First off, their mascot is the Skyhawk, which seems redundant because my basic knowledge of hawks seems to lead me to believe all hawks can fly. Except Jayhawks. Those no-good, piece of shit “birds” are only good at catching the attention of the FBI and having historically bad football teams. Back to UT-Martin. Are they good at football?
As previously mentioned, they are an FCS team and it appears a middle of the pack team at best, finishing 6-5 overall and 4-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Last year they only had the 97th ranked total FCS offense but did have the 4th ranked total defense. Apparently, last year they had to pull the redshirt on 2018 starter Dresser Winn midseason to jumpstart their offense. If you google Dresser Winn to find out who he is, the first article that comes up is titled,” How did UT Martin get Dresser Winn?” I cannot tell if they are telling a story, or like us, actually wondered out loud who is this kid and how did he end up in Martin?
The closest opponent UT-Martin played to Mizzou last year was the dumpster fire of a program, Ole Miss. The Rebels beat the Skyhawks 45-23 in a game that only could have been interesting to the kissing cousins that sat in the stands in Oxford. Apparently, UT-Martin even led this game after the 1st quarter and were only down one at half-time.
Now that you know more than you ever wanted to know about one of the five University of Tennessee schools available for Tennesseans to get an “education,” we wonder, can Mizzou win against UT-Martin?
They better damn well win against UT-Martin. While this wouldn’t be App State vs. Michigan, it would be pretty catastrophic for the Tigers if they lost this game. Mizzou hopes to have a more balanced attack this year, led by Heisman hopeful Drew Lock and the two-headed monster of Larry Rountree III and Damarea Crocket at running back. Add in pre-season All-SEC TE Albert Okwugbunam and a talented wide receiver core of Nate Brown, Johnathon Johnson, Emanuel Hall, et al., and this team should put up points against an inferior group of athletes. On the defensive side, Terry Beckner Jr. will anchor an athletic front seven that should take care of business and put Dresser Winn on his back. The linebacker core, led by Terez Hall should have plenty of opportunities to get involved and disrupt the Skyhawk offense. The biggest concern lies with the secondary, especially after last year’s opening debacle. Let’s just hope the secondary does its job against an inferior opponent and uses this opportunity to build momentum heading into tougher games.
Yes, Mizzou can, should, and most likely will take it to UT-Martin and start the season 1-0. The best part is this game will be done in time to watch Kansas lose to Nicholls State later that night, if you are into that sort of thing.