Franklin Out Six Weeks with Shoulder Injury

Oct 12, 2013; Athens, GA, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback James Franklin (1) runs with the ball against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first quarter at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Sources are saying all across the web that James Franklin will miss at least the next six weeks with a shoulder injury.

As a fan, I am crushed. All the joys that came from today’s victory seem to be thrown out the window. We saw what happened last year without James Franklin, we went 5-7. Why did this have to happen?

I can try and talk myself out of this. Our running game is stronger this year, I might say in Mizzou’s defense, so we don’t need Franklin as much. Or that Maty Mauk is actually pretty good; they even opened up the QB competition before the season because Missouri leadership thought he was that good. All hope isn’t lost! This year’s defense is still way better than last year’s defense, right?

Unfortunately, I can’t talk myself out of this one. James Franklin is the engine of this football team. Without him, we have all the parts, but they don’t go anywhere. This team just isn’t going to work as well as it has these first six games.

This had to happen at the worst time too. Missouri is going to be ranked at least in the top 20, and are facing two more ranked opponents in the next two weeks at home. If we could beat UGA with Franklin, we could have beat USC and Florida with Franklin. But now I’m not so sure. I’m not sure our running game, which got 142 yards against UGA, can carry us. I’m just not sure.

Well, enough complaining. Its time for Gary Pinkel to go out and design a new offense around our new quarterback, Maty Mauk. This Mauk kid is really good; he was a four star recruit and the 16th best quarterback in his class. He is fast, and he did complete all three of his passes in the game today. He isn’t James Franklin, but I guess he will have to do.