Welcome to Four Down Territory which is a spin-off of Ten Thoughts.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. Missouri’s big night raises the ceiling.
Well, Mizzou fans, in the words of John Cena, “Your (as in everyone else) time is up. My (as in Missouri’s) time is now.”
Now, before you groan about my WWE reference starting this column, just be mindful that on multiple occasions this calendar year I have heard your Tigers listening to WWE music in the locker room.
So, it’s not just me.
But seriously, Missouri fans your team is up now. Year after year, Kentucky has punched the Tigers in the mouth and sometimes got a little help from the officials, but that wasn’t the case in Week 7.
Mizzou had a season-defining 38-21 win on Saturday night by defeating No. 24 Kentucky on the road to move to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in league play.
I wrote last week that Missouri was still ahead of the curve entering Week 7 at 5-1.
The Tigers hung in there with an elite LSU offense and probably should’ve won that game. That was a game almost everyone had them losing since the schedule came out, and they led the entire game until the final few minutes. Not too bad.
On top of that, I think I’ve figured out (partly) why Eli Drinkwitz was in such a good mood last week (and this is all coming from my mind this isn’t anything I’ve heard or something like that).
So, they had already beaten a team they were expected to lose to (Kansas State), the division outside of Georgia doesn’t look nearly as rough as it has in prior years, and even then, Georgia hasn’t looked as good as it has in the past.
Then, for that LSU game, they not only had the Bayou Bengals on the ropes for most of the game, it had them on the ropes in front of a packed house with a lot of big-time recruits there. All the Tigers really had to do was not get destroyed and it was going to be a good day.
They didn't get destroyed and now look at them.
Everyone’s predicting five-star SLUH wide receiver Ryan Wingo to commit to Missouri over the likes of Texas and Georgia.
So, Missouri lost the battle that day with LSU, but potentially it won so much more.
If I were a coach and I lost a game like that but knew what rewards I could possibly get from that particular loss, I think I could focus on the positives a lot easier too.
(Again, all of that is just a guess as to why he appeared a little happier in front of the media this past week. I’m sure there are plenty of other things Drinkwitz is happy about outside of football, so let's not go there.)
Then, you add in Saturday’s performance and now you can see everything coming together for a special season.
Mizzou essentially showed up 15 minutes late to the game. The Tigers were out there physically but they left just about everything needed to win the game at the hotel.
Just an abysmal start with two punts and an interception on the first three offensive drives and then allowing Kentucky to go up 14-0 on its first two drives.
If we were to compare this to a two-player Uno game, Kentucky got its seven cards to start the game and dropped three straight plus-four cards on the Tigers.
Now, because Uno is most definitely a game of strategy (contrary to the belief of some), I’d say Kentucky didn’t play its cards right. It came out hot but was left with just regular cards after the explosive start.
Everyone knows you should try your best to hold on to those plus-two and plus-four cards until you absolutely need to use them. It’s okay to use one or two randomly, but if you have a loaded deck it’s probably best to save one or two good cards for later in the game.
The problem with using all your special cards early is that it allows your opponent(s) to pick up a lot of cards from the deck.
Missouri had to pick up all those cards from the deck, and when that happened the Tigers got special cards of its own.
In the second quarter, Missouri pulled off a fake punt with punter Luke Bauer, who connected on a 39-yard touchdown pass to Marquis "Speedy" Johnson, to make the score 14-7 and give the Tigers some momentum.
In other words, Missouri put down a reverse card before it put down a barrage of plus-two and plus-four cards until the game ended.
From the second quarter until the end of the game, Mizzou went on a 38-7 run and outgained the Wildcats 309-80.
To spot a team 14 points and win by 17 points after sleepwalking through the first 15 minutes is impressive. It reminds me of something a particular Kansas City football team does from time to time.
Anyway, that’s another game that most people figured Missouri would lose that it won, and now it’s time to aim higher. Last week, I said 11-1 had faded away in the background but after going through some fog in Lexington I can see it again.
I’m not saying that they will get to that point (yet), but 9-3 in a way is the new baseline. If the Tigers finish 8-4, it’s alright considering most people assumed this was a 7-5 season. But it will be a bit of a letdown if they don't surpass eight wins.
I have South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas all bookmarked as wins with a loss to Georgia still on the slate (for now).
The game versus Tennessee is leaning more towards anyone’s game. From what I know the Volunteers haven’t been nearly as good as last year. But I’ve got to do some more research before I pick a winner.
Mizzou is in a good spot, but it still has to win the games. There are things to clean up, but there's also plenty to be happy about. Like winning a game by double figures on the road and your best player is more or less a decoy.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. Missouri’s big night raises the ceiling.
Well, Mizzou fans, in the words of John Cena, “Your (as in everyone else) time is up. My (as in Missouri’s) time is now.”
Now, before you groan about my WWE reference starting this column, just be mindful that on multiple occasions this calendar year I have heard your Tigers listening to WWE music in the locker room.
So, it’s not just me.
But seriously, Missouri fans your team is up now. Year after year, Kentucky has punched the Tigers in the mouth and sometimes got a little help from the officials, but that wasn’t the case in Week 7.
Mizzou had a season-defining 38-21 win on Saturday night by defeating No. 24 Kentucky on the road to move to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in league play.
I wrote last week that Missouri was still ahead of the curve entering Week 7 at 5-1.
The Tigers hung in there with an elite LSU offense and probably should’ve won that game. That was a game almost everyone had them losing since the schedule came out, and they led the entire game until the final few minutes. Not too bad.
On top of that, I think I’ve figured out (partly) why Eli Drinkwitz was in such a good mood last week (and this is all coming from my mind this isn’t anything I’ve heard or something like that).
So, they had already beaten a team they were expected to lose to (Kansas State), the division outside of Georgia doesn’t look nearly as rough as it has in prior years, and even then, Georgia hasn’t looked as good as it has in the past.
Then, for that LSU game, they not only had the Bayou Bengals on the ropes for most of the game, it had them on the ropes in front of a packed house with a lot of big-time recruits there. All the Tigers really had to do was not get destroyed and it was going to be a good day.
They didn't get destroyed and now look at them.
Everyone’s predicting five-star SLUH wide receiver Ryan Wingo to commit to Missouri over the likes of Texas and Georgia.
So, Missouri lost the battle that day with LSU, but potentially it won so much more.
If I were a coach and I lost a game like that but knew what rewards I could possibly get from that particular loss, I think I could focus on the positives a lot easier too.
(Again, all of that is just a guess as to why he appeared a little happier in front of the media this past week. I’m sure there are plenty of other things Drinkwitz is happy about outside of football, so let's not go there.)
Then, you add in Saturday’s performance and now you can see everything coming together for a special season.
Mizzou essentially showed up 15 minutes late to the game. The Tigers were out there physically but they left just about everything needed to win the game at the hotel.
Just an abysmal start with two punts and an interception on the first three offensive drives and then allowing Kentucky to go up 14-0 on its first two drives.
If we were to compare this to a two-player Uno game, Kentucky got its seven cards to start the game and dropped three straight plus-four cards on the Tigers.
Now, because Uno is most definitely a game of strategy (contrary to the belief of some), I’d say Kentucky didn’t play its cards right. It came out hot but was left with just regular cards after the explosive start.
Everyone knows you should try your best to hold on to those plus-two and plus-four cards until you absolutely need to use them. It’s okay to use one or two randomly, but if you have a loaded deck it’s probably best to save one or two good cards for later in the game.
The problem with using all your special cards early is that it allows your opponent(s) to pick up a lot of cards from the deck.
Missouri had to pick up all those cards from the deck, and when that happened the Tigers got special cards of its own.
In the second quarter, Missouri pulled off a fake punt with punter Luke Bauer, who connected on a 39-yard touchdown pass to Marquis "Speedy" Johnson, to make the score 14-7 and give the Tigers some momentum.
In other words, Missouri put down a reverse card before it put down a barrage of plus-two and plus-four cards until the game ended.
From the second quarter until the end of the game, Mizzou went on a 38-7 run and outgained the Wildcats 309-80.
To spot a team 14 points and win by 17 points after sleepwalking through the first 15 minutes is impressive. It reminds me of something a particular Kansas City football team does from time to time.
Anyway, that’s another game that most people figured Missouri would lose that it won, and now it’s time to aim higher. Last week, I said 11-1 had faded away in the background but after going through some fog in Lexington I can see it again.
I’m not saying that they will get to that point (yet), but 9-3 in a way is the new baseline. If the Tigers finish 8-4, it’s alright considering most people assumed this was a 7-5 season. But it will be a bit of a letdown if they don't surpass eight wins.
I have South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas all bookmarked as wins with a loss to Georgia still on the slate (for now).
The game versus Tennessee is leaning more towards anyone’s game. From what I know the Volunteers haven’t been nearly as good as last year. But I’ve got to do some more research before I pick a winner.
Mizzou is in a good spot, but it still has to win the games. There are things to clean up, but there's also plenty to be happy about. Like winning a game by double figures on the road and your best player is more or less a decoy.
