Mizzou Football: Four Horsemen

From the “Steel Curtain” and “Purple People Eaters” of old, to the current nickname of the “Legion of Boom,” confident teammates all throughout the sporting world often name the special bond and connection that they have formed during their time together.

Mizzou’s passing quartet of quarterback Maty Mauk and receivers Jimmie Hunt, Darius White, and Bud Sasser weren’t about to let their union go unnamed.

“I was talking to Sheldon Richardson, and he [said] you guys gotta bring it…a lot of people are counting on you all,” said White, a senior from Fort Worth, Texas, at fall camp this past week. “And I was just thinking ‘The Four Horsemen.’”

The four players spent the summer working on their timing and rhythm together in preparation for the 2014 season.

“We were just getting some extra work in over the summer,” said Hunt, a senior who hails from Cahokia, Ill. “When everybody went home we stayed, and we were just throwing and getting our timing down.”

Sasser, who was voted team captain on August 4, elaborated on just what exactly the “Four Horsemen” have been up to all summer.

“We just decided let’s focus on the process of working on our fundamentals, running routes to our correct depths, and working on timing with the quarterbacks,” Sasser said.

The four also spoke of how it would be imperative this season that the young guys step up and fill the pass-catching voids left by the likes of L’Damian Washington and Marcus Lucas.

“When one of the upperclassmen guys went down, there was an underclassmen able to step in and hold it down without losing a beat,” Hunt explained. “And that’s what we need from them this year.”

Mauk also spoke highly of the consistent play he has seen from receivers this off-season.

“We got a consistent throw and catch going. They’re not dropping anything, and I’m putting the ball where it needs to be for them,” Mauk said. “As long as I can get it anywhere within a couple of feet, they’re going to catch it.”

Mauk, Hunt, White, and Sasser will make their 2014 debut at The Zou on August 30 against South Dakota State.