The straight scoop from
Colonel Mustard
Oct. 11, 2003
Sorry that I missed my column this week. It won't happen again.
The Troy State game was the same song, fifth verse. Great defense, excellent punting and inconsistent offense. But as we have said, this is a winning formula. Dyches had a tough day, but that is to be expected out a true-freshman kicker. He will continue to improve. Williams is an all-American and possibly one of the best defensive players we have had. He is certainly playing at that level. It was encouraging to see more pressure from the front four. The Troy offense was simply overwhelmed. We have a confident and extremely well-coached defense. Our talent looks better when it is put in a position to succeed. The disappointing part about the offense was the line; our line had a bad day. That could be because of injuries, but they have done a good job all year until this game. We need to get our I-backs more involved and allow them to get into the flow of the game. We are becoming a QB-oriented running team again. We need to spread the ball around. Lord had his usual turnover-prone and inconsistent game. Good throws and bad throws and turnovers -- same story. We missed a lot of opportunities, and at some point this has got to stop or it will cost us a game. Joe had a good game, he made a good throw on a easy throw and a good throw on a hard throw. He missed on a tough throw, he looked good running and we must keep playing him when the game is on the line.
As far as the Missouri game goes, they have always played us tough. From
when Noel Martin ran an interception back in '62 it seems as though they
always rise to the occasion against us. This year their team reminds me
of Iowa State last year -- one great player and an average team. Smith
makes them dangerous. They should have lost to Middle Tennessee, and
Kansas worked them over. We should win this game -- we have a better team. Bo will figure out a way to stop Smith. We can't let him beat us. I
feel that we can win by more than a TD.
Keep the faith. GBR.
-- The Colonel