Tag: Missouri football

Browns land Deebo Samuel-like WR in new mock draft

Missouri’s Luther Burden III is a threat to hit the home run every time he touches the football

As the Cleveland Browns moved down to six spots in the 2025 NFL draft order and out of range for a new quarterback in a weak class of gunslingers, they instead took Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III in a new mock draft.

With Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders coming off the board to the Tennessee Titans with the No. 2 pick in Daft on Draft’s new mock draft, the Browns have to look elsewhere for a quarterback of the future. In a weak offensive tackle class, LSU’s Will Campbell was off the board as well.

This left the Browns to take Burden III. With Elijah Moore set for free agency this offseason, the Browns must look for a playmaker who can create fireworks every time he has the ball in his hands. Burden III is that playmaker.

Hard to bring down in the open field, Burden III is coming off of a season with 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns. He is experiencing a down year this season as the Tigers have gone through bouts of instability at the wide receiver position, sitting with just 450 yards and four touchdowns through eight games.

Burden III is not just a YAC threat underneath either, as he proves capable of running route to every level of the field from both Z and slot looks. With Moore set for free agency, a wide receiver room of the ascending Cedric Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, and now Burden III is quite the appealing option.

Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz seemingly screamed expletives at Alabama’s defense after a bad hit on Brady Cook

Eli Drinkwitz was livid after this hit on injured QB Brady Cook.

Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz was heated on Saturday during the Tigers’ road game against Alabama on Saturday, and not in a good way.

The No. 21 Tigers went to Tuscaloosa and got shut out by No. 15 Alabama in a 34-0 loss, and they played with quarterback Brady Cook, who was injured in last week’s comeback win against Auburn. Cook was reportedly extremely limited in practice this week because of a sprained ankle and was considered doubtful to take on the Crimson Tide.

But he was out there anyway Saturday — even if he maybe shouldn’t have been — and got fairly beat up while sharing time with backup passer Drew Pyne.

And after a hard hit on Cook early in the game, cameras captured Drinkwitz seemingly yelling expletives toward the Alabama defense on the field, as AL.com reported:

Alabama’s LT Overton was called for a personal foul for hitting on Missouri quarterback Brady Cook on a third-and-12 play on the Missouri 17. There was confusion on the play, however, as Cook appeared to believe the play was dead, but no whistle could be heard.

Drinkwitz looked livid on the sidelines after this, and that’s when he appeared to yell, “[Expletive] you!” multiple times.

If Drinkwitz was with Cook in believing the play was dead, he’s right to be angry. Any unnecessarily rough and violent plays are not OK. But maybe the injured quarterback — who later left the game with an apparent hand injury — shouldn’t have been out there in the first place.

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Who does Nick Saban, College GameDay crew think will win Alabama-Missouri game?

Who does Nick Saban predict to win Alabama-Missouri and other Top 25 games in Week 9?

Nick Saban and the full College GameDay crew believe the Alabama Crimson Tide will win their Week 9 SEC matchup against the Missouri Tigers Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Saban and the GameDay crew made their predictions for Alabama-Missouri and other Top 25 games live from Bloomington, Ind., where the No. 13 Indiana Hoosiers (7-0) are hosting the Washington Huskies in a Big Ten showdown.

During his prediction, Saban also offered a word of encouragement for Kalen DeBoer.

“I think Alabama’s bouncing back. I think Kalen has taken the right approach with the TNT, ‘Takes No Talent.’ Get all those things fixed that really are just discipline type things (and) that can make Alabama a really good team.”

Lee Corso and celebrity guest picker Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies agreed with Saban and favored Alabama to win, as did Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee.

RELATED: Staff predictions for Week 9 matchup between Alabama and Missouri

Saban’s full Week 9 SEC, Top 25 college football picks

In other SEC action, Saban picked No. 7 LSU to win Saturday’s prime time showdown against No. 14 Texas A&M at Kyle Field, and No. 6 Texas to win at Vanderbilt.

In other Top 25 action, Saban picked No. 11 Notre Dame to defeat No. 24 Navy and No. 1 Oregon to beat No. 20 Illinois. Saban also picked No. 3 Penn State to get past Wisconsin.

As for Indiana vs. Washington, Saban said it was “hard to go against the spirit” of the fans in Bloomington before picking the Hoosiers.

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Is Alabama football playing with ‘anxiety’ again? Nick Saban suggests so

Nick Saban used the dreaded ‘A’ word when discussing Alabama’s 2024 woes on College GameDay Saturday.

During his finals two seasons as Alabama football coach, Nick Saban often used the word “anxiety” when discussing how his team performed.

Saban, now a regular part of ESPN’s College GameDay each week, alluded to it again Saturday morning when discussing the 15th-ranked Crimson Tide’s struggles in 2024.

Alabama fell 24-17 to the Tennessee Volunteers last Saturday in Knoxville to drop to 5-2. They’ve struggled in each of the past three weeks, including a 40-35 loss at Vanderbilt and a nail-biting, last-second win over South Carolina on Oct. 12.

Per Saban:

“All these things that have been going wrong, they’re not talent-oriented. They’re mental errors of snap counts, all these different things. And I think the No. 1 thing Alabama has to do is not worry about winning; they have to worry about getting back to playing to a standard. I think if they play to a standard, with the talent they have, they’ll be able to come out on top.”

That’s when Saban used the dreaded “A” word again.

“There’s so much pressure at Alabama to win every game. Sometimes that affects the players. They get anxious, they’re worried about outcomes instead of focusing on what’s in front of them and playing one play at a time.”

Alabama hosts the 17th-ranked Missouri Tigers today at 2:30 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game can be seen on ABC.

RELATED: How to watch Alabama vs Missouri today: Time, TV channel for Week 9 game

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Will Brady Cook play for Missouri against Alabama in Week 9?

Brady Cook’s heroics saved Missouri against Auburn. But will he play against Alabama?

Missouri’s Brady Cook had a wild Week 8 Saturday that ended in an unbelievable comeback — both from the Tigers and their quarterback.

Early in Missouri’s 21-17 win over Auburn, Cook suffered an ankle injury and went to the hospital for an MRI. It was fair to think he’d be done for the day, but Cook returned to the game in the third quarter and lead his team to a come-from-behind win.

But how’s his ankle? And will he be able to play in No. 21 Missouri’s Week 9 game against No. 15 Alabama?

Cook is still recovering from a sprained ankle and is considered doubtful for Saturday’s game, as ESPN reported this week:

He has been “extremely limited” in practice so far this week, sources told ESPN. He still might try to ramp up later in the week to attempt to play, but the outlook is pessimistic.

Missouri takes on Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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USA TODAY Sports experts offer predictions on Alabama-Missouri ‘playoff elimination’ game

Here’s who USA TODAY Sports experts think will win Saturday’s Top 25 game between Alabama and Missouri.

The Alabama Crimson Tide are hoping for a bounce-back win when they welcome the Missouri Tigers to Tuscaloosa for a Top 25 showdown at Bryant-Denny Stadium this Saturday.

Alabama (5-2) is coming off a 24-17 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville in Week 8. The Tide committed 15 penalties totaling 115 yards and turned the ball over twice on Jalen Milroe interceptions in the loss at Neyland Stadium. Alabama is ranked No. 15 in this week’s Coaches Poll.

Missouri (6-1) is ranked No. 17 after needing a fourth-quarter comeback last Saturday to survive an upset from the Auburn Tigers in CoMo. Missouri got a 4-yard touchdown run from Jamal Roberts with 46 seconds left to prevail 21-17 at Faurot Field.

On Thursday, USA TODAY Sports college football experts released their predictions for every Top 25 team in Week 9, including Alabama vs. Missouri. The six-member panel of Dan Wolken, Paul Myerberg, Eddie Timanus, Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza and Erick Smith all favored the Crimson Tide to win.

RELATED: Alabama vs. Missouri injury report: Latest updates, news for Week 9

Both Mizzou starting quarterback Brady Cook and running back Nate Noel are banged up, with Cook suffering a high-grade ankle sprain against Auburn and Noel suffering from a foot injury. Both appeared on Wednesday’s injury and availability report as “doubtful” for Saturday’s game.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Wednesday that cook was “extremely limited” at practice this week. Thamel also reported that Noel would miss Saturday’s game.

Kickoff for Alabama vs. Missouri is set for 2:30 p.m. The game can be seen on ABC. Joe Tessitore and Jordan Rodgers will have the call of the game for ABC.

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ESPN broadcaster making return trip to Tuscaloosa for Week 9 Alabama-Missouri game

Here’s who will be on the call for ABC Saturday when the Alabama Crimson Tide host the Missouri Tigers at Bryant-Denny.

The SEC recently finalized kickoff times and TV designations for its Week 9 slate, including the Alabama Crimson Tide‘s matchup with the Missouri Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alabama vs. Missouri is set for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on ABC.

That means that one of ESPN’s top three broadcast crews will be in Tuscaloosa for Saturday’s game. In this case, it’s the team of Joe Tessitore (play-by-play) and Jordan Rodgers (analyst), the network announced as part of its weekly commentator pairing assignments on Monday. Katie George will work as sideline reporter.

RELATED: A look at the expansive coaching tree under the legendary Nick Saban

Tessitore, who normally teams with Jesse Palmer in the booth, will be making his third trip to Tuscaloosa this season. He called Alabama’s 42-16 victory over South Florida back on Sept. 7, as well as the Crimson Tide’s 27-25 win over South Carolina on Oct. 12.

As part of its new 10-year media rights deal with the SEC, ESPN announced back in August that it’s weekly 2:30 ‘SEC on ABC’ game would be called by either its No. 1 broadcast crew of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, the No. 2 crew of Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy, or the No. 3 team of Tessitore and Palmer.

Alabama (5-2) dropped to No. 15 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll following its 24-17 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in Week 8. Missouri (6-1) is ranked No. 17 after narrowly avoiding an upset against Auburn last Saturday in Columbia.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama news and notes, plus opinions. 

Kickoff time, TV info announced for Alabama football vs. Missouri

Kickoff time and TV information for Alabama vs. Missouri on Oct. 26 was announced late Saturday night.

The SEC has announced final kickoff times and TV designations for Week 9 games, including the Alabama Crimson Tide‘s matchup against the Missouri Tigers on Oct. 26 in Tuscaloosa.

The Crimson Tide and Eli Drinkwitz’s Tigers will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be televised on ABC, the third week in a row Alabama has appeared on the network and the second week they’ve appeared in the 2:30 time slot.

RELATED: 5 takeaways from Alabama’s brutal loss to rival Tennessee

Alabama and Missouri have met four times since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012. The Crimson Tide have won all four meetings, including the most recent one, a 38-19 victory to open the 2020 season at Faurot Field in Columbia. The Tide lead the all-time series vs. Missouri, 5-2.

Alabama (5-2 overall, 2-2 SEC) is coming off a 24-17 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Missouri (6-1, 2-1) rallied past Auburn, 21-17, at Faurot Field on Saturday. They erased a 17-3 deficit and scored the game-winning touchdown with 46 seconds left.

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Former UGA defensive end suffers season-ending injury

A former Georgia Bulldog, who transferred to Missouri this offseason, will miss the 2024 season with a significant knee injury.

The Missouri Tigers were hit with unfortunate news: Former Georgia Bulldogs defensive end Darris Smith suffered a knee injury in practice. The injury will force him to miss the 2024 season, according to Eli Hoff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The edge rusher appeared in 16 games as a reserve over his first two collegiate seasons with UGA before transferring to Missouri over the summer. He was in a competition for the starting job with Michigan State transfer Zion Young, but he’ll have to wait another year to start his first game in the SEC.

“We are devastated by the injury to Darris,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said,“He was having an outstanding camp and was poised to have a great year. We will support Darris in his recovery and look forward to him returning stronger than before.”

For the Tigers, it’s more than likely Young will fill the second edge rusher spot opposite Johnny Walker Jr. and replace 2024 first-round NFL draft pick Darius Robinson Jr. on the end. Regardless, it’s a blow for Georgia and Missouri fans looking to see how Darris Smith would’ve performed in a more expansive role.

Corey Simms is down to three schools with a June commitment coming in

Corey Simms is down to three schools ahead of his late June commitment.

Four-star wide receiver Corey Simms now has a final three schools, with an announcement expected at the end of the month.

Ranked the No. 89 recruit in the nation by Rivals a four-star in the On3 Industry Rankings, Simms is a class of 2025 wide receiver from Christian Brothers College (St. Louis, Missouri).

He tells On3 that he is down to three schools (Missouri, Penn State and USC) with a looming commitment coming on June 30. He is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound wide receiver with an impressive catch radius.

Last season, he finished with 1,079 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on 79 receptions. He was a pivotal piece of a Christian Brothers program that is a juggernaut in Missouri. Last season, the Cadets finished this past season 13-1 and won a state championship.

 

Simms took an official visit to Penn State in late May. He followed that up with visits to USC last weekend and now a scheduled in-state official the weekend of June 21.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine is giving Missouri the heavy edge in landing the in-state prospect.