I'm very worried. This game is way more important than OU, because this is likely to decide the North. On the road against a very good football team. Martinez showed he can throw the ball a little against OSU. They would have blown them out if Justin Blackmon wasn't such a beast. Mizzou doesn't have a Justin Blackmon. The O-line had by far their best game of the year to give Gabbert time, but our receivers still struggled to get open at times. I don't expect the line to be that good every game. You can't really call Nebraska a spread team since they run the ball so well. I think this is a tougher test for the defense than OU (who moved the ball pretty well save for the TOs.). I wouldn't count on Nebraska fumbling the ball very often vs. picking off a couple of Landry Jones' 50 pass attempts. They have the kind of offense that can hog time of possession, wearing out the D and keeping the O off the field. I like that we have some very athletic defensive ends. If they stay disciplined they have the speed to help out a lot with containing Martinez.Transmogrified Tiger wrote:I probably should be worried more than I am about Nebraska. Defensively, Nebraska has a very good secondary, but needs to bring 5-6 guys to get consistent pressure on the QB(not like last year where a 1-10 alignment with Suh would've pressured any QB). Mizzou's O-line has been incredible this year, and Gabbert has shown these past weeks that he's very capable of punishing defenses. If Nebraska has to choose between letting Gabbert have all day to throw and only having 5-6 in coverage, they're going to give up 35 points just like Oklahoma did. Offensively, Mizzou has had good success against run-first QBs out of the spread, and their shift in how they play DBs will definitely help them against Martinez's noodle-arm. The big concern is that Martinez is going to get to the second level his share during the game, the safeties and corners need to be sure tacklers(they have been so far) because they aren't a super fast secondary and it only takes one play for Martinez to go 60+ yards and change the game. I'd say that if Mizzou is -1 or even in turnovers, then they probably will have a shot to win/defend the lead at the end of the game. If they're winning the turnover battle, they're probably protecting a 10-14 point lead at the end of the game like they were on Saturday.
Missouri at +7 is a fair line, but I wouldn't call it a great line like everyone else. I would avoid it. Unless you are convinced that Mizzou is clearly better, that line seems like a coinflip to me. 7 point lines suck no matter which side you bet because of the high chance of a push.


