Tomorrow night at 9:00 PM EST on ESPN, Jeremy Maclin and the No. 4 Missouri Tigers will be playing the unranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. It’s going to be a Thanksgiving feast on national television. Last year against the Corn Huskers, Maclin put up 100+ yards of offense. With Missouri’s offense clicking on all cylinders so far in 2008, I’d expect him to nearly double those numbers (not to mention his kickoff/punt yardage).

But what about kickoffs and punts? What if Nebraska is scared of Jeremy and they try to squib it? “Yeah, obviously, it’s frustrating,” Maclin said. “But you’ve got to look at it for the better of the team. They’re going to squib the ball, and we pick it up and take it to the 38-, 40-yard line. We’re just as fine with that. If people directional kick the ball on punts or punt it out of bounds, that’s definitely something we’ll live with.”

Missouri is coming off a bye, so they’re definitely rested and wll prepared for this game. The best way to shut Nebraksa fans up is to get an early lead. Look for Chase to come out firing and for Maclin to be on the receiving end. “We’re game-planning for all situations,” Maclin said. “If they’re going to do it, they’re going to do it. If they give me an opportunity to return the ball, and we give our rangers team some time to make things happen, hopefully we can do some things.”

My prediction is Jeremy Maclin: 7 receptions for 140 yards, 3 rushes for 32 yards and 2 total touchdowns. Then he’ll also add almost 100 return yards on top of the offensive numbers.

Jeremy Maclin and the Missouri Tigers sealed a 42-21 victory over Buffalo on the road Saturday. Offensively the Tigers looked great. Daniel was distributed the ball and looking downfield. From Rotoworld.com …

After a slow start to the season, sophomore wideout for the Missouri Tigers, Jeremy Maclin, seems to have recomposed himself, this week — for the second time in a row — grabbing over 150 yards of receiving and scoring at least one touchdown in a single game, in this instance, against the Buffalo Bulls

The only problem came from a case of fumblitis. “It’s unacceptable,” said Jeremy Maclin, who had one of the fumbles for the Tigers. “All three coming from the receiving corps, we’re better than that. We’ve got to get that corrected, high and tight the way the coaches preach.” Maclin was particularly upset because his fumble set up a Buffalo touchdown. “It’s all on me. I didn’t get the ball wrapped up tight enough. That’s pretty much all.”

I’d hate for Jeremy too get too hard on himself though. He did still put up 193 yards of offense! In case you missed his touchdown run, I’ve posted a video of it.

The no. 5 ranked University of Missouri Tigers ( the nation’s No. 1 ranked offense) will welcome over 65,000 fans (will any Buffalo fans show up?) to Saturday’s football game against Buffalo. Kickoff for the 5th-ranked Tigers’ game is set for 1:00 p.m. CT.

The man behind Jeremy Maclin’s great success, Chase Daniel, said “We want to score every time we touch the ball.” Hell yeah! That’s the Mizzou spirit we’re looking for. Jeremy blew up like a volcano last week catching 6 balls for 172 yards. He’ll definitely be looking for similar production this week against an absolute terrible Buffalo team. I don’t even know what the line is on this game, but it’s got to be close to 45 points.

Jeremy Maclin has 5 touchdowns on the year so far (4 receiving and 1 punt return). I think he can add 2-3 more touchdowns to that total by the end of the game tomorrow. Jeremy is a huge talent and is a threat to score any time he touches the ball. I’m envious of everyone who’s going to the game. It should be an exciting, high scoring affair. Go Tigers!

And by “explodes”, I mean puts up monster numbers. They should earn him some kind of SEC Player of the Week Honor. In Missouri’s 69-17 victory over Nevada on Saturday, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin had 6 catches for 172 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had 2 kickoff returns and 4 punt returns for a total 62 yards. Things got kicked off during Missouri’s second drive when Chase Daniel hit Maclin for an 80 yard bomb.

The Missourian said:

Daniel’s record-breaking throw didn’t look like much before Maclin got hold of it. Still needing more than 40 yards to earn his spot at the top of the record book, Daniel hit the speedster on a short pass over the middle, and the All-American turned it into something special, dodging defenders and sprinting down the left sideline for the touchdown that perhaps only fans immediately realized was special.

“I had no idea what his stats were,” Maclin said. “But I’d do anything to help that guy.”

The Missouri Tigers love to throw the rock, it’s the perfect system for Jeremy Maclin. “We like to pass the ball,” Maclin said. “So we’re gonna do it in rain, sleet, snow, dry day, regardless.” Missouri is now #5 in the AP Poll thanks to their huge win.

The #6 ranked Missouri Tigers are hosting the Nevada Wolfpack on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Missouri-Nevada football game, previously scheduled for telecast on a pay-per-view basis, has been moved to airing on Fox Sports Net affiliates… so now everyone will get to see it! Nevada isn’t a good football team (they got beat by Texas Tech last week 35-19), so the Tigers shouldn’t have any problem beating them.

The Wolpack gave up 158 yards to Texas Tech’s #1 WR Michael Crabtree, so I’m hoping we can see similar production from Jeremy Maclin this week. Maclin has not started off with a bang like we predicted. Through the first two games he only has 6 receptions for 51 yards. I mean he’s been a beast on special teams, but the Tigers really need to get him involved more in the passing game.

I’m predicting a Tiger win, of course. Vegas has Missouri favored by 27, but I think the final score will probably be closer to 42-20. If they can get Jeremy going, I see no reason why he can’t pass 100 yards receiving for the first time this year. Add in a touchdown and some big special teams plays and he should have an awesome showing.

#6 Missouri dominated Southeast Missouri on Saturday with a final score of 52-3. Jeremy Maclin’s final stats weren’t all that impressive, but he did score on a trick play with Daniel’s 28-yard pass off a lateral pass in the 1st quarter. This touchdown reception put the Tigers up 14-0 early.

Jeremy was once again involved in all facets of the game. He finished with 1 rush for 11 yards, 2 receptions for 20 yards (1 score) and 3 punt returns for 34 yards. Because Missouri was up so big, Maclin did not play the entire game (plus he is coming off that slight injury).

Maclin fans need to be patient. His monster stats will come once Big 12 action starts. Consider these first two games like the preseason, the important thing is that Jeremy is getting some action and finding the endzone.

When you look at Jeremy Maclin’s stat line from Saturday’s game against Illinois it might look disheartening (4 receptions for only 31 yards). However, Jeremy did not play a full game. Missouri fans got a scare in the 4th quarter when Maclin was carted off the field. School spokesman Chad Moller said today an MRI exam revealed a slight injury to the tendon in the ankle. In fact, Maclin may even play this weekend.

This is not that start we wanted for Jeremy Maclin (who missed all of the 2006 season with a knee injury), but no one can predict injuries and they can happen to everyone. Missouri did end up winning the game though, 52-42, so that’s a good thing.

Jeremy is going to attempt to practice this afternoon, so we’ll keep you posted on his status.

The Missouri Tigers will play Illinois and the Fightin’ Zookers tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s finally college football season. We’ve been waiting for months to see Jeremy Maclin back on the field. And I know he’s anxious to play. “It means a great deal,” Maclin said. “Start off the season in your hometown, where you were born. More importantly, it’s just a good way to set the stage for this season.”

I think Jeremy is going to have a great game. Last year on opening day he score a touchdown, and I’ll look for Chase Daniel to hook up with Jeremy twice tomorrow. There’s no doubt defenses will be keying in on Maclin and trying to stop him. “We’re smart enough to find ways around that,” Maclin said. “Every (potential receiver) on our team can line up at every position on the field.” Illinois has a fast, SEC-like defense… but they won’t be able to stop a high powered Missouri offense.

I predict a 38-25 type of game.. Tigers win of course.

Jeremy Maclin and the Missouri Tigers take the field vs. Illinois on Saturday August 30th for the first game of the year. I know Maclin is just itching to get back on the field and build on that insane 2007 season he put up. Everyone’s talking Heisman for Jeremy, so we’re all anxious to see if he can come out of the gate firing! I’ll have a full game preview later this week.

I have two things I wanted to touch on today.

1. Jeremy Maclin was in a USA Today article this morning. It’s called “Sky’s the limit for explosive Missouri wideout Maclin,” and you can read it here.

2. Tuesday, August 26 is Jeremy’s 20th birthday! Happy Birthday and don’t do anything too crazy!

Is Jeremy Maclin too valuable to play special teams? In 2007, he averages 12.28 yards per punt return and actually took 2 of them all the way for a touchdown. For kickoffs, he returned 43 of them for over 1,000 yards and score 1 touchdown. Those are awesome stats for a returner. But the question remains, is Jeremy Maclin too valuable to the Missouri Tigers to play special teams?

In the NFL, you will never see star players returning punts or kickoffs. The chance for injury is too high.

We should see a decrease in the number of punts and kickoffs Maclin returns in 2008. This year he is a sophomore and arguably the most valuable player on the team behind Chase Daniel. If Maclin got injured on a punt return it would be devastating. I would love to see him still return some punts and kickoffs, especially in big game situations, but not when the team is winning or playing a non-conference game.

Having great return skills will help Jeremy Maclin get drafted by an NFL team, but it’s not a necessity. Guys like Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, and Braylon Edwards were not return specialists. So what do you think? Would you keep him back there returning all the kickoffs and punts, or limit him in 2008?