Quote from: Philip Seaton on Today at 04:13:04 amRemember two years ago, when TB and NSJ were hurt and Devo took some personal time. In your scenario Cal would have 7 players and walkons. He may go to 13 but he will be closer than 10. Why? Because things happen.

Quote from: bennyl08 on May 10, 2024, 01:17:36 amI think we've beaten a lot of the arguments to death, but there's one thing you mentioned that I think is worth expanding on. The 'other' players.

You claim that's the secret of Mizzou. And here's where I think the conversation gets interesting. You don't want to compare the physical prowess of the players, which is where the pro day comes into play. Who's fasters, who's stronger, who's quicker/more agile, etc... Instead, you want to focus on production.

Production is a side effect though. It's a dependent variable. In general, what it depends on in athletic ability, coaching, and the mental/grit x-factor that you discount but then seem to make that the root of your argument here (correct me if I read that wrong). But, I think you've been neglecting a significant factor here (one that I'd argue is about 50% of how a game plays out) and that's coaching.

Me, I don't think there's a single reason. Some years, Mizzou has been the better team and if we played 10 times, they'd probably win all 10 times that season. Some years, we are the better team at 21/22 positions, but are injured at that 22nd position and mizzou being better at that one position creates a chain reaction that ends with us losing a close game. Some years, our players are bigger/faster/stronger but our coaching was vastly inferior to yours, and with coaching being 50% of the game, it can close a talent gap (a decent factor in why we've been able to play LSU so close as well is often superior coaching on our end). Another significant factor is just how the puzzle pieces come together. We were what, 3-1 against Freeze at Ole Miss? Most would argue that OM had better coaching and talent than us in that time. Sometimes, you just happen to have the right combinations of strengths and weaknesses that just so happen to be able to penetrate the armor of the team that's better than you. Mizzou, to their credit, always seems to have disruptive DE's. Their DL is almost always undersized, and teams with more speed could do better, but our blockings schemes, and our massive OL often would just get vexed with your DE's. Like, our OL would perform better against Bama and a whole host of DL's that were objectively better than mizzou's and would objectively perform worse against Mizzou's DL. Does missouri have better coaching than Bama or better players? No. Just that sometimes, that one player (or position group) just has a particular skill set that hits all your weak points.

Lastly, there is one other thing I wanted to go over on a different topic. I'll admit I slightly mispoke with the 'best' game. In my head, it was more, among the best. We often play among our best against LSU. Plenty of times you could argue we actually played a better game against Bama or someone else. Just that consistently, we play among our best against them, and same for you guys against us.

2023: 48 points. You didn't score over 40 against any other team, including your FCS opponent. Your defense held us to 14 points. Mid Tenn st, memphis, KSU, even Vandy scored more points than that against your defense.
2022: Also your highest point total vs SEC.
2021: Not your best.
2020: You put up 50 points, again your highest total. While you gave up a lot of points, that was fairly on par for your defense that season, giving up 35+ in half your games.
2019: You put up almost as many points as your previous 3 games combined. You also held us to 14 points, arguably your best defensive performance of the season. You lost to Wyoming and gave up 37 points to them.
2018: Offensively, you called off the dogs and 'only' won 38-0. Defensively, you shut us out. You gave up 37 points to Purdue.
2017: No real argument for you performing above par this year.
2016: Same for 2016.
2015: Rough year for yall.
2014: Again, not your best performance, our injuries as I described before were the major story in that game.

Quote from: onebadrubi on Yesterday at 08:29:15 pmTwitter says he is committing to Arkansas. 

Quote from: Tusks on May 07, 2024, 03:36:35 pmWith Wagner and Burks that may be it.  That's a really nice roster of 9 new players and one hold over from last year.

maybe they can find one more G but most are finding teams so it wouldn't surprise me if they stop at 10 guys.

Quote from: Birminghog on Yesterday at 09:05:17 pm#1 Kentucky (20-7) hosts Vanderbilt (12-15)
#2 ARKANSAS (19-8) @ Texas A&M (17-10)
#2 Tennessee (19-8) hosts S. Carolina (13-14)
#4 Texas A&M (17-10) hosts ARKANSAS (19-8)
#5 Georgia (16-11) hosts Florida (11-16)
#6 Mississippi State (15-12) hosts Missouri (8-19)
#7 S. Carolina (13-14) @ Tennessee (19-8)
#8 Alabama (12-15) @ Auburn (6-21)
#8 Vanderbilt (12-15) @ Kentucky (20-7)
#10 Florida (11-16) @ Georgia (16-11)
#10 Ole Miss (11-16) @ LSU (10-17)
#12 LSU (10-17) hosts Ole Miss (11-16)
#13 Missouri (8-19) @ Mississippi State (15-12)
#14 Auburn (6-21) hosts Alabama (12-15)

Predictions?

UK wins series 2-1.
Aggies win series 2-1.
Vols sweep South Carolina
UGA wins series 2-1.
Bama sweeps auburn
Ms state sweeps mizzou
LSU wins series 2-1.