As an Illinois grad I wasn’t too pleased with Missouri’s 52-42 win over my alma mater last night, but as an (allegedly) impartial observer, I must say that Jeremy Maclin is an amazing football player.
And yes, Maclin, Missouri’s all-purpose offensive threat, had just four catches for 31 yards and three carries for two yards. He really didn’t have that much of an impact on offense, which says good things about Illinois cornerback Vontae Davis.
But on special teams, Maclin is simply amazing. He had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that forced Illinois to squib its kickoffs for much of the rest of the game, and he also had a 46-yard punt return. There was plenty of speed on the field with both teams, but Maclin has another gear. He’s incredible with the ball in his hands, and he’s not going to have many more games in which he has just 34 yards from scrimmage.
Maclin suffered an injury late in the game, and it’s not clear the extent of the injury or whether it will hobble him for long. But if he’s healthy, I think Maclin may be a stronger Heisman Trophy candidate than his teammate, Chase Daniel. Maclin is special.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:19 pm EDT
Hey there–I’m a Mizzou fan who was at the game night. You’re right that Maclin really is something else. The last 12 months have been a crazy time to be a Mizzou fan who grew up in the 80’s (so that I’ve only known the dark times), and the craziest part has maybe been the fact that Maclin–clearly a can’t-miss A+ talent–plays for MU, and not some traditional football factory.
Maclin vs Daniel is an intriguing question. As far as stronger Heisman candidate goes, you may be right. At the very least, Maclin produces more impressive highlight reels. See, for instance, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWaqPMpqIWQ
At the same time, having watched a ton of Mizzou, I feel like Daniel is the guy MU can’t live without. If Mizzou is gonna repeat or exceed last year’s performance (which is asking a lot even if everything goes right) they obviously need both guys, but I feel like, minus Maclin, MU probably goes 10-2 and goes to the Holiday Bowl, and minus Daniel, they’re squeaking into the Independence Bowl.
None of which changes the fact that Maclin is the most exciting player I’ve ever had the pleasure to root for, and I’m also a Cheifs fan, so I got to cheer for Dante Hall in his salad days.
Oh, and the early indications were that the ankle injury is relatively minor, and hopefully something that will be fine in a month (which is the next time Mizzou plays anyone that won’t be at least a 3-TD underdog).
So, thanks for the kind words, and for what it’s worth, Juice shocked me last night. That kid came a long, long way, he played with a ton of guts and poise, and he’s obviously done a lot of work on his passing (a couple of those TD’s were due to blown coverage, but the two fades into the end zone were beautiful passes). UI has a rough Big 10 schedule (no Purdue or Mich St.; PSU and Wisc both on the road–not the smoothest sailing), but if they can steal the PSU or Wisc game, there’s no reason the OSU game couldn’t have Big 10 Title implications. I thought the Illini looked pretty good. Obviously they gave up a lot of points, but I doubt this is the last time this year that Mizzou hangs 50+ on somebody.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 1:05 pm EDT
first off i AM a missouri fan, i just have a few things to say. he is certainly a cant-be-missed talent and should make an NFL team much better one day. as for heisman? well i do think that he’s certainly in the race but what about fellow sophmore michael crabtree? he has maclin speed, moves, all that and makes up the most prolific passing duo in the big 12. yes i believe that crabtree could make a case for heisman as well.
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