“We’re not quite where we need to be, but we’re happy with this win.”
Missouri Guard Max Copeland following Saturday’s 58-14 win over Murray State. Copeland helped clear the way as the Tigers rolled up almost 700 yards of total offense.

Every weekend during football season, we hear from quarterbacks, running backs and receivers about how the big play unfolded.  In the choosing of quotes and editing of sound bites, compliments for the offensive line sometimes get snipped out. Reporters don’t always seek out the o-linemen for comment either.  These days, a post game visit with Missouri Tigers guard Max Copeland is a good idea to get a read on what’s happening with the Mizzou offense.

Copeland found himself in the starting lineup a year ago as his junior year started.  Often, his line mates changed from one game to the next, even one series to the next due to injury. Max says having the same five guys out there day after day in practice and into the games this year is awesome.

 “You get to settle into a bit of a groove and there starts to be non verbal communication. You can make a certain pitched grunt and the guy to your right will know what you mean by that and the guy on the left will know. It’s good.”

Copeland and his line mates were excited by the productive return of running back Henry Josey. He’s back on the field after sustaining a serious knee injury against Texas in 2011. Josey ran for over 100 yards and turned in a long TD run against the Racers.

With last year’s rash of injuries, Coach Gary Pinkel didn’t put the team through two a day workouts. Copeland says he thinks the offensive line was fresher than in previous years thanks to the lighter workload.

Here’s the raw audio from Saturday’s post game press gathering around Copeland…

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