In a fairly stunning turn of events, at least as far as one of the teams is concerned, this weekend’s Oklahoma-Missouri will feature a pair of unbeaten schools in a match-up rife with national title implications.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, they’ll be at less than full strength on the defensive side of the ball when they take on the Sooners in the nationally televised contest.
Mizzou head coach Gary Pinkel said Monday that linebacker Luke Lambert has already been ruled out of Saturday’s game due to a sprained knee. Not only will Lambert, who started 15 games in 2008 and 2009, miss the Oklahoma game, but he’ll miss the Nebraska game the following week as well.
Meanwhile, the school top pass rusher in 2009, Aldon Smith, has missed the past three games with a broken fibula. While the defensive end has been cleared medically, Pinkel would not say with any degree of certainty whether the senior will be available this weekend.
“As soon as he’s ready to go he’ll move right back up to a starter,” Pinkel said. “He’s been cleared medically. He’s just working through it.
“We’d love to have him back.”