Boston College Wins: Tougher Game For Missouri?

Missouri Football's Defensive Depth I'm officially a little more worried about the Boston College game now but how much that's the question let's talk about that and more right now on 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 daughters I'm John Miller your missum mafioso and the central scrutinizer of Missouri Tigers football and basketball on today's program I'm going to discuss if Missouri has already killed the new Joker position and the Tigers seemingly keeping a hot hand going in the dice game that is the transfer portal especially on the defensive side of the ball so far before I start the show I do want to say that ultimate college football HC is a brand new mobile game that is completely free has no ads and 100% playable offline use the promo code locked on CFB all caps inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program begin your coaching Legacy today and speaking of coaching legacies well the bill O'Brian era at Boston College began last night with an impressive victory in Tallahassee over Florida State and of course well now with Florida State sitting at 0 and2 definitely fair to wonder how good the seals are and yet still an opening game Victory on the road for BC I mean this is as big a victory as Boston College has had really in certainly in the last 5 10 years or so heck you know Missouri losing to Boston College in 2021 was one of their biggest victories of that period as evidenced by the Boston college students rushing the field that day so it's been a tough go for the Eagles a program that historically has had some moments but in recent years it's been tough it really has and the post let's say since Matt Ryan was was around Boston in say Circa 2008 or so ever since then just not a lot of good things have been happening but Bill O'Brien the former Houston Texans coach Co former offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots well they played an impressive game yesterday it looked like a well coach football team I'll say that I'll also say though that I think Missouri's Talent just overall looks like it should be quite a bit better than Boston colleges just based on that game I saw yesterday I really believe that this is the deepest Missouri team that we've had in a long long time I'd say at least since 20132 14 that era and to point out the obvious well frankly it's unclear if Florida state is any good or not in fact I'd say it's pretty clear that they're not even remotely close to as good as they were last year a team that obviously controversially missed out on the college football playoff Jordan Travis got injured at the end of the season the quarterback and really that Florida State Defense at the end of the season was absolutely dominant but here's the thing DJ oui angal right now the transfer former Clemson Tiger former Oregon State Beaver now on the move once again to Florida State and right now that offense is clearly not clicking how much you want to throw at oui Ang's feet is one thing but here's all I know the Eagles who had one penalty in this ball game to Florida State seven looked pretty content to control the ball on both lines of scrimmage and kind of just let FSU mess up eventually eventually implode on offense they just weren't good enough the early lead was well really just too much for dju and the simol quite frankly I just don't think Boston College is going to have that type of luxury of playing sort of Smashmouth Herman Edwards conservative football against the Tigers in week three but still an impressive start by Boston College nonetheless and similar to Vanderbilt I would say after a week one Victory against Virginia Tech I think you got to take both Vanderbilt and Boston College a little bit more seriously and as long as Missouri wins maybe that's not the worst thing in the world as there's been so much talk already in the off season about Missouri's relatively weak schedule so again I don't want to overreact here because obviously even though Florida state was a preseason top 10 team well now they're 0 and2 in the ACC looking like they're going to need to fight for a Bowl appearance at this point so how good Florida state is is a big part of this equation but still I think you have to consider that Boston College coming off a really huge victory in week one is also in a good spot against Missouri in week three the Eagles have duaine at home this week obviously what should be an easy victory for Boston College they shouldn't have to worry about oh the you know the emotional come down off that victory in week two that's a good spot for Boston College having what amounts to I don't know a half of a bye let's say coming into Missouri and and traveling to the Midwest in week three so Boston College I can't say I'm overly worried I can't say that I'm picking Boston College to beat Missouri or anything like that but you have to be impressed you have to be duly impressed by Bill O'Brien and the Eagles in week one and you have to at least be at least least more worried I think more this is something you're telling your team if you're Eli drinkwitz you're emphasizing this and saying guys this is a team that we can't Sleepwalk through same same thing with Vanderbilt and of course they're saying same thing with Buffalo too I can hear some of you saying hey you can't look past Buffalo I agree the Tigers can't look past Buffalo but I can because I'm not on the team now really I did notice a ton of obvious wrinkles from Cory baton defense compared to the last couple Seasons under Blake Baker and Missouri but that's not a bad thing whatsoever other than a com a couple times I saw a combination coverage that I didn't notice much if at all under Baker the previous couple Seasons where Missouri would put Dr Norwood and man coverage on one side and have Zone coverage on the other notably that was the call in my opinion on torano Pride's interception by the way but in the off Seas the most notable change and wrinkle that Cory baton was going to put in the Missouri defense was the Joker position and based Missouri's Defensive Strategy Changes on what I could tell well a lot of the talk of here's what the Joker is going to do it didn't really happen and here here's all I'll explain first of all what is the Joker position well it's one of the defensive end positions quite simply but it's always going to be at least from what I could tell from what's been explain to me and also just observing the film from this Murray State game that joker position is almost always going to be the field side defensive end versus or excuse me I said that wrong let me say that again he's almost always going to be the boundary side defensive end in other words the short side of the field of course there are hash marks pretty wide hash marks in college football compared to the NFL for example so when the ball is spotted on one extreme or the other this becomes rather obvious obviously there's more room to one side of the snapped ball or the other well the near side the close side whatever you want to call it it's often called The Boundary side well that's where the Joker is going to line up usually it's going to be Johnny Walker and what I noticed is yes this player was standing up that's how it's not easy to notice who the Joker is the field side the the boundary side defensive end I should say I'm sorry I'm am not great with that particular terminology I should just say the short side of the field honestly I think that's a lot more easy to for most people to wrap their heads around including mine obviously so let's just say the short side defensive end is the one who's going to be standing up and really that's the only wrinkle that I noticed because a lot of the talk this off season was oh this player is going to be dropping into coverage in particular in the flag lats I would say to cover a linebacker going out in a dump off type pass I didn't see any of that on Saturday I really didn't so it'll be interesting to see perhaps as others have said and speculated maybe darus Smith's absence the Georgia transfer who's out for the season maybe he was going to be the guy who maybe was in that position and winning a coverage on occasion I know a lot of Missouri fans including myself have noticed that whenever Johnny Walker was involved in pass coverage as part of a Zone Blitz usually it often didn't go well for Missouri so perhaps that has been figured out by Cory baton but so basically the Joker isn't dead yet but the Joker has been hamstrung let's put it that way I've been seeing a lot of weird wrinkles other than simply him just not being in a two-point stance simply put Johnny Walker is just standing up as the short side defensive end and that's really about the only wrinkle that I've seen so far in terms of that position so has Missouri killed the Joker no but it hasn't really made a huge impact obviously yet in terms of actual defensive structure and in most card games of course when you get a joker that's a good thing you get an ace some face cards that's a good thing well Missouri has turned over a lot of face cards and a lot of jokers especially in the transfer portal on defense the past few seasons and the early returns for this portal class on defense are really encouraging so far as well so let's talk about Chris mclen among others coming up here in just a little bit first let's talk about ultimate college football HC this new mobile game that I think you're going to love as much as I do it's an amazing game and simulation that lets you step into the shoes of a head coach lead your program to Glory imagine actually being the head coach of the Missouri Tigers getting to recruit your own high schoolers hire your own staff oversee training camps scholarships you decide every detail of your program it's all in your hands and here's what I really love not only all of that you get to call offensive plays during your games as well so your strategy is not only going to determine the success of your football season in each individual game by the way but it also shape the future and Legacy of your program and of course I've got a special offer for all of my listeners use the promo code locked on CFB all caps inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program make sure to take advantage of this perk as it will get your team off to a strong start to download the game just visit ultimate dcfb Doom ultimat cfb.isd ultimate college football HC begin your coaching Legacy today have to admit I'm feeling a little bad for my friend and colleague Brandon Olen over at locked on Gators it's going to be a tough season for old Billy nape here it sure seems like so far I have to admit not just a tough schedule maybe not a very good team it's looking like either so all that Brandon has to talk about is what's next but also speaking of what's in the past for the Florida Gators Chris mclen transfer for Missouri played obviously for the Gators last season in that famous Fourth and 17 conversion ball game to Luther Burton last season well mlen now on the other side of that rivalry and so far so good to say the least mlen didn't play a ton of snaps just like really everybody on the Missouri defense nobody played a ton of snaps but boy he definitely was very noticeable in his short amount of time on the field obviously torano Pride had a huge game as well the transfer from Clemson huge interception ran it in for a touchdown as well Zion young of course the Michigan State transfer on that very play had the pressure that led to Pride's pick six so really all systems go I thought Cory flag had his moments too especially as I pointed out on that opening kickoff made an excellent play to blow up the kicker he was attempting to recover a said onside kick I thought he stood out on defense as well at times and on offense well Kaden green picked up a couple penalties and some have said that Marcus Bryant by the way the Missouri new starting left tackle got pushed backwards a little bit in the Murray State game quite frankly I'm just going to have to take a closer look at the offensive line against buff I think that'll give me a clear indication of what we're working with with Marcus Bryan that that's just my opinion I don't really want to go back and do the Murray State analysis of the offensive line specifically let's just move on and I promise I'll take a closer look this week against Buffalo and to make the obvious statement of the century of Missouri football I'd love to see the defense look that dominant once again against Buffalo if we're anything close to that I'm going to start thinking regardless of opponent this Missouri defense is going to be quite a bit better than we expected and specifically I don't think Missouri's going to hold Buffalo to 1.6 yards per play or fewer than a 100 total yards in this game but what I really want to see is I just want to see the defense look as well prepared as it did in week one and I'd love to see them I'd love to see that depth show up again because I didn't even really notice as I pointed out in my shows this week I didn't even notice how many different players Missouri rotated in even during the first half until I looked at the snap counts and this wasn't just at defensive a defensive tackle defensive Missouri's Ticketing Strategy end where Missouri often rotates it was at linebacker and and corner and safety as well not just again those big boys up front who you look to rotate quite a bit in college football football to me that really speaks to the overall quality of the 2D again at least in week one against Missouri against Murray State excuse me we'll see what that looks like in against Buffalo obviously moving forward against BC Vanderbilt Texas A&M those are going to be much bigger challenges and even give us a better indication but I will say this when you're that dominant especially frankly especially defensively even against lower competition like that it does does actually usually pretend good results against the upper echelon as well and of course Missouri is looking to keep its sellout streak alive this week against Buffalo and on said sellout streak which of course kept alive last week against Murray State Well Chad Mohler over at rockim Nation who writes there he was the former sports information director during the Gary pinkle era well he said quote there's no doubt that not all of the 62,6 121 tickets were purchased I'm quite certain that there were a lot of giveaways and freebies and comps slash add-ons but to notch a full house for Evolution of College Football Revenue this level of game is a big deal and I think that's really the takeaway they at the very end and as to the idea that hey it was a sellout but not all the tickets were literally sold to individuals you know what I say to that I say good fantastic that is a tip of the cap from me to the Missouri ticketing Department the marketing department whoever it is in the administration in the leech Administration that is in charge of this kind of stuff whoever deserves the credit I'm going to Fork it over to you because like I've said recently adding ticket Revenue getting every single dollar out of the live attendance gate Revenue side of things is absolutely not the main goal anymore at least not in the SEC at least not at a program like Missouri now at a program like Murray State maybe the live gate is really important I can't really speak to that and certainly 50 years ago 60 years ago when television was not really a part of college football to any major extent well the live gate was basically basically everything in terms of Revenue your season ticket holders your your parking passes all that good stuff well those days are long gone TV money is now by far in way the biggest percentage of your Revenue that is now the cash cow so to me as I've said many times on this program now live attendance should be about getting people in the building which is about frankly making new fans and making the television product look good by the way part of having a good television product is not just these event products these event programming which is college football hey Saturday is an event by golly that's a huge part of what makes college football special on Saturdays but if it's going to be an event you want it to actually look like an event on television and a full house DirecTV and Disney Corporate Battle an excited crowd that makes that's good for not only your television Partners it's good for you Missouri obviously in terms of recruiting and drawing new fans and everything else so again part of the live attendance thing just as an example here for the first time ever I was able to attend the game with my entire immediate family in terms of my two parents my wife and notably my two young daughters who are five and two years old well here's the thing I was there to see Luther Burton I was there to see Brady cook and all those guys my daughters were there to see Josie Josie is the new twirler at missou who was a also a member of our dance studio so to them Josie is the star to me Luther buron is the star so who's right well both of us were right the point is you get people in the door you make new fans and I think it's quite possible that even though maybe my older daughter in particular was maybe more into the dancing girls as she likes to call them then the football she's going to get into the football eventually if she hangs around long enough and coming up on the show as South Park said back in the day the corporations are being all Corporation again as Direct TV and Disney are fighting it out how does this affect Missouri fans well it affects Missouri fans I'm going to promise you that that is if you are a Direct TV satellite or Direct TV stream subscriber let's talk about that and also speaking of Corporations some corporate sponsors on for field let's talk about all of the ramifications there here in just a little bit but first get in the zone Five Hour Energy shots give you the feeling of alertness and energy you need to get in the zone and sometimes hey you're on the back nine on the golf course your maybe you've missed a couple putts in a row your concentration just starts to fade a little bit maybe you're getting hungry that type of deal you know what throw a 5H Hour Energy into your golf bag power through that back nine get your focus back into shape I'm telling you 5H Hour Energy is the brand that hardworking and hard golfing people like me have trusted for more than 20 years to give me the alert and energized feeling I need to get through a busy hectic day or the back nine as well and you know what you'll always know where to find 5H Hour Energy shots right at the cash register at nearly every convenience drug and grocery store Nationwide so if you go to 5our energy.com that is the number five hour energy.com and get some 5H Hour Energy product today you can use my code locked on CFB to receive 20% off your Disney's Hardball Negotiations During College Football Season order this offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions the code is not good on subscription orders go to 5our energy.com today by the way it was cool to see inis rraw JC Carli and of course Harrison mevas back at the stadium this past Thursday and one thing I noticed is that whoever set up this introduction to the players on the field was smart enough to realize that you know what we should give Harrison mevas the main event slot here as he's probably going to get the biggest Applause from the fans the thicker kicker just a a special place in a lot of fans Hearts especially after some great game-winning field goals over the years most notably against Kansas state from 61 yards last season but the coolest thing about that to me is that the best part was that Rik straw and JC you know what they gave Harrison mevas the love too they were like bowing down to him as the crowd gave him the the huge Ovation there so I just thought that was a cool moment between those former teammates who obviously are going to be connected I would say for the rest of their lives a big big cool part of this whole Missouri football tradition and Just Sports in general but you know what's not cool about sports these days qubla I should say between big media corporations like Direct TV and Disney so if you're an old school satellite Direct TV subscriber or you're like me and you cut the cord but you still want to watch baseball so you have a direct TV stream subscription well you're kind of so as Nick sabbin might have said except he didn't say so on college game day but you're out of luck fellas and ladies if you're a direct teach TV subscriber at least for now we're going to have to see what happens so if you're not going to be attending the Missouri Buffalo game that game's going to be on the SEC network if you want to watch that and you need a subscription to ESPN of some sort and just to be clear ESPN plus is not going to cut it but if you also like me you may have some parents some friends somebody somebody who has not cut the cord for example my folks God bless them they still have Dish Network I'm not totally sure why not sure why they totally are still paying $200 a month for that subscription but all I know is I'm the beneficiary now because I can log in and still watch Florida State and BC on my iPad for example so not exactly a perfect situation here for Missouri fans the good news is usually these types of disputes tend to resolve themselves but the fact that that game that the that basically it seems like Disney's playing some hard ball here in terms of hey we're going to start negotiating right during the middle of week one of college football season here so could be some hard ball to come here my point is I don't know how all this is going to play out it could be resolved by the by this week the end of this week or something like that or it could stretch out for months you never know YouTube TV for example still not agreeing with B Sports you can't watch baseball on there the Cardinals the Royals that's why I have Direct TV stream well now I have other problems again not exactly loving the constant pull and tug of sort of these big media companies here but it is what it is just wanted to remind all of you to if you need to watch the Missouri game and you're a direct TV subscriber definitely figure out some backup plans for this weekend and finally speaking of Corporation being all Corporation there was some talk of equipment share and Shelter Insurance you may have noticed have logos and advertisements printed on fero field itself for week one and frankly most people I don't even think probably noticed that I didn't hear my parents bring it up or anybody I went to the game with in fact I haven't heard anyone discuss it outside of the missou beat maybe a message board Post online here or there so to me if nobody's really noticing or caring and you got I don't know whatever millions of dollars from equipment share and Shelter Insurance however much money that is maybe it's just hundreds of thousands whatever it is that seems like a pretty good trade to me you painted something on the field your your fans didn't seem to care and you got a whole bunch of money smart move you know Missouri is one of the first programs and teams in the power five to do this you know it seemed weird I'm sure a weird sort of Rubicon to cross at the time well back in the day by back in the day I mean a few years ago as as early as one year ago in Major League Baseball it seemed weird to put corporate logo patches like steel and QT on the side of the Royals and Cardinals uniforms for example but I don't know that most people really care maybe we'd prefer it the other way but I don't think it stopped anybody from watching whatsoever so while we don't always like the corporations being all Corporation this seems like a pretty obvious positive trade for the Missouri Athletic Department but if you disagree always hit me up in the comments on YouTube on social media at lockon missou or locked onou gmail.com so until next time I am John Miller and thanks for listening to locked onou