A weekly list of fantastic stories (and quotes) you may have missed this past week at Rock M Nation dot com
Welcome back to Rock M Digest, a weekly-ish column where I, Madame Editor, share with you my must-read picks for the Rock M Nation content of the week. We’ve got a talented bunch of writers at this site, and since I have the distinct pleasure of reading all of it, I want you, the readers, to know what you should be checking out if you don’t have time to read all the content. 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.
Enjoy! It might be a bit of a lighter edition, as I’m also working on a Gym preview, and while we still had a lot of content, we’re not putting out as much now that football season is over. I’ve included a couple things that are a few weeks old, as last week was Olympic sports only, and the week before was a Writer’s Choice for the year.
Rock M Recs
Study Hall: Mizzou 83, LSU 67
Mizzou’s first SEC win since March 11, 2023! And it was an easy win! Per Sam’s piece, Mizzou had a 70.3% chance to win before the game and that number only went up as the game went on. Maybe watching the game didn’t feel like that, but Mizzou took a 10-point lead with 9:10 to play in the first half and LSU never got within reach.
It’s a fun read… the wins always are, so check it out!
Rebuilt or refreshed, the Mizzou secondary got a facelift this transfer season
In Nathan’s latest, he talked about Mizzou’s weakest link, the secondary. While he writes that Batoon’s defense did have success in passing downs, they had significant issue with explosive plays and forcing turnovers. To fix this, the Tigers have undergone the equivalent of a facelift. Out with the wrinkles, in with the shiny new toys— players full of experience and production at a high level. It’s a good read.
What we all want to see from Missouri Basketball in 2025
Though it came out January 1, this is one of my favorite yearly pieces from Mr. Snelling, where he takes a look at how the team did in his last edition before taking a look at the 2025. As for the new year, his wishes are: build an NCAA Tournament resume, have another expectedly quiet portal season, build another foundational 2026 class, win Braggin Rights, burn down Phog, and play a better non-con.
I’ll leave you with this:
I’m a believer in Dennis Gates. He’s shown he can develop. He’s shown he can win big games. He’s shown he can recruit. Now with all those things working, and hopefully a really good start to 2025, he can start to schedule a little better.
It feels like they’re making progress. Just keeping making progress.
Ten Year Rewind: The 2014 Tigers Turned in an Under-appreciated Season
This piece from Chad may have come out on Christmas (and actually, came out in an abbreviated version in the Preview magazine, but I want to make sure everyone has a chance to reminisce about the 2014 team on close to the 10-year anniversary of Mizzou’s Citrus Bowl win.
Mizzou women’s basketball squanders late lead, falls to Georgia on buzzer-beater
You guys, this was awful. Just an epic disaster. I’ll just let Quentin tell it best.
Mizzou women’s basketball had it.
The Tigers had not just a win, but one that would do a lot for both the past and the future. A win would snap a 14-game losing streak to SEC opponent; it would also remedy the stink from the shellackings they took against Alabama and South Carolina, and it would provide MU some momentum going forward.
Then, in a few blinks of an eye, victory perished from the visitor’s side.
Tigers test out new lineups galore in season-opening win at Beauty & the Beast meet
In my first of many hopefully gleeful gymnastics recaps of the season, I take you through the Beauty & the Beast meet with videos, quotes, and plenty of details (4,000 words worth) to teach you all about the wonder that is this Mizzou Gymnastics. It is my hope that if I share this much information that it will bring more people on board to watch this team. They’re the MOST FUN and have so much depth to work with.
Rock M Welcomes You, New Mizzou Footballers
Need to catch up on the all the newbies who announced their transfers to Missouri the last few weeks? Here’s your one stop shop to all the announcements from Josh & Sammy.
- Colorado State TE Vince Brown (Sammy, Jan. 11) | UNLV DB Jalen Catalon (Quentin, Jan. 5) | Washington State CB Stephen Hall (Sammy, Jan. 4) | West Virginia OL Johnny Williams IV (Josh, Dec. 28) | Penn State QB Beau Pribula (Quentin, Dec. 22) | Stanford punter Connor Weselman (Josh, Dec. 22)
Recruiting Resets
A couple of staffers contributed to these, but per tradition, each recruit gets a little bit more love from the staff, and the writer (mostly Nate, in this case) identifies where said newbie fits, when they’ll play, and what it all means.
- Stephen Brown (Josh, Jan. 9) | Jalen Catalon (Dan, Jan. 7) | Johnny Williams IV (Josh, Jan. 2) | Dominick Giudice (Josh, Dec. 27) | Keagen Trost (Josh, Dec. 26) | Beau Pribula (Nate, Dec. 25) | Nate Johnson (Adeen, Dec. 24) | Mose Phillips III (Nate, Dec. 23) | Ahmad Hardy (Dan, Dan. 23) |
Quotables
“Heading into the game Vanderbilt possessed eerily similar numbers to Mizzou in three-pointers made, steals, and points on a per game basis. The similarity in numbers is a good explanation for both these teams’ post-season aspirations being in similar spots, as both were labeled in the “Last Four In” in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology.” —Adeen Rao, Vandy MBB recap
“But of course, when the lights were the brightest, the Tigers had their shiniest moment of the game. Down by three with just under 90 seconds left, Iowa faced a fourth-and-one from Mizzou’s 46-yard line. Sullivan tried a quarterback sneak. However, Corey Flagg Jr. timed the snap perfectly, leaping over the line like Troy Polamalu. He got a piece of Sullivan before the Iowa quarterback was stonewalled by Daylan Carnell, Zion Young and Nicholas DeLoach for a game-sealing fourth-down stop. Since 2020, Iowa was 32-0 when scoring at least 21 points, and since 2015, the Hawkeyes were 78-4 when leading by at least eight points at any point in the game, per David Eickholt. Those records moved to 32-1 and 78-5, respectively.” —Quentin Corpuel, Five Years in 20 Minutes
“No Range No Change: This team needs to hit threes, they hit 12 against LSU and were able to curtail any chance LSU had of getting into the game. Threes are the best way to extend leads and strike down momentum, and the Tigers need Caleb Grill, Marques Warrick, Jacob Crews, and Tamar Bates to deliver. When they get hot, they get hot and they can take away a game from a team. It will likely be a dogfight, and for a dogfight you need some shots to fall.” —Quentin Corpuel, MBB Preview: Mizzou Hosts 13-2 Vanderbilt
“You just had a feeling that that’s how his career was supposed to end – with an exciting bowl game win to send him off into the sunset. Much like how things ended for other Tiger QB greats of the past quarter century – Brad Smith, Chase Daniel and James Franklin – Cook joined them in walking off the field for the last time as a well-deserved champion. Come to think of it, all four of these guys led comeback wins in their final bowl games – and also relied on their defensive teammates to get a stop that snuffed out a potential game-winning drive by their opponent in the final moments. —Chad Moller, Mo’s Musings: Brady Cook joins a select group of Tiger quarterback winners
Listen Up!
Here’s what you may have missed podcast-wise on the Olympic Sports, hoops and football fronts.
- Majority Rules is back with a massive episode where we chat New Year’s wishes for Mizzou’s Olympic sports,
- Dive Cuts is back, and Sam & Matt are talking about Mizzou’s first two SEC games!
- RockM+ subscribers can watch the newest episode of The Verdict, in which Matt Watkins breaks down the play of Marques Warrick.
Mizzou Sports this Week:
- Sun, Jan. 12: WBB v. Florida, 2pm | GYM AT Denver Quad, 3pm | WR v. Stanford, 2pm
- Tues, Jan. 14: MBB AT Florida, 8pm
- Thur, Jan. 16: WBB AT Oklahoma, 6pm
- Fri, Jan. 17: T&F Show Me Showdown, time tbd | WR vs. Utah Valley, 6:30pm | GYM AT Oklahoma, 7:30pm | S&D vs. MO State/McKendree (day 1, time tbd)
- Sat, Jan. 18: S&D vs. MO State/McKendree (day 2, time tbd) | MBB vs. Arkansas, 5pm | Tennis vs. SD/NIU, 10am & 4pm
- Sun, Jan. 19: WBB AT Auburn, 2pm