I know this is not the place to say this really because you guys are die-hard fans and you are super invested. But I want to start by saying if you just came to watch a game and you didn't have any skin in who won, that was a really entertaining, if brutally flawed, game.
Sling some arrows at Barry Odom and Derek Dooley. They earned them today. I'm not laying the loss on coaching alone, but between the odd PAT instead of two, the clock management at the end of the first half, the final play (which Lock said was his option and the other players said he made the right call) and what really lost them the game, which was focusing more on not scoring too soon than on scoring period, there are criticisms to be had and they are fair. I also think it's worth noting that as many mistakes as Mizzou made, Taylor Cornelius and Mike Gundy matched them stride for stride and tried to gag up a 16 point fourth quarter lead on multiple occasions. In the end, Oklahoma State made one more play than Mizzou (and it was a really nice play by the defender, because I thought Lock was going to get to the corner and get a first down).
The final game is a time for reflection. My story (https://missouri.rivals.com/news/mizzou-falls-short-after-coming-so-far) tells a big part of how the players feel about where this program is. I want to add some personal thoughts:
There are a lot of really good kids on this team. Terez Hall is fun to cover and I want him to come back just to do interviews. Terry Beckner is the kid Mizzou should put on a poster to hand out to every high school program in St. Louis. Paul Adams and Kevin Pendleton have been great to deal with every day for five years. We see the play on the field. We don't see the stuff in the locker room. It matters. A lot. And I'm telling you, that part of this program has completely changed in four years. That doesn't necessarily always translate into wins. You still have to have talent. Good guys are easy to root for, but they don't always win games. But the culture and the feeling around this program is worlds away from where it was three years ago.
I don't want to make this day all about Drew Lock. It isn't. But he's the quarterback and he's the poster boy for this program and it is a lot about him. I hope everyone watches his final statement to the fans:
This kid did it the right way. He is absolutely everything you should want to represent your school as a fan. I wish they would have won some more games with him, but they didn't. I'll be a fan wherever he goes (please, God, don't let it be somewhere in the AFC West).
This season is either going to be remembered for what could have been or as a first step to something better. I come out of today feeling much the way I did after the Sun Bowl in 2006. They didn't get it done. They're not there yet. But they're pretty close. They've got a chance to take that next step and be really good. Next year is so big.
Thank you for following along all season. Thank you for your passion. We have photos, video and my column on the front. Mitchell's got a story coming. We'll have the grade card tomorrow. We'll head back to CoMo in the morning and have some football wrap up and basketball look ahead stuff for you this week.
Sling some arrows at Barry Odom and Derek Dooley. They earned them today. I'm not laying the loss on coaching alone, but between the odd PAT instead of two, the clock management at the end of the first half, the final play (which Lock said was his option and the other players said he made the right call) and what really lost them the game, which was focusing more on not scoring too soon than on scoring period, there are criticisms to be had and they are fair. I also think it's worth noting that as many mistakes as Mizzou made, Taylor Cornelius and Mike Gundy matched them stride for stride and tried to gag up a 16 point fourth quarter lead on multiple occasions. In the end, Oklahoma State made one more play than Mizzou (and it was a really nice play by the defender, because I thought Lock was going to get to the corner and get a first down).
The final game is a time for reflection. My story (https://missouri.rivals.com/news/mizzou-falls-short-after-coming-so-far) tells a big part of how the players feel about where this program is. I want to add some personal thoughts:
There are a lot of really good kids on this team. Terez Hall is fun to cover and I want him to come back just to do interviews. Terry Beckner is the kid Mizzou should put on a poster to hand out to every high school program in St. Louis. Paul Adams and Kevin Pendleton have been great to deal with every day for five years. We see the play on the field. We don't see the stuff in the locker room. It matters. A lot. And I'm telling you, that part of this program has completely changed in four years. That doesn't necessarily always translate into wins. You still have to have talent. Good guys are easy to root for, but they don't always win games. But the culture and the feeling around this program is worlds away from where it was three years ago.
I don't want to make this day all about Drew Lock. It isn't. But he's the quarterback and he's the poster boy for this program and it is a lot about him. I hope everyone watches his final statement to the fans:
This kid did it the right way. He is absolutely everything you should want to represent your school as a fan. I wish they would have won some more games with him, but they didn't. I'll be a fan wherever he goes (please, God, don't let it be somewhere in the AFC West).
This season is either going to be remembered for what could have been or as a first step to something better. I come out of today feeling much the way I did after the Sun Bowl in 2006. They didn't get it done. They're not there yet. But they're pretty close. They've got a chance to take that next step and be really good. Next year is so big.
Thank you for following along all season. Thank you for your passion. We have photos, video and my column on the front. Mitchell's got a story coming. We'll have the grade card tomorrow. We'll head back to CoMo in the morning and have some football wrap up and basketball look ahead stuff for you this week.
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