Missouri Tigers: Injury Updates and Subsequent Depth Chart Changes
By Ben Brown
The Missouri Tigers bye week this past week could turn out to be even more appreciated than they had even originally realized when making the schedule.
With two of their three leading receivers recovering from injuries, the Tigers need all the time they can get so their health won’t be an issue against SEC East rival Georgia on October 11th.
Major Injury Updates:
Jimmie Hunt:
Diagnosis – Bursa sac inflammation in his right knee
Future outlook – Currently day-to-day but should be ready and ready to go by next Saturday vs. Georgia according to head coach Gary Pinkel.
Darius White:
Diagnosis – Groin strain
Future outlook – Is currently not practicing and will be a game time decision vs. Georgia this weekend.
Markus Golden:
Diagnosis – Pulled hamstring
Future outlook – Appears to be fully recovered.
Anthony Gatti:
Diagnosis – Torn ACL
Future outlook – Done for the year.
Jimmie Hunt and Missouri’s receivers need to get healthy for their big matchup with Georgia. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Jimmie Hunt, who made the trip to South Carolina last week, has been the Tigers second leading receiver after Bud Sasser with 16 receptions for 198 yards and 5 touchdowns so far this season. In a game time decision, the Tigers’ training staff refused to clear him to play against the Gamecocks after watching his pregame warm up. Gary Pinkel did confirm however, his injury should be healed and feeling fine by this time next week.
Hunt may be fine, but his friend and Z-receiver counterpart may have a more complicated time getting on the field against Georgia. Darius White strained his groin in the embarrassing loss to the Indiana Hoosiers.The Tigers sincerely hope that White can be good to go for Georgia but two big roadblocks lie in the way of that happening.
First, can he play and does he still feel tightness? Groin injuries are known as particularly tricky and can easily become lingering issues if not healed properly.
The second roadblock is how effective can White be with the groin. White assuredly wants to play in this game considering it will be on national television, there will be lots of professional scouts in the audience and not to mention its arguably the team’s biggest and toughest game of the season.
The Tigers know he wants to play, but even if he does, how large is the chance that he either reinjures it or isn’t able to go 100%? If either of those are the case, he probably wont be playing.
If it happens that White can not play, he will be replaced on the field mainly by junior Wesley Leftwich who had a big 26-yard-reception in the game vs. South Carolina and freshman Lawrence Lee who also had an 8 yard reception and gets heaps of praise from the Tiger coaching staff.
Markus Golden, the Tigers preseason All-American defensive end should continue to be fine after having to miss the Indiana game with a pulled hamstring. He put in a strong performance against the Gamecocks last week with 4 tackles and a QB knockdown and looks to continue his strong play against Georgia.
Anthony Gatti’s season-ending ACL tear seemed like a crushing blow originally to the Tiger’s offensive line,
Connor McGovern and Missouri’s offensive line showed great composure in a tough environment in South Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
especially after the pitiful loss to Indiana, but after the first run through, the new line actually looks remarkably more composed and disciplined then the previous line with only a single false start penalty all game.
Offensive Line Remodeled:
LT Mitch Morse (same)
LG Brad McNulty (new starter)
C Evan Boehm (same)
RG Conner McGovern (new position)
RT Taylor Chappell (new starter)
Against the Gamecocks the line did have its struggles, but through the entire game they only gave up two sacks (with one being Mauk’s fault for trying to run and getting tackled one yard behind the line).
Only one real sack is pretty solid for a line that had never played a single down as a unit together before that night. Connor McGovern especially had a big night really opening some good running lanes for Hansbrough and Murphy with the obvious highpoint being the big push by him and Center Evan Boehm that let Hansbrough dive into end zone to give the Tigers the lead in the 4th quarter.
So far, the Tigers have proven they have solid depth. Let’s just hope they won’t need to prove it anymore, especially with the Georgia Bulldogs coming to town.