Maty Mauk is eyeing Missouri's starting QB job. (Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)
It still sounds a little strange — the Missouri Tigers are going through spring football with the goal of defending their SEC East championship.
That’s right. After a 5-7 season in their first year in the SEC, the Tigers rebounded with a 12-2 record and a 7-1 mark in SEC play, just missing a chance to play for the national title because of a loss to Auburn in the SEC Championship Game. They polished off the season with a 41-31 win over Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl. Along the way head coach Gary Pinkel won his 102nd game at Missouri, making him the winningest coach in school history.
Now Missouri is hoping to repeat the success of the 2013 season without several key players, such as quarterback James Franklin and defensive ends Michael Sam and Kony Ealy.
“The foundation of our program is competition,” said Pinkel. “It always has been, and it always will be, there are no guaranteed positions on the team. Everyone has to go out there and earn their spots, earn their playing time. If a young guy beats a veteran out, they beat them out; it’s for the good of the team. There are a lot of examples over the years, but one I always point to is when Brad Smith won the quarterback job as a redshirt freshman. He beat out a senior who had been a starter for a couple of season.”
The 2014 Tigers have 12 starters returning, five each on offense and defense, in addition to both specialists.
Missouri ranked 13th nationally in scoring at 39.1 points per game (after ranking 80th in 2012), and improved to 16th nationally in total offense (490.7 yards per game) a year after ranking just 96th nationally in 2012 (356.4 yards per game).
“I thought our offensive staff did a really good job last season,” said Pinkel. “Philosophically we changed in a lot of ways, we threw the ball downfield as much as any team I’ve ever been around, and I think it was a great change. We were really balanced and that’s difficult to defend. We’re looking at a lot of different things, little things to tweak and make it better, and we’ll see where that goes. We’re pleased with what we’re doing on offense, but we’re always looking for ways to make ourselves better.”
The Tigers will have to do it without playmakers Franklin, tailback Henry Josey, tackle Justin Britt, and receivers L’Damian Washington and Marcus Lucas.
“Every year we have some turnover, and that provides opportunities for other players, and that’s the way we look at it,” said Pinkel.
Replacing Franklin is the biggest key, but there are two QBs coming back with starting experience, including dynamic sophomore Maty Mauk and junior Corbin Berkstresser.
Mauk may have the inside track for the starting job, but Pinkel reminds everyone that nobody has won anything at this point.
“Maty certainly played well with his opportunities last year, and we’re excited about what he did for us, he’s got a lot of talent,” said Pinkel. “He’ll have to win the job still, that’s how we do things here; he’s got to compete to get the job just like every position.”
Beside Berkstresser, other challengers for the starting spot behind center are Eddie Printz, Trent Hosick and Marvin Zanders.
“I’m excited to see what everyone can bring to the table this spring, we’ll have a lot to look at,” Pinkel said.
Missouri returns three starters on the offensive line — center Evan Boehm, Mitch Morse and Connor McGovern.
“We played very, very well on the line last year,” said Pinkel. “We have three guys back who are very good players, so that’s something to build around. We’ll take a look at a couple of things during the spring, and that’s what it’s for, we just have to find the five best guys and build the depth around that lineup.”
“With the loss of Henry Josey, it also creates bigger opportunities for guys like Russell Hansbrough and Marcus Murphy. I know they’re really excited about having the chance to get more carries,” said Pinkel. “They are good friends with Henry, and they’ll miss him, but they’re also competitors who want the ball in their hands, so they’re both happy about getting that chance.”
The receiving corps still has plenty of talent on hand. Junior Dorial Green-Beckham is back for his third year. Last season he caught a team-high 59 passes for 883 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“We lost a couple guys who will be playing in the NFL, but certainly we’ve got a lot of talent coming back,” said Pinkel. “We have talent there, it’s going to be real important for the experienced guys to get better, but then the young guys really need to mature fast and get ready.”
The Tigers defense in 2013 probably didn’t get the attention of the offense but it was an excellent unit, which was a big factor in Missouri’s success. It was the ball-hawking aspect of the defense which led to 32 takeaways (20 interceptions, 12 fumbles) that helped the Tigers rank fifth in the nation (1st in the SEC) in turnover margin (+1.10 per game). Missouri will enter the 2014 season with an active streak of 44 games with a turnover gained, the longest in the nation.
“We had a really outstanding year defensively overall, I was really pleased with how we competed,” said Pinkel. “I really liked our scheme a year ago. Take away the SEC championship game, and we played really outstanding against the run consistently. We were really physical, really good with turnovers and that’s one of the most important factors in winning, so we need that to continue.”
