Kudos and Concerns

By Tiger Fan

Any win on the road is a good win for the Tigers. That being said, there was certainly room for improvement in Mizzou's 27-17 win over New Mexico on Saturday. The defense was stellar and the offense rolled up a ton of yards but continually squandered scoring opportunities. Without further ado, here come some kudos and concerns.

Kudos to Big XII Defensive Player of the Week Brian Smith, who had a ridiculous game: 6 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks and a forced fumble. He's now just a few sacks shy of becoming the Big XII's all-time sack leader and looked absolutely unstoppable against the Lobos

...but the Tigers have to be concerned about Ziggy Hood. The starting tackle has a broken foot and will be out at least 4 weeks.

Kudos to Tony Temple who rushed for 168 yards, the biggest total for a Tiger since Zain Gilmore rushed for 169 yards against OSU in 2000

...but Tony, you gotta hang onto the football!

Kudos to Chase Daniel, who threw for 199 and one touchdown and also ran for one

...but Daniel looked rattled at times by the Lobos' defensive schemes. That has to be a concern as we head into Big XII play against some serious defenses.

Kudos to Earl Goldsmith, who played well in relief of Temple. The thing I like about Goldsmith is that he actually runs north and south. As I've said before, our guys have to stop dancing and get some yardage. Five yards is better than two, but our guys are looking for 80 yards on every play. But Goldsmith seems to get that and was rewarded with a touchdown

...but the only reason Goldsmith was on the field was that Marcus Woods continues to disappoint. Two words: FAIR CATCH! He almost coughed up another one this week. If he had, we might be talking about another Tiger collapse on the road. Also, he seems to be the biggest backfield dancer of the bunch. He's got speed and talent. Let's see it!

That's all for now. Check back soon for the Ohio preview... I've got a personal stake in this one, so it should be good.