James Franklin was a really terrific college quarterback. We know that now.
But heading into the Tigers 8th game of the season in 2011, we weren’t completely sure, so much so that Bill had to write an “In Defense Of...” piece for a sophomore starter after just seven games. Mizzou was 3-4 with wins over Miami (OH), Western Illinois, and Iowa State. Their losses were to good teams (Arizona State, Oklahoma, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State), but Missouri was showing to be inconsistent offensively and it’s always easy to point towards the quarterback in those situations.