COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 There鈥檚 an action movie-worthy acronym that circulates around defense and national security circles in this age of the internet: OSINT. Meaning 鈥渙pen-source intelligence,鈥 it refers to the kind of, yes, intelligence that is floating around in the public domain for any ol鈥 Curious George to find.
Missouri鈥檚 coaching staff has leaned on OSINT lately because it鈥檚 all they have when it comes to the No. 11 Tigers鈥 first opponent of the season: Murray State.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the challenge,鈥 MU coach Eli Drinkwitz said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 really no way to watch Murray State film because they鈥檝e got brand-new offensive, defensive and special teams coordinators, they got 60 new players. You can watch their schemes from last year to try to see what their players are, but they鈥檙e not going to be running the exact same stuff. Trying to figure out what your matchups are is almost impossible.鈥
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So let鈥檚 scout Murray State.
The Racers are a Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS, program, so they don鈥檛 get the kind of preseason coverage that even mediocre or bad Football Bowl Subdivision teams do.
Phil Steele publishes an annual encyclopedia of FCS previews alongside his FBS one, but this beat writer couldn鈥檛 justify that added expense for analysis of one team. Lindy鈥檚 magazine predicts Murray State to finish last in the Missouri Valley conference, offering a dozen words of explanation: 鈥淒ean Hood left for Kentucky staff, ex-South Carolina asst. Jody Wright in.鈥
That鈥檚 a good baseline. Hood and the Racers parted ways after going 2-9 overall and 1-7 in conference play last season.
In came Wright, who carries a strong resume for a first-time head coach. He spent the past two seasons as South Carolina鈥檚 tight ends coach, so he鈥檚 been to Columbia and Memorial Stadium before. Wright spent 2019-21 in the NFL, including a season each coaching standout running backs Saquon Barkley and Nick Chubb in position-specific roles. He was also Alabama鈥檚 director of player personnel for a few seasons under Nick Saban.
鈥淐oach Wright is an excellent football coach,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淗e does an outstanding job. ... He鈥檚 got a lot of different types of coaches on his staff, so we鈥檙e trying to pull film from a lot of different places to get an idea of what they鈥檙e going to do.鈥
Defensive coordinator Ryan Smith arrived at Murray State from Florida A&M. Offensive play-caller Jimmy Ogle has spent the past two seasons coaching high school after more than two decades on the staff at Jacksonville State.
鈥淭he last time he called plays was at Jacksonville State two years ago,鈥 Drinkwitz said, part of why 鈥渋t鈥檚 a real challenge to have any idea of what they鈥檙e going to do schematically.鈥
In some interviews, Wright has hinted broadly at schematic ideas but hasn鈥檛 been overly specific in revealing his plans.
鈥淲e do want to have some pro-style schemes,鈥 he said . 鈥淚 say pro-style and I think everybody鈥檚 kind of doing similar stuff. We would like to be balanced, run and pass. We do like to play with the tight ends, possibly 鈥 we鈥檙e still figuring out right now whether we want to be more two-tight end or two-running back or 10 (one running back, no tight ends, four wide receivers) personnel.鈥
Determining individual players to watch for is also difficult. There isn鈥檛 a readily available Murray State depth chart projection floating around on the internet.
Two Racers did make it onto the Senior Bowl preseason watch list, though, indicating that they鈥檙e somewhere on the radar of NFL scouts and front offices: defensive back Kavan Reed, who played at East St. 香港三级片 in high school, and defensive lineman CJ Barnes.
Offensively, Jayden Johannsen seems like the favorite to be Murray State鈥檚 quarterback when Thursday evening rolls around. That鈥檚 who Mizzou is preparing for, anyway 鈥 the scout team quarterback in Sunday鈥檚 practice wore Johannsen鈥檚 No. 7.
Even equipped with that knowledge, it鈥檚 tough to get a read on what the Racers鈥 signal-caller can do. He has played the past four seasons at South Dakota Mines, a Division II school best known for allowing a few hundred cars to park right next to the field, allowing for in-game tailgating and honking.
There, Johannsen assembled a 2022 season with 3,199 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, 526 rushing yards and eight scores of his own that made him a nominee for the Harlon Hill Trophy 鈥 Division II鈥檚 equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
Oh, and he was the Hardrockers鈥 punter, too.
Finding his game film in particular required Mizzou to deploy its OSINT skills.
鈥淲e鈥檙e watching Hudl tape in order to figure out what he鈥檚 done, on the internet,鈥 Drinkwitz said.
He鈥檚 referring to a popular website for football prospects to upload videos from games to assemble personal highlight reels. Sure enough, highlights from South Dakota Mines games are on there, with containing a lengthy touchdown pass from a game against Colorado Mesa last year touting 289 views 鈥 some of which must have come from within the Missouri team facility.
Drinkwitz said the scouting challenges make Thursday鈥檚 game against Murray State 鈥減robably the most difficult opening game that we faced since I鈥檝e been here.鈥
The 2020 opener against eventual national champion Alabama, for whom Heisman winner DeVonta Smith starred, would like a word there. But even with Mizzou favored by more touchdowns than can be counted on one hand, the scouting element of the 2024 opener adds some intrigue to the Tigers鈥 preparations.
