Spring game weekend. First one I've missed in years.

I love the spring football game.  I hated missing it this year but sometimes when we grow up things happen, and we have to do things that we don't love because we do things we just have to do.  By this time of year I'm pretty much in full withdrawal from football.  Basketball is ok, but the end of the season dramatics, courtesy of former coach what's his name, and it really wore me out.  I'm going to trust Mike Alden that we've picked the right guy, and I'm going to trust Frank Haith because it appears that he's made at least 2 home run hires for his new staff.  Baseball has started out great for us Royals fans, but it's a marathon, not a sprint.  I've seen enough quick starts that were followed by mid season collapses that I have no intention of investing too much passion right now. But we've got some history going with the football team now as they've won 48 games over the past 5 season.  So excuse me if I get excited reading practice reports and scrimmage statistics.

Maybe the biggest news of the day happened off the field as the Tigers obtained a verbal from Texas running back Jonathan Williams.  Williams rushed for over 2000 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior and is ranked as the 33rd best player in Texas and the 3rd best running back in the nation.  It marks the 2nd year in a row that the Tigers have snagged a recruit rated inside the Texas top 50, (Last year both James Franklin and Tristan Holt were members of this club) and shows that Mizzou is a serious contender for the top Texas talent.  Jonathan is the kind of kid that starts a domino effect with other kids and does show why, during the feeding frenzy of conference realignment last summer, he really preferred that Missouri remain in the Big XII where he and his staff had spent years developing relationships.  It also shows that hick nation is now going to have to work a little harder if they intend to keep mining Texas for recruits.  Williams is exactly the kind of back they're looking for in Lincoln.

As far as the quarterback battle goes, James Franklin will now officially enter the summer months as # 1 at the position.  James had a good day, going 13 of 21 for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns to go with a 139.7 quarterback rating.  Tyler Gabbert however was 8 of 22 for 48 yards and a rating of 45.6.  This isn't going to end until sometime next August at the earliest, but I fully expect the competition to make both of them better.  For complete stats, Dave Matter has an excellent breakdown in his blog. So now we'll be reaching for football news, but it's going to be out there and I'll try to find as much of it as I can.  Stop by and see my current event section on my web page.

More questions heading into spring ball. The defense.....

Last year, under 2nd year defensive coordinator Dave Steckel the Tigers defense took a big step forward.  What seemed like an afterthought in previous seasons was actually responsible for some victories as Missouri reached double digit wins for the third time in four seasons.  Last year the Tigers allowed 30+ points only one time compared to five times the year before.  The fact that they improved this much would itself be impressive.  Making it even more so was the fact that during the season they lost their best player, Aldon Smith for 6 games as well as their best defensive tackle, Dominique Hamilton during the Oklahoma game and both starting middle linebackers, Luke Lambert and Will Ebner for various times during the year.

Dom Hamilton was missed badly.

The not so unexpected loss of A. Smith, who decided to declare for the NFL draft leaves another hole on a defense that already lost Andrew Gachkar at linebacker and 3/4ths of a defensive backfield that was light years ahead of where it was the previous season.  However, the emergence of Brad Madison makes it a little less bitter pill to swallow.  I expect him to step in to the starting lineup with returners Jacquies Smith, Terrell Resonno and Hamilton.  Other players likely to see action include Michael Sam, Kony Ealy, red shirt freshman Lucas Vincent and, if he finally arrives Sheldon Richardson.  It now appears likely that Luke Lambert will receive a medical red shirt and return with Ebner competing for the middle linebacker spot.  Zaviar Gooden returns at one outside spot while I expect Andrew Wilson to fill the other outside spot, although I wouldn't go to sleep on Darvin Ruise either.

It gets a little dicier in the defensive backfield where, as I mentioned 3 of the 4 starters graduated.  Safety Kenji Jackson is the lone returner, but sophmores Travon Bolden and Matt White both saw substantial playing time last year.  Fellow sophomore cornerback EJ Gaines is probably the odds on favorite to start on one side while Kip Edwards is thought by many to have the inside track on the other.  I'm going to go against common wisdom here as I think Tristan Holt will make the jump following a red shirt season.  

Whatever happens, it's going to be an interesting spring on both sides of the ball.  We've seen recruiting get a lot of play, especially in the 2010 class.  Now we'll see how many of those highly regarded players are ready to make a contribution in the all new Big XII - II.