… Is Danario Alexander. Back before the 2007 season, Alexander was the stud who had reporters giddy. He would eventually hurt himself in the season opener, only to be replaced by a kid named Jeremy Maclin. Alexander got Wally Pipp-ed, as J-Mac went on to the career path hinted at for Alexander before ‘07. Nario has battled injuries and inconsistency throughout his career, so much so that we questioned him as a No. 1 threat. He’s proven us wrong by being both reliable and explosive through four games in 2009.

Yet, the beauty of this offense, again, is options. If you take away Nario, the cupboard isn’t empty. Jared Perry can stretch the field, though he is the primary target for most of MU’s screens. Wes Kemp has been incredibly efficient against single coverage. Jerrell Jackson is very athletic, but hasn’t demanded the ball. Derrick Washington has a decent set of hands both out of the backfield and when split wide.

To be more concise, i’d say focus on Alexander and takes your chances with the rest of the crew

But I don’t really know.

Bad weather or not, I expect it to be a solid crowd. With any other opponent on the schedule, I’d worry about whether or not the KC and STL crowd would want to come in late on a weekday night, but this is one everyone has circled.

I think if they show up, they’ll be there for the duration. This is especially true if it turns into one massive three-quarter celebration of dominance like it did in 2007 or in the Cotton Bowl against Arkansas.

… the offense remains the same. OC Dave Yost was a huge part of the gameplanning and game calling process during the Christensen regime, so it really is much of the same.

The only difference, really, is the comfort level with having the quarterback adjust the offense as necessary. Daniel had much more free reign to adapt it as he pleased. Gabbert doesn’t have that trust yet.

Pinkel hinted at that last week when addressing the running game’s struggles, saying that if teams came up to stop the run, Daniel and Co. had no reservations putting the ball in the air 15 straight times. They have reservations doing that this year.

After the first game or two, we were convincing ourselves it wasn’t a problem. Furman didn’t really count either way, but then the Friday night game in Reno pushed it concern from “possible” to “legitimate.”

Oddly enough, even though I’m terrified of the NU D-Line, I’m not too worried about protecting Gabbert. He’s shown an incredible feel for the pocket, and has looked great creating on the run. His biggest issue in the pocket is bailing out too early when there isn’t really pressure. The pressure got to him a few times early against Bowling Green, and he really started to get happy feet. I’d say he had happy feet against Nevada too, but he was legitimately running for his life a few times in that contest.

My bigger concern is with the running game. Missouri’s inefficiency running the ball makes me think that NU can legitimately stop MU’s running game with only five in the box. In any of the previous two seasons, I would have laughed at that notion (and I certainly did do that during the Cotton Bowl when Tony Temple torched Arkansas that way).

Missouri is running a 3-man rotation at DE that many are calling the best pass rush Missouri has had during the Pinkel era (an era that has produced three of MU’s top four sack leaders all time). Brian Coulter, Jacquies Smith, and Aldon Smith have been incredibly disruptive and have great burst off the end. Against Illinois, Missouri debuted a personnel set called “Scorpion,” in which one of the ends replaces a tackle to get all three on the field at the same time. It’s been pretty damn effective in passing situations.

The tackles are a matter of concern, though. Jaron Baston is very solid at one tackle, but he’s constantly facing double teams as a result. He was able to run free last year as teams focused on future first rounder Ziggy Hood, but now that he’s the subject of attention this year, there hasn’t been anyone that’s been incredibly disruptive at the other spot. Terrell Resonno and Dominique Hamilton have been hot and cold at the other spot. Missouri can look great against the run in some situations and foolish against the run in others.