(MIZ)—The Missouri Tigers are having their best season in a decade and the crowds are responding . Saturday’s Homecoming 34-12 win over South Carolina produced the third straight sellout, the first time Missouri has sold out three games in a row since 2008. The Tigers are 7-1 for the first time since 2013.
The Tigers defense held South Carolina to four field goals, sacked the Gamecock’s quarterback Spencer Rattler six times, and stopped them ten of thirteen times on third down converstions. The Tigers have allowed only one touchdown in the last seven quarters.
Brady Cook threw for “only” 198 yards. But Corey Schrader ran for 159 and Cook picked up 64 more.
And the Tigers showed some killer instinct. When South Carolina closed to 24-12, Schrader led the Tigers on a drive that culminated in an 11-yard run to the end zone with 2:46 left.
Missouri scored led 24-3 at the half but only outscored the Gamecocks 10-9 the rest of the way with all of the scoring coming in the fourth quarter. Afterwards, Coach Eli Drinkwitz said Missouri has yet to play a compete game. “We’ve seen flashes of it. But we haven’t put it all together for four quarters. And I think that’s why this team is so hungry and coachable: because they’re wanting to prove it to each other. We can keep playing better,” he said.
Missouri hits its bye week at just the right time. The next game is against the nation’s number one team, Georgia, on November 4.
The AP and the USA Today Coaches’ polls have Missouri at 16th this week, the highest the Tigers have been since reaching 14th in 2014.
—Harrison Mevis picked up four PATs and two field goals to move within 16 points of becoming the most prolific scorer in Missouri football history. He has 73 field goals and 128 extra points for 347 points. The record was set by Jeff Wolfert, 362 points on 59 field goals and 185 extra points from 2006-2008.
—The Associated Press mid-season All-American team was released this week. Missouri’s Kris Abrams-Draine is one of four SEC cornerbacks on the list.
—The win was a landmark one for Missouri, which became the 31st Division 1 collegiate program to record 700 victories. Missouri is 700-586-53 for a .544 winning percentage. Eight D1 schools have more than 900 victories. Michigan could win its 1,000th game this year. (ZOU)
(CHIEFS)—Sunday was National Tight Ends Day. No, really. It’s the fourth weekend of October every year. And Travis Kelce celebrated it in style.
He was the star of a first half was a shootout between two old AFL rivals, a game that—among other things was a solid homecoming for a former team member coming home from a disappointing sojourn to New York. The second half was time for the Kansas City City Chiefs’ defense to shine as they beat The San Diego—oops, the LOS ANGELES Chargers 31-17 in a game closer than the score appears.
The Chiefs pulled ahead 24-17 with a touchdown with 2:36 to play in the first half but didn’t lock down the game until 2:36 was left on the clock with the only points either team scored in the second half. The two teams combined for 841 yards, with Patrick Mahomes throwing for 424 of them, 321 in the first half, the fourth time in his career he’s had 300 or more yards in the first half of a game. Travis Kelce was unstoppable in the first half with 9 catches for 143 yards (he finished with 12/179 and is more than halfway to his eighth straight 1,000 yard receiving season (48/525) although he missed the first game.
The game was a homecoming for Mecole Hardman, who went to the New York Jets in a trade last year and came back last week after seeing little action. He returned a late-game punt 50 yards, a play that Mahomes said “put the game away” and he kept the Chiefs’ final scoring drive alive with a key third-and-six catch that gave his team a first down. The Chiefs scored the dagger touchdown on the next play.
The only casualty for the Chiefs was linebacker (and former Mizzou All-American) Nick Bolton. His team-leading ninth tackle, of Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen, left him with a dislocated wrist. Last night, it was reported that Bolton will need surgery and will be out for about two months. It’s the second setback Bolton has had this year. Earlier, he missed three games with a high ankle sprain. If he can’t go next week, Drue Tranquill is expected to fill in for him again. Tranquill had a key nine-yard sack of Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in the fourth quarter. Tranquill signed with the Chiefs in March, after three seasons with the Chargers.
Now, to mix the sports:
We normally include Formula 1 automobile racing at the end of these Tuesday posts, but we are moving part of it closer to the top because, well—
(CHIEFS/FORMULA 1)—Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have become part owners of a Formula 1 racing team. They are among several sports stars who have joined Otro Capital investment group in buying 25% interest in the Alpine Formula 1 racing team.
The amount the two have invested has not been made public although Otro Capital has put 200-million euros ($211.7 million US) into the team. Several other sports stars including pro-golfer Rory McElroy, two-time heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua, and others.
It’s not the first venture into sports team ownership Mahomes has made. He also has minority shares of the Kansas City Royals, the Sporting Kansas City major league soccer team, and the Kansas City Current of the national women’s soccer league.
Alpine used to be known as Renault F1 Team but changed its name to promote the Alpine, a Renault sports car. The team has been competing in F1 since 1981 under various names. Michael Schumacher won two of his record seven championships driving for the team and Fernando Alonso won both of his titles with the team. But that was a long time ago.
Formula 1 has only 13 teams of two drivers each competing. With five races left in the season, Alpine is sixth in the constructors points standings. In a combined 34 races, the team’s two drivers have only two top-five finishes and 18 top tens.
(BASEBALL)—-The official trading season won’t start until the end of the World Series sometime before Thanksgiving but the air is full of potential signings or trades involving the Cardinals. The Royals aren’t generating comparable headlines, perhaps because so little was expected of the them this year and because they haven’t had the traditional of excellence the Cardinals have had.
However, both teams are part of the recommendations from the Hall of Fame Contemporary Baseball Era Committee for Managers/Executives/Umpires. Eight people have made the commtittee’s short list of possible enshrinement at Cooperstown and one each comes from the Cardinals and the Royals. The eight finalists this year are Bill White, Lou Pinella, Cito Gaston, Davey Johnson, Jim Leyland, Ed Montague, Hank Peters, and Joe West. All candidates except Peters are living. The committee will announce its winners December 3.
Lou Pinella had 1,835-1713 (.517 winning percentage) in his 23 years as a manager for the Yankees, Reds, Mariners, Rays, and Cubs. The led the Cincinnati Reds to the 1990 World Series championship, and managed the 1001 Seattle Mariners to an American League record 116 wins. He was the Manager of the Year in his league three times. As a player, four games for Baltimore in 1964 and six games for the Cleveland Indians in 1968 before being traded to the Kansas City Royals in 1969. He he hit .282 and was American League Rookie of the Year. He moved to the Yankees in 1974, got World Series rings in 1977 and 1978, retiring after an 18-year playing career. He hd been a candidate for enshrinement by the Veterans Committee twice, in 2016 and 2018. He came closest to being elected in 2018 when he received 11 votes. Twelve were necessary to gain admittance.
Bill White played for 13 seasons, starting with the San Francisco Giants before joining the Cardinals in 1959. He won a World Series ring with the Cardinals in 1964. He was with the Phillies from 1966-68 before finishing his career back in St. Louis in 1969. He had a career batting average of .286. White was an eight-time all star and seven-time gold glove winner. . He was the first African-American President of the National League 1989-1994, years in which the Marlins and the Rockies entered the league. He was a key player in getting both leagues to operate under the same umbrella of Major League Baseball.
Okay, time for racing:
(NASCAR)—Christopher Bell rallied from 22nd place to win at Homestead Sunday and guarantee he will be one of four drivers running for the NASCAR Cup next month. Kyle Larson locked in his position last week, leaving only one race left to determine the other two finalists, with six drivers competing for those slots.
He ran down Ryan Blaney and beat him to the line by about 1.7 seconds. Bell described the race as a “whirlwind” that saw 25 lead changes before he pulled in front with 29 laps left. Denny Hamlin, who was in the top four in points going into the race, crashed with 31 laps to go while running for the lead, and is now seventh in the points, sixteen below the cut line. Martin Truex, Jr., the regular season points champion, dropped out one lap later with a blown engine.
Larson and William Byron have the remaining two finals positions based on points. Next week’s race on the half-mile at Martinsville will be the last chance for Hamlin, Truex, Tyler Reddick, and Chris Buescher to run for the 2023 title. Buescher is in a must-win situation although, technically, all of the six who haven’t won a race in this elimination round are, too.
(FORMULA 1)—Max Verstappen’s 50th grand prix win tied his record of 15 races won in a single season. He had to work a little harder than usual to claim it, starting sixth instead of his standard P1. But it turned out his closest competitor wasn’t that close after all.
Second-place finisher Lewis Hamilton, along with sixth-place finisher Charles Leclerc were disqualified after post-race inspections found unapproved parts on the undersides of their cars.
(Photo Credits: Bell, Bob Priddy; Mevis, Missouri Athletics; Pinella, Baseball Hall of Fame; White, Baseball Almanac)