Missouri coach Gary Pinkel already senses a prove-something attitude from his team.
“I think so, but I also think that’s OK,” Pinkel said. “There are some other national powers that they lose a lot of players, get a lot of players drafted and people assume they’re just going to reload. But you have to earn that. … (Our players) certainly did have a chip.”
Even though they played in the last two Big 12 championship games and were briefly the nation’s No. 1 team in 2007, there are some underwhelming expectations for the Tigers this season after quarterback Chase Daniel finished his senior season and receiver-kick returner Jeremy Maclin left early for the NFL.
No preseason Top 25 ranking, and nobody picking Missouri to win the Big 12 North again.
Missouri was even the underdog for its season opener against Illinois, which had lost four in a row in the rivalry.
e.
Pinkel described the opener as “our opportunity to show that we’ve got a decent football team, and I’m proud of the way they played.”
That likely was Missouri’s biggest challenge before getting into Big 12 play. The Tigers play the next two Saturdays at home against Bowling Green and Furman before wrapping up non-conference play Sept. 25 at Nevada.
“We’re not good enough to take anybody lightly,” Pinkel insisted. “We’re just focused on getting better. Through the leadership of our team, I think we will be OK.”
Coachspeak?
Maybe, but Pinkel remembers what happened when Missouri played Bowling Green his first two seasons. The Falcons won both, including 51-28 the last meeting seven years ago.
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BALANCED RED RAIDERS: Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has a slightly different definition of balanced offense.
“I’m proud to say we’re probably the most balanced team in the nation,” said Leach, whose Red Raiders opened the season with 405 of their 445 total yards through the air.
“Balance has virtually nothing to do with rushing as opposed to passing. It has to do with your ability to get ball in all your players’ hands,” Leach said. “We had 10 receivers touch the ball and three running backs. So if you run across anybody any more balanced than that, I’d like to meet them.”
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Texas Longhorns will make their farthest trip to the northwest in 34 years to play Wyoming.
M this season in the new Cowboys Stadium.
The Longhorns filled the opening with another group of Cowboys, and their longest trip in that direction since playing at Washington in 1975.
Wyoming is in the Mountain West with No. 20 BYU, which beat No. 3 Oklahoma, though coach Mack Brown said that wasn’t necessary to get his attention.
“Wyoming beat Tennessee in Knoxville last year, and they beat Virginia in the opening game two years ago at their place (23-3), and they’ve got a new coach from Missouri,” Brown said. “They’re 1-0 and we’re going on the road. I don’t think we need any more motivation.”
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M took distinctly different approaches to their opening stretches. Both have their open dates this week after much-needed season-opening victories.
wn, then rise up again and get ready for our 11-week push.”
Baylor won 24-21 at Wake, its first road victory in two years. The Bears now have three nonconference games at home.
“Looking at it ahead of time, this is kind of going to be a continuation of preseason to a certain extent,” said Aggies coach Mike Sherman, whose team beat New Mexico 41-6 at home. “The players are basically going back to fundamentals, kind of working on some of the things we worked on during preseason camp.”
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QUOTABLE:
– “In all honestly, it just felt a little different to me.” – Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, on coaching his first game after a three-year “retirement.”
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EXTRA POINTS: Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops describes redshirt freshman quarterback Landry Jones, who will fill in for injured Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, as a “guy that is accurate, a leader and can throw the football.” … Kansas QB Todd Reesing ran 13 times for 79 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener. “We don’t want to make a living running with him, but he can beat you with his feet if you’re going to play zone all night and try to drop eight guys,” coach Mark Mangino said. … When Paul Rhoads was an assistant coach for Iowa State, the game against Iowa wasn’t much of a rivalry. But he was on the 1998 staff that ended a 15-game losing streak and began the Cyclones’ current stretch of seven wins in 11 games.
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