You can say Mizzou got shafted by having to play in the Texas Bowl. I beg to differ- Houston recruits show up for bowl practices, 15 Texas high school coaches showed up for a clinic (hmm, I wonder if they might point recruits towards GP now), and it's a nationally shown, basic cable game on ESPN. WIN. Now for the hard part: beating Navy.
-Keep this name on the tip of your tongue: Ricky Dobbs. He is a poor man's Ricky Dobbs. I'm talking like 'Living in Detroit' kind of poor. He is a rusher and barely throws.
-Sure, Navy's offense is stuck in 1940. Mizzou still hasn't seen it in years, if ever. By the time many of these players started in high school, schools had flipped to the spread, and away from the option. The fact that Dave Steckel had extra time to get this D prepped is heavy.
-Mizzou's rushing D is stout. Navy doesn't pass. I can't see how this is a loss.
-Navy, being an independent, would have figured to have played a team similar to Mizzou; a pass first, spread offense. Nope. The Tiger O is going to be as foreign to Navy's D as Navy's O is to the Tiger's D. The only thing you might be able to compare it from the Midshipmen's schedule would be LaTech or Hawaii, but even then, the talent factor is a huge gap.
-Against passing offenses, Navy gives up yards. A lot of them. It could be a late Christmas for Blaine Gabbert.
-Navy has one, good sized corner (Kevin Edwards, 6-2). Watch for DaNario to be matched up with Edwards.
-Mizzou can't make mistakes. Navy definitely won't.
As long as Spoon and the LBs keep Ricky Dobbs in check, this 6.5 point spread should be obliterated. Navy is a good team, don't get me wrong. Their players don't make mistakes, but the talent just isn't there to go up against a better B12 team. Blaine Gabbert should have a hey-day going to DaNario, Jerrell Jackson, and Wes Kemp, and it'll be fun to see Jared Perry get out there again. The Midshipmen are built strong up front on the defensive side of the ball, but in the secondary...not so much. I'm going with a 42-17 Mizzou victory.
And one final chugging of a glass of Victory Whiskey.
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