Welcome to the Morning Commute
For the past few weeks, Chicago Bears’ fans have been crying out to see more from Luther Burden III. The rookie receiver and former Mizzou star has been mostly kept on a tight leash by Chicago coach Ben Johnson, though not without letting spurts of action. However, Burden’s opportunity to be the
guy arrived late in the week when Rome Odunze, the Bears WR1, was scratched.And for two-plus quarters, Burden showed why the Bears thought getting him in the second round was a steal, Burden was putting up
Mizzou-like numbers with 84 receiving yards on six catches from Caleb Williams. Both numbers led the team, as did the seven targets toward LB3. But what could’ve been a real breakout game from Burden ended in a setback.
With Rome Odunze a late scratch before kickoff Sunday, the Bears needed another receiver to step up. Rookie Luther Burden did — until he left the game in the third quarter after hurting his ankle on a screen pass.
By that point, Burden had tied a career high with six catches against the Browns. His 84 receiving yards were the second most of his career.
The injury didn’t look too bad for Burden, and obviously Chicago wasn’t going to risk his health in a game against the lowly Browns. But it’s unfortunate that Burden’s first real chance to grab the reigns of the passing game were cut just short. It’s encouraging, however, that his slow roll out seems to have been for some benefit, as Williams looked for him early and often. That’s some good synergy to have on a team that’s on its way up in the league.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
“The coaches have challenged us the last couple of days to just fix some things, get back to being disciplined, get back to our habits and things like that,” Mark Mitchell said. “Not as many lows and just trying to keep the intensity the whole time, I think we did a pretty good job.”
The defensive performance was a sight for sore eyes after some ramshackle defending over the past few weeks. But prove it season is here for Mizzou Hoops. Braggin’ Rights is less than one week away.
Both teams made exactly 25 field goals in the game, so Mizzou found extra points on triples and from the free throw line. The Tigers finished the game 22-27 from the stripe while the Billikens finished 9-14. On threes, the Tigers were 10-29 while the Billikens were 7-29.
“The ability to shoot the three allows us to have some driving lanes and to keep that that attack and aggressiveness on,” head coach Kellie Harper said. “You [have] got to make them, and our team takes a lot of pride in being able to knock down free throws and shoot them at a good percentage.”
I like this winning thing that Kellie Harper is up to. I think they should keep it up. It’s more fun when both hoops teams are good, don’t you think?
- Over at Rock M+, the Bethune-Cookman board was hopping, we’re eye-rolling at Diego Pavia’s public crash out, and our Football Offensive Coordinator and transfer portal forums are ready for your opinions, good or bad. It takes all kinds, after all.
(** RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)
