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It doesn’t seem possible, but spring football starts tomorrow for the Missouri Tigers.  Over the next couple weeks, I will be examining each position and will be giving you a heads up on what position battles to keep an eye on.

Today we will start with the most important position, Quarterback. For the first time since the 2001 season, the Tigers really struggled at quarterback last year. We’ve been spoiled with Brad Smith, Chase Daniel, and Blaine Gabbert, and almost forgot what it’s like to not have one of the elite signal callers in the conference.

Entering the 2012 season, the quarterback position appeared to be in good hands, and most fans weren’t concerned about it.  James Franklin was the guaranteed starter after having a very solid Sophomore season in 2011, where he threw for 2,865 yards and 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Fast forward to now and we have a completely different situation.

Franklin ended up having a dismal 2012 season. He missed three games due to injuries, and he threw for only 1,562 yards with 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Franklin also appeared to have his toughness questioned by head coach Gary Pinkel after missing the Arizona State game due to an injury. Pinkel revealed the fact that Franklin refused to take a pain-killing shot before the Arizona State game and the decision not to play was his.

Franklin struggled for the remainder of the season, and backup quarterback Corbin Berkstresser wasn’t any better. Berkstresser only completed 49.7% of his passes, and he threw 5 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions. This leaves us with a wide open battle for starting QB in 2013.

“In this situation, without what I call … (an) `established’ quarterback, we’ll pretty much” have even reps w/Franklin, Berk and Mauk.

— Vahe Gregorian (@vgregorian) March 11, 2013

Franklin, Berkstresser, and RS Freshman Maty Mauk appear to have an equal chance of being named the starter in 2013. Pinkel told Vahe Gregorian today that all three quarterbacks  will pretty much have even reps this Spring.

Mauk is an athletic quarterback, who earned the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year Award twice. Mauk also set national records for career passing yards (18,932), touchdown passes (219), pass completions (1,353), and total offense (22,681). Mauk took a red shirt in 2012. Below is a YouTube video highlighting Mauk.

The Tigers also have two incoming freshman that will try to earn more reps this Spring. Trent Hosick from Staley High School in Kansas City, MO and Eddie Printz from Marietta, GA enrolled early at Mizzou and will be on the practice field tomorrow.  At this point, I expect both of these quarterbacks to red shirt in 2013, but I do believe this is a wide open position battle and it’s not out of the question that one of these two could earn solid playing time in 2013.

My Pick: James Franklin

Hopefully you didn’t break your computer screen after throwing stuff at it, but I just have a feeling he’s going to bounce back this spring and will probably be the front runner entering the fall. I hope that Mauk is the real deal and will steal the starting role from the others, but without seeing him in action, it’s hard to predict how much he has improved entering spring practice. Pinkel has brought up Brad Smith several times when commenting on Mauk, and this is very encouraging. I can’t wait for spring practice to kick off tomorrow and to see which QB separates from the pack.

I think it’s revealing that Pinkel – when talking about Mauk – again referred to Brad Smith, who beat out a three-year starter as a freshman

— Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) March 11, 2013

October 13, 2012; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Corbin Berkstresser (13) is brought down by Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker C.J. Mosley (32) during the first quarter at Faurot Field. Mandatory Credit: Dak Dillon-US PRESSWIRE

Well folks what can we say? We were up against the nations most talented team. We also showed the nation who RB Eddie Lacey was by walking all over us on 18 carries for 177 yards and 3 rushing TDs. Wowsers. Big plays were critical in today’s epic failure of playing competitive football.

The game got off to such a spectacular start when Eddie Lacey on the second play of scrimmage took it to the house on a 73 yard run, and it was all over from there.

Pretty sad huh? When it’s the second play of the game and you already know you have lost? Just a terrible feeling,

The game went from bad to worse, Alabama scoring 3 touchdowns in the first quarter.

Not to use this as an excuse but if you were watching the game then you could tell that the weather was absolutely horrid. It was a downpour to the extreme. I am not by any means giving the Tigers a pass for their performance, but I am 75% sure that the weather played a major role in todays game. Mizzou never could get in a groove the whole first half.

After the second touchdown from another Alabama RB T.J. Yeldon, halfway through the second quarter, there was a 38 minute rain delay. When play finally resumed Alabama kicked the extra point from the previous TD and kicked it off….   to our man WR Marcus Murphy who brisked through Alabama defenders and ran it all the way back making the score 28-7 . Could it be? Could we maybe pull a comeback?

The answer is no. It was actually the very opposite of that. We let them dominate us. Mentally, physically, and any other “ally” you can think of.

The Missouri Tigers were spanked today by the big boys in the SEC. It was not a competitive, spirited moment to be Missouri fan today. I know this team can compete with the top dogs. Having Franklin out of today’s game sure didn’t help anything.

QB Corbin Berkstresser was 11/29 for 126 yards and 2 picks. RB Kendial Lawrence had 10 carries for 37 yards. It was a very disappointing performance by the offense tonight.

What do you think Tiger fans? What does Mizzou gotta do to turn their season around?

Good night!

- Jordan Pollock, Lead Editor

Other Game Notes:

*The stadium was packed before the rain delay, when the game back on it had looked like everyone decided not to stick around and watch Missouri get destroyed. Wise choice.

*Alabama’s RB’s T.J. Yeldon and Eddie Lacey combined for 321 yards and 5 touchdowns on 36 carries. That’s just a hint to how badly Alabama laid on the Tigers.

*Even with all the negative things about today’s game, WR La’Damian Washington deserves a little recognition for his 4 catches for 72 yards.

Sep 29, 2012; Orlando, FL, USA; UCF Knights defensive lineman Troy Davis (58) applies pressure on Missouri Tigers quarterback James Franklin (1) during the second quarter at Bright House Networks Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

Greetings Zou fans! Mizzou etched themselves back into the winning column by holding off UCF in last Saturday’s game by a score of  21-16. It was a very close game in which it looked like could be a possible UCF blowout in the first half. Or at least that’s what they thought.

The first quarter was very slow and Tiger fans had to endure UCF’s dynamic offense walking all over us. The defense held them to a field-goal. UCF was up 3-0 in the first quarter. LB Marcus Ealy was one of the few players on defense having a good game.

After a very slow start allowing RB Storm Johnson from UCF to go for 80 yards on 6 carries, QB James Franklin hits Dorial Green-Beckham for a 80-yard bomb to put Mizzou up 7-3. This is an exciting moment for the Tigers. This is the first of many touchdowns to come for this precious gem we have hidden deep within our depth chart. It was a thing of beauty. Franklin dropped back and hit a covered DGB for about a 30-yard reception and then he broke a tackle and took it the rest of the way to the house!

On UCF’s next drive they went back to having their way with Mizzou’s defense including  a reverse pass-play back to the quarterback, who took it for around a 30-yard gain. The next play was a short pass to a WR Quincy McDuffie who bounced off a tackle and headed straight into the end zone with about 9 minutes to go in the 1st half. UCF went up 10-7. James Franklin is 6 for 9, 131 yards, and a touchdown to go with it. Thanks to DGB.

Time for Mizzou to step up in answer, right? Wrong. The first two snaps on the following drive ended with Franklin sacked in the backfield. The Tigers had  lost their momentum. Franklin was not looking good other than the strike to DGB who did most of the work on that play.

Missouri finally caught a break in the third quarter when WR Marcus Murphy returned a punt 66 yards for a score making it 14-10 Mizzou.

In the fourth each team scored only once. RB Kendial Lawrence ran for a 10-yard touchdown with about 9 minutes to go, while QB Blake Bortles hit Jeff Godrey for an 18-yard touchdown, with a failed 2-point conversion, with about 4 minutes left. Can you say “comeback”?

With about 2 minutes left in the game a pass interference call on Missouri gave the Knights first-and-goal on the 3. But after a stuffed run and an incomplete pass, the opportunity was squandered as Bortles was sacked, and time expired before the Knights could run out their field goal team.

They were out of time and Mizzou had pulled it out 21-16.

Mizzou pulled out a tough and gutsy performance against a pretty underrated UCF team. This was a great win for our Tigers, even though we didn’t have the best of performances out of many of our players. We still needed to win a close one like this. The second half the defense stepped up big and the turning point in the game came on the 66-yard punt return by WR Marcus Murphy. Celebrate the win guys! It was one to remember.

Stars of the game:  UCF’s QB Blake Bortles and Mizzou’s RB Kendial Lawrence and WR Dorial Green-Beckham! Bortles threw for 267 yards and 2 TDs. Lawrence had 19 carries for 104 yards and a TD, while also adding in 4 catches for 50 yards. Green-Beckham showed his big-play ability tonight, he had one reception for 80 yards and a touchdown to get the Tigers going.

Other Notes:

*James Franklin went 19/30 for 257 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. He has seen better days.

*Mizzou was 1-11 on third downs. Also, they had 5 penalties for 35 yards.

*Franklin was sacked 3 times in the opening 30 minutes.

Tell us Zou fans! What did you think of the game?

- Jordan Pollock, Lead Editor