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- [00:00]
A
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B
Before we get back to the episode, let's take a quick break from all the shoulds. You know the ones I should be productive. I should be checking something. I should be anywhere but relaxing. Ignore all that for a second. This is your moment made even better with something refreshing like a Snapple. Alright, let's have some fun. Snapple real facts real fact 2064 the first college football game broadcast on TV was September 30, 1939. Imagine gathering around a tiny screen for that. Real fact 1896 the tradition of playing football on Thanksgiving actually started with college football back in 1876. So yeah, that post turkey nap has a long history. Real fact 831 adults laugh about 15 to 100 times a day while preschoolers average around 300. We've got some catching up to do. And real fact 1,455 movie trailers used to play after movies but no one stayed to watch them. So skipping ahead has kind of always been our thing. All right, that's your break. Short, sweet and a little more fun. Next time you need one, grab a Snapple and make it refreshing.
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D
Hey y', all, just a quick note on this summer school. We recorded this a couple weeks ago so before the tragic news of Ahmad Hardy being shot at a concert obviously continues to be in our prayers. And we love to see last week that Coach Drinkwood said that he is walking, expected to be discharged from the hospital and start his rehab process. Want to see him on the field Again, don't know if that'll be this year, but again, this was recorded before the news of the Hardy shooting. So there'll be some Hardy talk in the episode. And just wanted to let you guys know up front. Yeah, we are aware of that incident. Didn't want this to be tone deaf without a little note to y'. All. So continued prayers and thoughts to Matt Hardy. And with that, let's get into the episode.
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B
Indiana can.
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C
Can sort of cement itself as we are no longer this team that's going to be fighting for six wins anymore. It's Malachi. Tony. Is he going to be ready?
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D
Dante Moore, he showed improvement, better command. What's going on, y'?
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C
All?
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D
This is Bud Elliott, and we are back again with another episode of Summer School. That's my man. Cody Goodwin. Power Mizzou, covering all things Missouri Tigers, the number one Missouri site in the universe. Right? How you been, man?
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C
I've been good, man. I've been good. Mizzou is one of the few teams that, like, knocked out their spring ball, like, way in advance, right? Like, they got done basically the first weekend of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. So we've got. We've got quite a bit to discuss when it comes to the Tigers because we. We. We did our spring availabilities. We. We know all that. We know, at least at this point of the offseason.
- [04:10]
D
So in summer school, we. We learn a lot about the team. I'm guessing you learned a lot about this team in spring because there is a lot of changeover here for Missouri program that, that, you know, Eli Drinkwitz entering year six. I think it's just done a tremendous job with overall, like, you know, a super competitive SEC landscape. And he's been innovative in a lot of ways and, and certainly Guy I think, you know, pretty highly of. I guess first was they had to try to keep. In this offseason, right, like, you know, last off season, there wasn't much turnover this offseason. I feel like there are probably a lot of people who came calling, you know. Has he spoken about that at all? Like, do you know any kind of background as far as, like, their efforts to make sure that he was retained?
- [04:49]
C
Yeah, they. I mean, he ultimately signed a new contract extension on Thanksgiving morning. And so, I mean, you know this as well as I do. It was unprecedented coaching carousel extravaganza, basically, when it came to college football this season. I mean, it really started in season, right, with. With Brian Kelly getting the boot from la, lsu and then, you know, Penn State was opened up, Florida was open. Like, there were a lot of high major jobs that Drinkwitz was interested in and that had interest in him to varying degrees. Right. Auburn was also open up. He was a, he was a GA at Auburn way back when. And so, yeah, like Missouri had to really pony up to make sure that they were able to keep him. And that's. That was kind of the first unofficial domino because that was pretty late in November and by then they were pretty well out of the SEC in playoff races. So at that point it's like, all right, let's keep our guy and then, you know, we'll navigate the portal and then really start to build for 26. So yeah, there was definitely a lot of interest when it came to a lot of the, the Power 4 openings that were available this off season.
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D
We'll get to it. On the defensive side, I assume most of the change will be personnel based on the offensive side. They do have a new offensive coordinator who comes in, you know, strictly from like a scheme standpoint. How, if, if at all, do you see this thing changing?
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C
So the short answer is probably not much, right? Because when you've got Drinkwitz, there's. And then you look at the personnel on the offense, this is still going to be a run first operation, right? Drink is there. He loves the outside zone. They retained both Ahmad Hardy, right? Consensus All American last year, Doak Walker finalist, first team all SEC, as well as Jamal Roberts, who is RB2 for Mizzou. But that's. He's really talented running back. Man, that's a guy that could start for a lot of Power Four programs and really specifically Big Ten and SEC programs. So Jamal ran for 750 yards, six touchdowns last season, and that was with significantly fewer carries than Ahmad Hardy. He had north of 300 carries. So you brought both of those two dudes back. Drinkwitz is there now you bring in Chip Lindsay. And so it's, it's still going to be a run first operation. But I think what I've kind of deduced here is you kind of look around, it's like, okay, not only did they retain the running backs, they poured some portal resources into the offensive line, right? And then in addition to that, they returned three starters from the offensive line. So really trying to boost the guys up front. Overall tight end, they brought back the same personnel from last season, but they hired a new coach, Alex Adkins, who has a long history of being an offensive line coach. And among the many things that he wants to help with the tight end room is just make them better blockers because the tight ends were, they were good last year. And Brett Norfleet, when he's healthy, is one of the better receiving tight ends I think in the sec. Not, not a great run blocker. Not a great run blocker. So you bring in Atkins to help the tight ends with that. You pour resources into the offensive line. You return both Ahmad Hardy, Jamal Roberts for depth. They went into the portal and brought in Jason Edwards who is a FCS freshman all American at Houston Christian. So they've got good depth in the running back room. You've got drink at the top. There still going to be a run first operation. I think what they're hoping for with the addition of Chip Lindsay as well as the addition of Garrett Riley as the new quarterbacks coach. And they brought in Austin Simmons from Ole Miss. They have Nick Evers, Matt Zollers is one of the primary resignings that they brought in. I think the hope here is that you surround the quarterback room with enough good quarterback coaching talent and acumen. Right. Chip's got a long, distinguished history of developing and recruiting quarterbacks. Garrett Riley's obviously another offensive coordinator at multiple power four stops, you know, so there's, there's a lot of. They basically they poured more resources, I think into the coaching staff to really help get plus level play from the quarterback room. And if they're able to do that, I think that opens up a lot more opportunity in the run game. Because you don't have to remind Mizzou fans that last year Bo Prabula, as tough as he was in certain games, he was not able to really provide them with plus level quarterback play. In some of those bigger games, right. The Alabama game, the Vanderbilt game, Texas A and M, Oklahoma, the games that they lost, he just wasn't able to, you know, the opposing defenses did not respect the pass game enough. And so they stacked the box. Ahmad Hardy can run on everybody, but it's also hard when you're running into, you know, seven, eight, nine man boxes all the time because the defense doesn't respect the pass game. So I think the hope is that Austin Simmons and the new offensive brain trust are able to elevate the quarterback position so that defenses have to respect the pass game which. And then would open up more opportunity for Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts in the run game.
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D
Yeah, I have like so many curiosities about this, this past game. You know, as you said, how it, how it's married to the run game. You know, thinking back to like when, when Bo was At Penn State, I think one of the questions like, okay, are they. The way they used him was basically like kind of Wildcat plus, if you will, situationally. And. And I didn't really know if that was because. And clearly that was a strength for him. And maybe they were just throwing the change up because your fastball, from a passing game standpoint was already Drew Aller. Right. Who at the time, you know, back in 2024, everybody was really in love with. We. We didn't really know how limited he was as. As a passer. So I guess we kind of saw that, you know, last year, Summit Mizzou, as you said there in the big games. When I look at Lindsay as a coordinator and he recently has had some guys with absolute cannons for arms, you know, Drake May and then obviously Underwood at Michigan. So, you know, I kind of think my mind immediately goes to, you know, some of the play action stuff to some. Some of your boots off those zone concepts and then looking to, you know, get the ball over the top. And I mean, certainly, like, Austin Simmons, that guy could throw a fastball now for sure. Like, what have you heard about Simmons? You know, his relationship with the staff, with the staff. Seeing from him, you know, do you know why they. They targeted him? Like, were they on him early kind of. Why is he the right guy for them now?
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C
Yeah, I think they were just. They were looking for a guy that could really be the trigger man in Drinks offense, right? And they. They went after him immediately. I know Ole Miss was on their playoff run when the portal officially opened, but day one, I think it was Pete Thamel that was like, hey, when Ole Miss season is done, Simmons is going to go in the portal. And it was very much like, it's. It's Mizzou. Like, that's where it's going to go. And so I think you got to give Drink a little bit of credit because he has gone to the portal for quarterbacks. Like, he tried, tried, tried, tried to replace Brady Cook, who was really, really good. You know, they were going after a number of different quarterbacks last year before they ultimately landed on Bo. But this is really, I think, one of the first off seasons where Drink went and identified his guy and then he went and got his guy, right? Because, I mean, they had Fernando Mendoza on campus last portal season. They had Jaden Daniels on campus last portal season, right? Those are the, you know, two Heisman Trophy winners there that they just weren't able to lock down. And so they identified Simmons as a guy that they wanted and you look at, you know, kind of his makeup, it's easy to understand why, right? Like, he. He was a guy that was the starter for an Ole Miss team that ultimately made it to the College Football Playoff national semifinals. He has incredible arm talent. Like, I don't know that there's a throw that he can't make. And you look at him off the field wise, like, leadership, just absolutely impress. Like, his. Everything about him screams A plus. And so you look at, you know, going to get a guy like that, you know, can he give you that plus level quarterback play? That's where I've been a little hesitant to be. Like, yeah, like, let's. You know, this guy is the answer. Because you look at. He hasn't played a ton when he was at Ole Miss. And part of that is because he showed up early and he red shirted, and then after that, he backed up Jackson dart. And then obviously he got hurt. Last year, Trinidad Chambliss took over, and we all know what happened after that. But the limited playing time he's got, the numbers aren't amazing, right? He. I think he's completing, like, just under 60 of his passes for his career. Little over a thousand yards, six touchdown passes, five picks. And so part of that could be okay. He was still trying to kind of tinker and see what he could get away with and what he couldn't get away with, you know, But I also think that there's an element of, like, hey, like, this guy, this guy needs to play a little bit more. He needs more reps. And you could say that about everybody in Missouri's quarterback room. So, you know, the talent is. Is tantalizing, and I understand why Drink went and got him. But then there's also a part of me that's like, all right, like, before, I truly believe that this guy can be the program changer that Drink and everybody on staff believes he can be. There's an element of, I got to see it first. And so that's. That's at least where I'm at when it comes to Missouri's quarterback room.
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D
Obviously, a run game should be really good. Getting Kaden Green to come back on the offensive line. Major win for the Tigers. How does the rest of that offensive line look, in your opinion?
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C
You know, they looked really good up until the end of spring ball. And so you look at the offensive line, three returning starters. Kaden Green at left tackle. Dom Judice, who was a Michigan transfer, he played left guard last year. He's going to transition to center this year. Where I think he'll, he'll be a little bit better. And then Curtis Pegler, who was a good right guard last year, struggled with penalties and I think early on it just took him some time to adjust as a first year starter, but ultimately a really good right guard. So then they go into the portal and they bring in guys like Zach Owens from Mississippi State, Luke Work from Mississippi State, and then Josh Atkins was the, the big transfer ad on the offensive line. He started 39 games between, you know, I think he's played at Houston, Hawaii and two years at Arizona State. 39 career starts. Really, really good experience. It's really hard to find. All of them have been at left tackle though. And so Mizzou brought him in with the intention of switching him to right tackle, which is obviously really crucial, right, because Austin Simmons is a lefty and you want to make sure that his blind side is taken care of. And then near the end of spring he suffered a leg injury and now we're kind of like, okay, like what's the plan for Mizzou's blindside? And so we're a little in the dark there that we know of options that Mizzou is going to try and lean on. Luke Work is one of them. While at Mississippi State, he played a little bit of tackle. There's also developmental guy and in the program Logan Rert, who was hurt for a lot of last year, but he seems to be taking steps in the right direction as a potential option for, if not this season, future seasons. And then there's also Atkins himself. And so we don't know if he's going to be ready by fall camp. We don't know if they're just going to trot him out there. Week one, week two against either believe it's Arkansas, Pine Bluff when they open and then the very next week they go play a Kansas team that is having to reload a lot of their roster too. So you get a little bit, a few games where he can kind of ease his way in before they get to SEC play at the end of September. So the right tackle is a little bit of a question mark everywhere else on the offensive line. I feel pretty good about this offensive line. So if they can solve right tackle, I think this has the chance to be a really, really strong unit this
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D
fall, you know, without tipping our hand as the defensive chat, you know, coming up receiver, like this offense is probably going to have to carry this team more than it has in the past few years because Missouri's like had a phenomenal Defense in my opinion, you know, especially like relative to, you know, like obviously Missouri has great aspirations, but you know what Missouri's been in my lifetime, like this is a really damn good defenses and consistently so, you know, for a while now if this thing's going to hum like they got to have some studs at pass catcher, right? Like, or at least one guy they can really rely on. They brought in Kaden Lee from Ole Miss. I assume there's some, you know, familiarity with Austin Simmons, the quarterback that they also, you know, came from Ole Miss. Who else do you think on this offense really has the chance to step up and be like that guy at receiver?
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C
Yeah, I think Caden Lee absolutely has the capability of being that guy. And he's more of a slot guy, right? That's largely where he's played throughout his career. But he gives you a sure handed receiver. He's a guy that understands space really well. You know, he can go run that 5, 8, 10, 12 yard curl route, whatever you need. And you know, the chemistry with him in Austin I think is going to be really big, especially early on as everybody else is kind of figuring out their roles and solidifying their jobs and things of that nature. But I think elsewhere when it comes to the receiver room, like they also went and got a speedy transfer from Cincinnati and Caleb Goody like one of the fastest players in all of college football. So not a ton of production, but that's a big play threat that they can put on the outside. He can take off the top of the defense. So different skill sets there. And then another guy that I know, I'm very excited about this guy. A lot of people at Mizzou are very excited about this guy. Donovan Alubide, who was a star freshman last year, ended up starting five or six games near the end of the season. IMG Academy product, just real big 6 2, 207, insane catch radius and he's kind of that true big X receiver that you want in any type of offense. And so Missouri's got him and so he was another priority resigning after last season. So I think you start with those three guys as kind of they're the top of the heap when it comes to Missouri's receivers. And I they have differing skill sets which I think was. Was obviously a point of emphasis when it came to assembling this roster and really assembling the offense as a whole for Drinkwitz and Chip Lindsay. Like we, we want different receivers that can do different things and you know, it kind of allows the offense to press different buttons. Like if you need a gimme over the middle, you got a guy in the slot that's sure handed. If you need a gotta have it throw on third down. Donovan Alubide is a guy that caught multiple contested catches last year in some pretty big games. And then you got a guy who, if he can get behind the defense, you've got Austin Simmons with a rocket arm who can just chuck it down the field to Caleb Goody and take the top off the defense. So they want, they wanted different skill sets, they got different skill sets and I think that's part of the equation of, you know, to your point about the offense maybe having to carry this team a little bit at the beginning of the season, they've got a lot of options, a lot of different buttons that they can press offensively, whether it's the receivers, whether it's the tight ends coming back healthy, whether it's of course Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts. So they, I like the way that this offense has, has come together. We still got to see them play and see them actually, you know, go do the thing. But on paper it looks like a really well rounded offense.
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D
It just, you know, listening to you, you know, reading all your coverage at Power, it feels like it would be a pretty big surprise if the offense is not improved. The question is just kind of like how much? Right?
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C
Yeah. And this is, this could be a transition into the defensive conversation. The offense last year was they were fine, but they were kind of limited. We're expecting the offense this year to maybe take a few steps up, right? Maybe carry the team as the defense maybe figures some things out because the defense and we'll get into this, the replacing a lot. And so this was a top 10 defense last year. They got to replace a lot in terms of pass rush. In terms of secondary experience. We're anticipating while the offense goes up, defense might be coming down a little bit. So that's kind of, that could be the transition into having the conversation about this defense.
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D
You said it, man. Alright, after this break we'll come back and we'll chop it up. About the defense.
- [18:39]
A
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- [19:05]
E
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D
Yeah.
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E
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- [20:07]
D
All right, guys, welcome back in this is summer school on the COVID 3 college ball podcast. I'm Bud Elliott. That's Cody Goodwin, Power Mizzou. All right, we just covered the offense, which I think we feel pretty good about. If, if concern is a 10 and question is like a 1, where are you on like the concern question exiting about this defense and, and what do you feel like you learned?
- [20:29]
C
I'd say three and a half, somewhere between three and four. Because I don't, I don't think there's any. The big static when it comes to Missouri's defense is that they are having to replace all 11 regular starters from last year's defense. And last year's defense was dang good, man. Like top, top 10 in the country in terms of total yardage, top 20 in the country in terms of points allowed. They had a mean pass rush. They had an experienced secondary. They had a linebacker in the middle of the defense, Josiah Trotter, who's going to play on Sundays for a long, long time. They just that that every level of the defense last year had just something exceptional about it all 11 regular starters are gone. That's pretty big. That's a lot of not only experience but production that Missouri is going to have to replace. The good news is the cupboards aren't totally bare. And so that's where it's kind of like, okay, there's a little bit of confidence. I can see some of the pieces that they're going to use here. It's just a matter of can they go out and can they go do the thing and can they do it at a high enough level to maybe replicate what Corey Batoon has been able to get out of Missouri's defense the last couple of years? I mean, they've been a top 25 unit the last two years in terms of total defense. Can he do that again this year? The head coach, he would absolutely earn himself a head coaching job if he's able to get top 25 defensive production out of this upcoming unit this season.
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D
No doubt about it. So if they are to avoid a substantial drop off, who are the guys who will have been, you know, the reason if we're doing like a, you know, postseason review that said, all right, hey, like, you know, maybe they dropped off a little bit, but like, it wasn't massive. Like, who are the guys that really would have. Would have carried in that scenario?
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C
Yeah, I think it always starts up front, right. And so Missouri is having to replace all four regular starters of their guys up front. That is Zion Young, who you know as, as, as big a personality as you'll probably ever find in college football. And that's another dude that's probably. He's been projected lately as a late first round, second round draft pick. That's a dude that's going to play on Sundays for a really long time. They also lost Damon Wilson, the other edge rusher. He transferred to Miami. And then the two big guys in the middle who I think were a little bit unsung heroes when it came to Missouri's defense the last couple years, but especially last season. Chris McClellan and Sterling Webb, two big guys in the middle that can not only play the run, but they could also generate a lot of pressure up the middle in the trenches. So how do they replace those four guys? Well on the edge. They're going to start with Darris Smith, who, similar to Damon Wilson, a Georgia transfer, he actually dealt with an injury in 2024 and then was kind of, you know, the third ED rusher for Mizzou last season, finished with 30 pressures, four sacks in not as many snaps, but he's going to get a lot more run I think this year as kind of that Jack outside linebacker replacing Zion at like true defensive end hand in the dirt guy. Langdon Kitchen, another transfer from last year, he actually came up from Northwest Missouri State. He didn't quite hit 200 snaps played last season, but he was really effective in the snaps that he did get finished with 14 pressures, had a couple sacks, had a couple of really, really good games where he flashed quite a bit. So those are going to be the two guys coming off the edge, at least at first and then in the middle. I know Missouri really, really likes one guy that they've got coming back, Marquis Graciel. That's a guy that took some pretty big steps last year, ended up playing 250, close to 300 snaps last season. Excellent run defender is a guy that maybe needs to work on his pass rush moves a little bit to kind of make up for what they're losing in McClellan and Webb and and then alongside him. Missouri really, really likes Jalen Marshall, another guy that's been in the program that has developed to the point that he's going to earn those starting snaps this upcoming season. So they're probably going to start with those four guys and if the defense finds a way to step up and is again another, you know, top 25, top 30 unit, it'll because it'll be because I think those four guys really took steps forward and were able to, you know, produce in ways that they haven't in years past.
- [24:07]
D
Corner wise, dude, this room got kind of wiped out, right? Do where does this rank on your kind of biggest question slash concerns about the defense?
- [24:19]
C
It would have been probably my top concern if not for sensing a theme here after we got done talking about the offense. Another Ole Miss transfer, Chris Graves Jr. That's a guy that has played a lot and has started quite a bit for Ole Miss over the last few years. Missouri was able to reel him in along with Austin Simmons and Kaden Lee. He is, he's, he, he takes care of one side when it comes to talking secondary and cornerbacks like he's just plug him in at CB1 and let him go do his thing over there. And so it's better to have one of those positions taken care of and not have a position battle for two or three corner spots, right? And so CB2, they had to go to the Portal to restock. Like, okay, who's going to, who's going to be, you know, battling for that position? Who's going to be battling for those snaps, you know, and they have some intriguing pieces, guys that have been either previously hurt or a part of really good rosters that maybe didn't get to play as much. Talking Jaleel Florence, who came over from Oregon, that's a guy that played quite a bit early on. I know he dealt with an injury and then after that, you know, Dan Lanning, the Relentless recruiting machine. Ended up recruiting some really good defensive backs to kind of overtake Florence. So Florence hit the portal. Came to Mizzou. Another Oregon cornerback, Sion Lalia, who Juco product. Really big, like, really rangy. Six foot, 490 pounds. I like my secondary full of monstars. I don't know about you, so for sure, but this guy hasn't played a ton, even after he was able to transfer to Oregon. Played a little bit, but not a ton. So we'll see kind of what he's got there. And then Mizzou's also got a couple other guys that have developed in the program. Nick DeLoach Jr. Is the guy that started for them a couple years ago. And then he was kind of more, you know, a depth guy last season. Played a little bit of special teams. He'll get another crack at potentially returning to a starting role this upcoming year. So that's, that's kind of the state of the corners. I, I don't love it, but I think I would love it a lot less if Chris Graves didn't come through the portal to help them out.
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D
So, you know, schedule wise, first year of the nine game SEC conference schedule, you do have to play Georgia, you have to play Texas, you have to play Ole Miss and A and M, both of who made the playoff last year. You know, you get Oklahoma, who made the playoff last year as well. And then, you know, your roadies are in conference. In addition, like at Mississippi State, at Arkansas, not, not exceptionally easy. I think that the start is pretty friendly. You know, Arkansas, Pine Bluff, Kansas, Troy at Mississippi State. So they do have a little bit, I guess, like one of the saving graces here is if you are rotating some pieces and still kind of, you know, building the plane as you're flying it in the month of September, you might have a little bit of Runway to actually make that thing happen.
- [26:49]
C
Yeah, I agree with that. I mean, Arkansas, Pine Bluff, take care of that on the, on the first Thursday of week one. Then you go to Kansas. I rekindling of the border war. Right. They played last year for the first time in like 14 years. Mizzou was able to rally from a 216 deficit, ultimately won by two scores. I think Kansas, I don't know this 100% sure, but I know that they're, they're. They're having to reload. Jalen Daniels isn't there anymore, so we'll see what kind of shape that program is in. It's a road game, so you just, you know, you never know, and then they come back play Troy. That'll be fun for Chip, who's a former Troy head coach. But then they go to Mississippi State at the end of September and that to me is kind of like, huh, I wonder which version of Missouri will show up by then. And I also wonder which version of Mississippi State will show up by then because I, you'll remember, remember this past season in Starkville, Mississippi State was able to take, I believe it was Texas and Tennessee both to overtime in Starkville. And that's early enough in the season that everybody is still believing, right? And so again, which version of Missouri is going to show up? Which version of Mississippi State is going to go off, like, show up? Like, I, when I was kind of looking at the schedule, you know, I kind of divided it into a few different categories, like which games Mizzou probably will win, which should they win. And that's where I kind of drop both the Mississippi State and the Florida games. So they play those games back to back. End of September, early October, Florida's going to be at home in Columbia. I, I don't know which version of Missouri will show up by then. And I also don't know which version of those teams will show up by then because Florida, I mean, you mentioned that's, that's a team that's got a lot of returning experience. They have a new head coach now. We'll see if the quarterback works out. But if they're able to hit on quarterback, that could be a very dangerous team right out of the gate. And so I know that that game's in Columbia. Missouri would feel really, really good about that one and should feel really good about that one. But you know, those are two games I, where I look at Mizzou schedule and I'm like, all right, if they can navigate the first five games, maybe they've got something. But I, I agree. Before they go to Starkville, they do kind of have a three game Runway of like, okay, what, what can they do? What can't they do? What's the situation at right tackle? Like, what can Austin Simmons do? How's the defense showing up? So it kind of gives them three games to be like, all right, let's figure our stuff out. Then they go down to Starkville. And that I think will really set the tone for the rest of the year.
- [28:53]
D
That, that makes a ton of sense there. Like, what result this season do you think would keep, like, make Missouri fans like the ones who. Fan is short for fanatics. So I, I struggle to say rational but like, the ones who kind of get it right, what kind of result would make them happy?
- [29:14]
C
I think they, I think 8 and 4 would probably do the job. Which is funny because they went 8 and 4 this past season. And Missouri is in, you know, that airspace as a program now where it's like, they win 8 and 4 and they're like, you know, like they were hoping for a lot more. They were hoping for 10 wins. They were hoping to stay in the playoff conversation through the month of November, and they kind of thought 10 wins would probably be enough to do that. So going 8 and 4 was a little deflating this upcoming season. I think for most of the rational fans, 8 and 4 would be like, all right. Like we are. We're still moving in the right direction. You know, the offense has a new quarterback, but there's a lot returning there, so that should be an obvious strength. The defense has a lot to return and a lot to replace, so we'll kind of see where they're at. But I mean, you look at it and, you know, as I was going through the schedule, schedule, like, which games Missouri, we think will win, should win, shouldn't win. You know, I look at the Texas A and M game, I know that one's in Columbia, but that's going to be a tough one. Texas A and M beat Mizzou pretty good in Columbia last season. Then they have to go both to Ole Miss and to Georgia. They do get Texas and Oklahoma both at home. And that's kind of like, okay, you get them at home, but can you actually get them? Can you take advantage of that? So that's where it's kind of like, you know, you look at the schedule and it's like, okay, I can see five and seven, I could see seven and five. I could see nine and three. Right. And so that's, I think if they're able to get to 8 and 4, I think most fans, at least most of the rational fans on the Power Mizzou board will be like, you know, that that was a pretty good season, all things considered, given the nine game
- [30:36]
D
schedule now, dude, really enjoy this. Everybody to check out Power Mizzou for all your great Missouri content. Also, Cody, where can they follow you on Twitter or socials?
- [30:44]
C
Yeah, Twitter X just at Cody Goodwin, I'm kind of on Instagram. I don't really post a lot, but at Cody J. Goodwin, I know we do some, some stuff with Power Mizzou there as well. And then obviously all of my stuff on powermizzou.com part of the 247 sports network.
- [30:58]
D
Awesome, man. Enjoyed it and be well. I'll see you soon.
- [31:01]
C
Thanks, man.