College football reactions

College football is back and I just wanted to share some thoughts I had on the Missouri vs. Illinois game. Throughout the season I will talk about other teams as well. I figured being a Mizzou grad, I would start with them.

Blaine Gabbert (Jeff Roberson, AP)

Mizzou vs Illinois (Mizzou wins 37-9)

Coming into the game, the majority of the talk was about duo Juice and Benn. A lot of the talk consisted of how dangerous of a combination they could be this year. Mizzou was a mystery to the national media. There was no consensus on how this team would be after major losses on defense and offense.  Well that is why the game is decided on the field.

                                                            (ShaneKeyser, McClatchy-Tribune)


Offense                                                                                   

I was extremely impressed with Gabbert's feel for the offense. He made good reads and scrambled when needed to. Its hard to put a lot of the teams success on one player, but Mizzou needs Gabbert to play well to have a good season.  Danario Alexander had a fantastic game and will have a great season if he can stay on the field. The offense also had a little bit of balance, something they did not have much of last year. Mizzou should continue to run the ball to take pressure of Gabbert. Last year Mizzou did not run the ball enough and teams keyed in on the passing game.  One other key factor I almost failed to mention was the kicking game. Grant Ressel was 3-3 and perfect on extra points.  A number of people, including myself, failed to think of the impact of losing Jeff Wolfert. Wolfert the most accurate kicker in NCAA history played a key part in Mizzou's success the last two years. If Ressel is anything close, that should also take some pressure of Gabbert.  The only concern I had were the few dropped passes that happened. Dropped passes kill momentum and drives. If the offense stays balanced and Gabbert continues to be accurate, I see good things happening.

Defense

This was the biggest concern coming into the game. I came away very impressed with what the defense did against the Illini.  After reading up on spring reports of the defense, I felt they would be better.  I felt they would be better because they would blitz less. The defense got a little blitz happy last year and did not get to the quarterback much. That resulted in teams lighting up Mizzou's defensive backs in numerous games, including last year when juice had 451 passsing yards and 5 td passes.  This year they held the Illini to 9 points and were able to control the Illini from the start of the game to the finish. Something Mizzou will have to do is get takeaways and they got off to a good start. The defense had an interception and fumble recovery in the game Saturday. The defense looks faster and simpler than the defense last year. If you are looking for a player to look out for other than Sean Witherspoon, check out Aldon Smith.  Aldon had a great game and was all over the field. I expect big things from him this year.

Overall

Mizzou won the game as I figured they would, but just not in that fashion. They played well on both sides of the ball and controlled the majority of the game. Mizzou will not take the next two teams lightly (Bowling Green and Furman), but the next big test is at Nevada.  Even though Nevada got crushed by Notre Dame 35-0, it will be the teams first game on the road.  It will be a good experience in a tough place to play football games. With all that being said, I have a positive outlook on the rest of the season.

-Mike Moreau