I guarantee Chase Daniel will need to play more than 20 minutes in this game Saturday morning against Nevada. Again, it should be a Tiger win, but both sides of the ball will get a good challenge.
First, on the injury front. Safety William Moore is expected to play this Saturday after suffering a foot injury in the Illinois game and sitting out against SEMO. Wide receiver Danario Alexander has been cleared to play coming back three weeks earlier than expected. As a matter of fact, it was hopeful that Alexander would be back for the Big 12 opener in Nebraska.
As far as Moore returning on defense, this should help the secondary that has struggled a bit in the passing game. Juice Williams beat them bad on three or four long passes and even Houston Lillard of SEMO helped the Redhawks gain 197 passing yards.
They’ll get another test from Nevada. The Wolf Pack are ranked 6 th in the nation in total offense at 558 yards per game. By the way, Mizzou is ranked 4 th . The Mizzou pass defense is ranked 115 th in the country, so what you’ve seen out there in the first two games is real.
However, head coach Gary Pinkel is quick to point that the Tigers are also one of the better run defenses in the nation and points out to two keys as to why their pass defense hasn’t been better.
First, when teams fall behind Missouri which has happened in the first two games, teams will need to throw the ball to try to get back in the game and second, the Tigers have done such a good job of stopping the run, that it leaves teams no better alternative than to throw more. Pinkel also mentions and linebacker Sean Weatherspoon confirmed that the defense needs to improve their pass rushing.
Quick Mizzou notes. With Sean Weatherspoon’s 67 yard interception for a touchdown on Saturday, he became the first defensive player in Mizzou history to score touchdowns in back to back games. Chase Daniel needs just 52 more passing yards to become MU’s career passing yardage leader. He trails Brad Smith who has 8,799.
Listen to Gary Pinkel’s press conference
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