Missouri Tigers' Kewan Lacy: Will He Shine Against Buffalo?

why Buffalo could be a huge week for Missouri Tiger freshman like kiwan lacy and Williams Wier let's talk about that and more right now I'm locked on missou you are locked on mizou your daily podcast on the Missouri Tigers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey all you true sons and ERS I'm John Miller your Mau mafioso and the central scrutinizer of Missouri Tigers football and basketball on today's program I want to discuss Brett norfleet's lingering shoulder injury and how much concern I'm feeling about said injury at the moment plus despite going 0 and9 Dennis Gates still shooting for the five-star recruits but before I start the show I'd want to remind you this episode is brought to you by a fan duel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a 3- week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fanduel.com to get started and the sellout streak is alive Missouri has officially sold out the Buffalo game as well so that's some exciting news but this may not be the most exciting football game of of all time at least if if I'm correct in my last episode of Locked on maou I said that Buffalo had no chance to win this ball game now of course is that literally true well no but I I stick by my slight hyperbole there because I just don't see it especially with a a team that has a new coach a program building type of new coach that frankly hasn't had enough time to actually build a program yet in his first season on the job 35 freshman on the roster just hard to believe that the depth of Missouri that they showed in week one is not just going to be too overwhelming for Buffalo among a whole bunch of other different factors really I would consider this maybe even the final tuneup for the Tigers for 2024 you could certainly say UMass is a tuneup as well in fact UMass might even be a worst team than Buffalo we'll just have to see what how that season plays out for both teams but it is a road game it's at least Missouri's first true Road game every game Beyond this is at least a little bit interesting to me even even Vanderbilt even Boston College of course now just took down Florida State in Tallahassee every game now is at least of some interest to me of course every missou game is of some interest I just think even as a casual fan you could be tuning into those games and seeing hm let's see how good this Missouri Squad really is against somebody like Buffalo or Vanderbilt who's proven at the very least they can hang and defeat other power five teams I don't think Virginia Tech or Florida state is as good as Missouri but still that says something no question about it and not only is this because this is a tuneup hopefully in theory right hopefully Missouri has got this game handily in in its in its control by the second half well I think Buffalo is going to be a really huge game for some individual freshman on the Missouri roster and other other players other than freshman too of course everybody who's fighting for playing time but I think in particular these true freshmen because if you're going to keep your red shirt status obviously you have to play in four games or fewer but you have to get those opportunities if you're going to have those opportunities to get into the game well they're usually few and far between again if if Boston College if Vanderbilt if those are going to be competitive ball games now expect to see a heavy load of Marcus Carol and Nate Noel in the back field but this Buffalo game hopefully in the second half this could be a huge game for somebody like kiwan lacy if he's going to shed that red shirt this really is the type of opportunity he needs it can't just be a carry here or a carry there and for all the people really hyping up Lacy hey I certainly hope you're right I think he can absolutely be Missouri's featured running back as soon as next season I just personally don't see that happening this season but despite that if he's really as explosive as a lot of people think he is and really what he showed period on film in week one then again this is the type of opportunity where you can get him multiple touches and if he shows that he's explosive enough to be part of the offense on a week- toe basis this is probably the game where he's got to prove it it's one thing to do it against an FCS opponent it's another thing to jump up a level against FBS competition and then you prove it here you prove it with a few touches against Vanderbilt all of a sudden you're looking to burn that red shirt I would say also there's other guys as well I'm going to talk a little bit more about Brett norfleet's injury here in a second but he is out for this week against Buffalo also Jordan Harris got a dnp last week as well so it's looking possible it's going to be a heavy dose of Tyler Stevens the veteran and maybe some true freshman at the tight end position in particular Jude James and Whit Hayer who played last week also on the defensive side of the ball of course Williams Wier much similar to kiwan Lacy despite the fact that Wier didn't record any statistics to my knowledge in last week's game he had some impressive moments on rushes even still in my opinion just be little glimpses there where you could see okay there's some real explosion and power and and flexibility maybe not South Carolina's Dylan Stewart kind of flexibility have you seen that guy by the way he's a true freshman Edge rusher as well maybe one of the most interesting players I've seen come out of college football on the defensive side in a long time but regardless there are players like also not not only Williams Wier on defense guys like Cameron Keys the defensive back as well if Missouri is going to get a big lead in the second half that'll give them ample opportunity to play some of these young guys get a good look at him and while a lot of fans if it is a blowout in the second half a lot lot of them will probably go out and uh enjoy their tailgate maybe in the second half make no mistake about it every single opportunity here in the second half on this roster as competitive as it is right now top to bottom based on week one every moment is going to be important for this team so you may have heard the SEC is now requiring injury reports from all of its football teams and I will confess to not knowing all the ins and outs of all of the different rules and requirements of these injury reports but I will say this I do know that no injury reports require you especially in college football well there's no such thing as an IR designation for instance or a a physical unable to perform list whatever the NFL pro football type equivalent would be so while you do have injury requirements for instance Missouri has to say hey Brett Norfleet has a shoulder injury or he's Mis practi that kind of deal well they already have said Brett Norfleet is out but really Missouri has absolutely no incentive to tell us really the truth about the severity of norfleet's injury in the future if it is indeed fairly severe now Eli drinkwitz has been saying for the last week or so that it's not considered a serious injury but also Eli drinkwitz said that Norfleet is quote weak to week with this shoulder injury I got to say that worries me a little bit it does I it makes me think listen if if Norfleet was out for the entire season if they knew that he had a serious shoulder injury and was just no question about it was out for the year I'm sure that Missouri would say so so don't get it completely Twisted here I just wonder if norfleet's injury might be a little bit more serious than Missouri is leading on and if he doesn't show up until say you know against Texas A&M or further into the SEC season I won't exactly be shocked at this point so this isn't really this isn't a criticism of Missouri and how they're handling this or anything this is just more expressing a little bit of concern for what was supposed to be a breakout sophomore season for Brett Norfleet at least in this podcaster opinion that's what what I was looking forward to so hopefully Norfleet is going to be okay here in the long run the good news is at least he's not a quarterback if if he had hurt his right throwing shoulder as a quarterback well that's really really seriously worrisome not great for a tight end or any receiver don't get me wrong to have an injured shoulder but at least he's not throwing the football and since I neglected to do so against Murray State I should make an official prediction for Missouri against Buffalo and I'll do that coming up here in just a little bit and I want to talk about Dennis Gates still shooting for those five stars without a doubt you got to love his confidence and his ambition at the very least so let's talk about Missouri's recruiting visitors coming up in the next month or so but first you've heard me talk a lot about FanDuel America's number one sports book we'll have something a little different for you now through SE September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a 3-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with a YouTube TV based plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and you can cancel at any time and if that's not enough FanDuel has also something special for our listeners this this weekend be sure to check out fanduels profit boost in the app and use it for fanduels double your winnings for all Sunday that's on September 8th pregame moneyline bets profit boost will be starting Friday that's today for those of you listening as this podcast comes out view your account page now to learn more about your Boost just visit fanduel.com and download America's number one sports book so here's what I'm thinking for all you every dayers out here this week I think we need to stay away yes it was a nice bet last week we hit the under of the total I think both numbers the 34 and a half point spread this week the over under 52 and a half those none of those numbers strike me as having any real value whatsoever and in fact my final score predictions going to be pretty close to around both of those I think you're going to see a similar game quite honestly by Missouri a dominant game defensively I think the Tigers hold the Bulls out of the inzone but they do get some points on the board Tigers win 416 you see plenty of keywan lacy in the second half Drew Pine as well in a comfortable Missouri Victory or at least so I am hoping if the Tigers somehow manage to lose this well no promises that I am still doing the podcast or even still on this planet at that point but you know what let's shift to basketball here for just a little bit according to 24/7 Sports Jaylen harelson a 6 foot6 Guard from leaport Indiana he's 13th by the way in the country nationally according to 247's rankings well this young man is going to be in town the weekend of the Vanderbilt game so the hooers the Indiana hooers by the way all all the hometown IND Indiana schools are after him as you might imagine Purdue of course Notre Dame and yes the dreaded Kansas Jayhawks are in on jayen harelson as well so a lot of really stiff competition there especially from those instate schools not only Indiana but Purdue who was obviously the national runner up this past season but hey you get an official visit from somebody you're in there and Dennis Gates has proven to be an Adept recruiter without a doubt so harelson by the way a 6'6 guard definitely goes along the lines of what Missouri's been recruiting in recent years especially this most recent class with Anor boting and Marcus Allen and too Barrett Missouri wants to be longer and more athletic not only on the wings but at the point guard position as well and speaking of long athletic wings and guards well on three according to that recruiting service also says a top 30 composite National guy and Davon Hannah is going to get an official visit from Missouri as well he's originally from the state of Glen of excuse me from the state of Wisconsin Glendale Wisconsin to be exact but he's now playing his high school ball at link Academy in Branson so that does give Missouri a little bit of a leg up there again another taller guard at 6 foot5 that seems to very much be a a trend here for Missouri and by the way the one member of this 2025 recruiting class so far Colombia's Aaron row played his high school ball at father tolton last year another longish point guard so all these guys would seem to fit in nicely with with Aaron Row in the class and you'll notice if Missouri say I I think the the the conventional wisdom is with five true freshmen on the roster this season and especially you consider Missouri will almost certainly be shopping in the portal this off season like everybody else in the nation is as well for the most part dabos Sweeney aside you got to think it's going to be a smaller High School class this time around so certainly if Missouri could get two more players in addition to row that may be it for the class a three-man class I don't see four happening I could even see a Twan class for Missouri one is too small I'd say two or three is your more likely number there again with five freshmen on the roster this season do you want to put four on the roster next season well if you do uh that means probably a bunch of guys transferred you just you can't predict that at this moment in time so I think that's what Missouri is looking at here I just think it's interesting that with row already in the fold to get those two spots Missouri is not only shooting for the stars in terms of those Pi four and five star McDonald's All-American caliber type players but notice it's also just guards so far as well I think that tells you Missouri feels pretty comfortable at least at the moment with Trent burns with pton Marshall I would say in particular Manning the inside for Missouri maybe for years to come and since I brought up aor boting just a little bit ago the incoming freshman for the Tigers is the highest ranked high school player coming out of of high school for Missouri for this season will he be the absolute best player from that class well time will tell but I do know this boting along with really the rest of the new guys on this roster seemed very very likable I will say that one thing that's interesting boting who was Mr Arkansas of course in college out of coming out of high school not a lot of guys get out of the state of Arkansas when they get that designation by the way so quite a coup for Dennis Gates and his staff but boting also not only does he have dreams of course of playing in the NBA as you might expect he also has interest in being a computer scientist and a data analyst as well so that's an unusual combination but a multi-talented guy is onor boting apparently he's also an accomplished saxophone player as well to the point where Dennis Gates is interested in having him play the national anthem as soon as this season at some point he just really seems like he has a ton of Personality again just a really like able group so far even by the way they even put nor boting they used him as the voiceover guy he was the narrator for a recent social media video that maou put out so I don't know just a just an interesting note there I just like getting to know these guys a little bit especially on the basketball team we get to see them so much and there's so few of them compared to the football team it's just a lot easier to get to know and a feel for their personalities I feel like and I've talked to good bit about live attendance Revenue versus television Revenue in terms of college football lately well one thing I should probably clarify when I said that Missouri should focus on just getting as many people into the stands as possible I'm talking very specifically about the stands and not the luxury Boxes by all means again squeeze all of the money you can all the revenue you can out of those luxury suets by all means build the $250 million North End Zone Complex I'm mostly talking about the actual upper decks and just the margins of fero field not even necessarily talking about the people who pay thousands of bucks a year to tsf for the privilege of sitting at the 50 yard line and getting good parking and all that good stuff I'm talking about your people who don't necessarily who aren't season ticket holders who may go to a game every three or four years or so maybe they haven't been to a game since the pandemic that type of deal those people are on the margins you're sort of fair weather fans who can kind of go either way those are the people you want to get trust me because if you get them well you get their parents then you get their kids now you really got something because those kids while their parents may not be in the Luxury Box Market the kids you never know they could grow up to be the world's you know the preeminent general contractor in Columbia or whatever the heck it is and suddenly they got a bunch of a bunch of nickels to rub together and they're in the luxury suets regardless you just want to constantly be building new fans and it's my opinion that as much as it is in so many ways a more satisfying experience to just actually watch the game itself on television versus in person I do really believe that you're much more likely to build new fans especially the younger ones who aren't that interested in football necessarily by giving them that live game experience I think that very much builds newer fans more easily than simply watching a game on television that you can easily check out of and go watch your iPad or jump in the pool or something like that and do something else entirely being there live you're you're basically a captive audience at that point and I think it's a great thing it's a great experience and the more people who experience it I think the more fans you build and of course the more TV viewers as well it's all a it's all it all goes hand in hand and coming up there is at least one sec game that I have some fairly strong feelings about in terms of which betting side I'm on over at FanDuel sports book this weekend so let's talk about that and some of the other action throughout the conference here in just a little bit but speaking of symbiotic relationships and being Happy Well when you're hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role that's why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free and when you find those right people you got to hang on to them with both hands it's not as easy as you think to hire good people well that's where LinkedIn jobs comes in LinkedIn isn't just a job board LinkedIn helps you hire profession professionals you can't find anywhere else even those who aren't actively searching for a new job but might be open to the perfect role in a given month More than 70% of LinkedIn users don't visit other leading job sites so if you're not looking on LinkedIn you are looking in the wrong place on LinkedIn 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours hire professionals like a professional on LinkedIn so post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon col that's linkedin.com lockon col to post your job for free terms and conditions apply so as I take a quick look around the conference here to close out the show here is your betting tip for the week I like Tennessee this week and in fact let me check on the line here really quick I like Tennessee minus 9 and a half at NC State and here's why NC State is one and4 versus the SEC under its current Coach Dave Doran their only win actually came against Vanderbilt by the way in beautiful shreport in the Independence Bowl three of those four losses by the way were by 14 points or more I just think Tennessee has the better Squad right now I think when Tennessee has more Talent than you if you if you can't slow down their off offense more than likely they're going to cover the spread so all of that is my logic to just say if there's a pick that I like this week it's actually the Tennessee Volunteers minus 9 a half against NC State now of course there's a bunch of other games that I'm interested in the conference as well notably of course Texas traveling to Michigan minus 7 a half are the Longhorns and I have to say I think Michigan might be getting a little bit too much credit there although Texas wasn't particularly impressive running the ball or even stopping the run last week so let's stay away there I have to say my initial Instinct was Michigan was getting too much credit for last year's undefeated National Championship run there but boy more than a touch down in the big house Texas didn't have its greatest opening week one I don't think still think the Longhorns are going to take that down I just can't give the seven and a half there personally now Arkansas if you if you watch my if you found in my feed yesterday our SEC Squad episode you heard me give John neighbors a little bit of crap because Arkansas suddenly after week one their fans they're going wait we're going to take down Oklahoma State baby and I'm going wow pump the brakes here maybe wait a second because generally speaking Mike Mike Gundy and the Cowboys they tend to figure it out as the year goes along well they look pretty dog on good in week one I thought so if they've already figured it out against a team that was already setting up Ubers in the future in November to take Sam Pitman to the airport I just don't know that I see that I still think Arkansas likely going to be shopping on LinkedIn jobs for Sam Pittman's replacement so I don't know I'm just kind of amused that suddenly Arkansas fans after one blowout Victory against Arkansas Pine Bluff are now predicting a top 20 Victory upset on the road in Still Water I just personally don't see it but if it happens well I'm ready to eat crow and say hey maybe that Arkansas game is going to be quite a bit more challenging than we expected at the beginning of the season now speaking of something I think is a bit of an overreaction and I thought so I said so on the SEC Squad Show Kentucky minus 8 and a half against South Carolina I again Chris Gordy our locked on SEC host disagreed with me so I'm not telling you to run to FanDuel sports book here but I'm really interested in this game to see if South Carolina if that was an aberration last week against Old Dominion to some extent frankly South Carolina was fairly lucky to win that football game with a couple of deep turnovers by Old Dominion in its own territory but I am just very curious to see was that just a bad week was that just week one figuring stuff out Jitters whatever it is maybe South Carolina has a better idea of what it is moving forward because that team is certainly not without Talent it just surprises me that Kentucky would be favored by more than a touchdown this early in the season Kentucky with a lot of transfers as well including at quarterback I'm just not ready to go that far with the wild cats just yet and finally Auburn playing its return game at Auburn this time Jordan Harris Stadium 12 and 1 Half Point favorites against the Cal bearss now of the ACC I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that but last season Auburn won and I put that in air quotes because that 14-10 Victory last season for Auburn really felt like a loss and in fact I had chocked it up as a loss in my memory I had to go back and check the score and be like oh wait actually Auburn won that game but the negativity coming out of Auburn Alabama after that ball game well it was palpable to say the least so honestly if Auburn is going to be any type of a threat to Missouri this season for example I'd like to see those Tigers you know punish the Bears they they better cover that spread win by three scores something like that then I'll take Hugh freeze and that program this season a little bit more seriously I think it'll I think there's a good chance that freeze works out in Auburn in the long run I just don't think that year is this season so whether whether I'm right or not we'll probably have a pretty good idea after week two against Cal and thanks as always for making locked on missou your first listen no go now go check out the locked on college football podcast from nil to realignment Spencer mlin gets you ready for an exciting season on the grid iron find the link to the locked on college football podcast of in the description of this program part of the locked on podcast podcast Network your team every day so until next time I am John Miller and this has been locked on maou