The Morning Commute for Wednesday, November 27th
Welcome to the Morning Commute
Today we’re talking about the Heisman Trophy race.
Tiger fans all had off-season hopes of seeing their very own superstar, WR Luther Burden III contend for the prestigious award that’s never gone to a Mizzou player. That never really materialized for various reasons, but it was fun to dream.
Now that the regular season is virtually over (say it ain’t so!), it’s time to get serious about who is going to win this massive piece of hardware.
The Athletic conducted a media straw poll of Heisman voters and while the recent election season might give one pause to put a ton of trust into polls such as this, the results were pretty eye-opening: Colorado two-way stud Travis Hunter appears to be the clear-and-away front runner.
According to the Athletic’s poll, Hunter got 24 first-place votes in the open voting system, while Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty had the next-most, with only two. Jeanty had 22 second-place votes, well beyond any other the next-most of three by Hunter. Miami, Fla. QB Cam Ward was the only other player who received a first-place vote, and he got just one. It’s safe to say that these three will definitely be heading to New York City for the official ceremony.
Beyond that, if this poll is accurate, you might see only those three be invited to NYC, because after that, there were only five other players who received as much as a second or third place vote, and they were all well in the distance in terms of the total points system.
Finalists will be announced by the Heisman Trophy Trust on Dec. 9, and the ceremony will take place at 7 pm central time on December 14th. Click here for more information about this year’s Heisman ceremony.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
- The Tiger men’s hoops team dismantled Arkansas-Pine Bluff 112-63 and Rock M hoops savant Sam Snelling had quite a bit to say about it with his Study Hall session.
How Missouri won this game was different than the previous two. They didn’t shoot the ball well, but they attacked the rim and rebounded so well it didn’t matter.
It’s been nice to see an inside presence so far this season. Who knows if that will hold up once the competition gets tougher, but it’s definitely something that’s been lacking for the Tigers the past several seasons.
- Nate Edwards’ weekly Beyond the Box Score took a deep-dive into Mizzou’s win at Mississippi State, where the offense imposed its will with a punishing ground game.
It is oddly satisfying to watch an offense hand it off 50+ times with no issue. To make it so clear that they’re going to either run left or right and the defense still can’t get them off the field. And I’m sure it was cathartic for Missouri’s five offensive linemen to punish Mississippi State’s defensive front over and over again without fail.
Nate pointed out that Mizzou ran the ball two more times than the total number of plays Mississippi State had all game. That’s impressive, and a formula for winning an SEC road game.
- In this week’s The Revue, Josh Matejka compared Mizzou’s bludgeoning of Mississippi State to the martial arts movie The Raid.
Granted, the missions in The Raid and The Raid II are much more difficult than the job Missouri had on Saturday night. But there is a certain feeling I got watching Mizzou queue up another run that I also had when I first saw Gareth Evans’ martial arts masterpieces. And that feeling can be summed up by my uttering, “Huh, I bet this guy is about to get his ass kicked,” every three-to-four minutes.
A high-flying aerial attack might be more enthralling of a watch, but there is something very satisfying when watching your team pound the opponent into submission, and there’s not a dang thing they can do about it.
- The Mizzou Gymnastics team has had a couple of intrasquad meets thus far, and Karen Steger is your go-to source for updates on the upcoming season with this check in on the squad.
This team has high aspirations: Finish in the top half of the SEC, reach the evening session of the SEC Championships, return to Nationals as a team. These are not unattainable goals.
Lots of excitement for Shannon Welker’s squad that is looking for a successful follow-up to what was an extremely successful season a year ago.
- Tuesday’s Morning Commute from Sammy Stava had some football recruiting news, as well as a smorgasbord of info related to Tiger football and men’s and women’s hoops.
Missouri hasn’t landed a commitment since Dakotah Terrell on September 30th, so if you need a refresher — the Tigers’ 2025 recruiting class currently ranks 27th on Rivals and 20th on 247Sports.
As for the transfer portal, the free agent chaos officially begins December 9th. Buckle your seat belts, college football fans!
At the half the Tigers led by 13, shooting 58% to Wichita State’s 28%. Grace Slaughter was the only player in double digits for either team, finishing the half with 10 points on 4-6 shooting with no turnovers. The only thing keeping this game close was Wichita State’s ability to get to the stripe and make shots, finishing 16-20 from the FT line.
- Over at Rock M+, we’re talking about exciting news related to the potential return of a football standout, plus a big discussion about the stacked week of holiday hoops action.
Rock M Radio: Before the Box Score recaps Mizzou’s win in Starkville
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