for you.
Quotables
On his relationship with Gates: “It’s a role model that I needed in my life, and getting the opportunity to come here and forming the relationship I have with him is what I needed for myself on the basketball court and off the basketball court as well. He’s just someone I can go here when I’m away from my close family and friends from back home, and he’s just someone I can trust. I think that’s always been something really hard with my life is really trusting people and, just the ability to have where I feel like I can tell him anything and everything, and just we have that relationship with each other is something that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, and I hope he does as well.”
Gates: “I love you, too.” Grill: “I love you, too.” —Caleb Grill quote via Quentin Corpuel, Pacific Pregame Presser
“Mizzou held an unfathomable time of possession edge in the second half of 26:14-to-3:46. That’s flat-out ridiculous. Mizzou ran 44 plays in the second half, while Mississippi State only had 11 snaps. After halftime, the Tigers ran the ball 34 times for 101 yards, while Brady Cook was an effective 8-of-10 passing for 127 yards. For the game, Mizzou owned the ball for 41:51 on the clock, to only 18:09 for the Bulldogs. That’s just pure domination.” —Chad Moller, Five Takeaways— MS State
“As I write this, the wound is still raw from a heartbreaking loss. (the postgame bourbon, so needed at the time, yet so painful this morning, is not helping anymore.) The balm is taking a wide-lens view of the program. While it was encouraging to see another warrior game from Cook, the best offensive line performance of the season, and another gritty comeback effort, those are just grasping at moral victories from a crushing loss. The relief comes from perspective.” —Dan Keegan, A Fan’s Notes: Due Theory
As impressive as this play is from Burden — one-handed basket catch, using his other hand to shed the defender — we have to acknowledge the dime from Brady Cook. I feel comfortable saying that it may be the best throw of his college career. If it’s not, it’s up in the top five. So while we can certainly credit Burden for his share of the highlight, Brady Cook deserves some flowers too, making this a lower than expected score. 3/5 —Josh Matejka, The Revue
“LaNorris Sellers looks like the spitting image of Brad Smith. Ok, he may actually outweigh Brad by a few pounds, but he has Brad’s height, athleticism and play style. He even has Brad’s number (#16). It’s uncanny. He’s only a redshirt freshman, so Mizzou may be stuck dealing with him for a while, and he’s only going to get better.” —Nathan Hurst, Spare Thoughts: South Carolina
“I’m not sure how much you’re watching the rest of the league or the rest of college football, but back-to-back double digit win seasons isn’t easy to do. 5 teams won double digit games last year. 3 of those teams won double digit games the year before. 7 teams in the SEC still have a chance at 10 wins this year. Texas is the only team with 9 wins, and 5 teams have 8 wins: Texas 9-1 | Texas A&M 8-2 | Georgia 8-2 |Tennessee 8-2 | Alabama 8-2 | Ole Miss 8-2 | South Carolina 7-3 | Missouri 7-3” —Sam Snelling, Pourover 11/17
“This would open up an opportunity for Abbey Schreacke, who previously started two games last season when injuries piled up. Schreacke has opened up her sophomore campaign on fire, averaging 12.2 points on 48.7% from three, punishing teams from beyond the arc. She’s coming off a career-high 26 points and 8-made threes during the team’s last win against Western Illinois. I’ve started referring to Schreacke as Mizzou’s Klay Thompson; her main success is off-the-ball as a catch-and-shoot weapon that keeps the defense honest and prevent doubles. Throwing her out there with Slaughter to start the game keeps defenses honest and gives two real three-point threats for Pingeton’s squad. If the decision were mine, Abbey Schreacke would be starting by Wednesday.” —Dylan Heinrich, Hoopin’ & Hollerin: SLU & Arkansas-Little Rock Edition
Hot Shots
In this week’s hot shots, we’ve got some extra shots from Cal from last Saturday’s gym intrasquad women’s hoops vs. SLU & Little Rock from Cal & Mike, and men’s hoops vs. Pacific from Cal. ENJOY!
Listen Up!
Here’s what you may have missed podcast-wise on the Olympic Sports and football fronts.
- My show, Majority Rules, recorded a new show on Tuesday night to talk about volleyball’s close loss to Florida, women’s hoops win at Western Illinois and preview of SLU, wrestling’s not-so-close loss to Virginia Tech, and gymnastics’ weekend intrasquad.
- Dive Cuts returned after a few weeks off and Sam & Matt are looking at Mizzou Basketball’s 3-1 start
- On a new episode of Before the Box Score, the Nates take a closer look at Mizzou’s loss to South Carolina.
- The Nates also previewed Saturday’s matchup with Mississippi State in another ep of Before the Box Score!
Mizzou Sports this Week:
- Sun, Nov. 24: MBB vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 4pm | VB AT MS State, 2pm
- Mon, Nov. 25: WBB vs. Syracuse (Destin, Fla.), 5pm
- Tues, Nov. 26: WBB vs. Wichita State/Creighton (Destin, Fla.), tbd | WR AT Northern Iowa, 7pm
- Wed, Nov. 27: MBB vs. Lindenwood, 5:30pm | VB vs. Kentucky, 7pm
- Sat, Nov. 30: FB vs. Arkansas, xx pm | VB vs. Auburn, 7:30pm (Senior Night)