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1) Missouri's football season is finished and that's fine. I'm glad they played. I'm glad they got ten games in. I feel bad for the kids who wanted to play one more game who won't get to. But I don't view the fact that we won't get to see the 2020 TransPerfect Music City Bowl as one of this year's greater hardships. Considering everything that went into getting this far, I think a lot of people are okay with it being over. I said before the bowls that I didn't think there was any need to have most of them and I still feel that way. It was a weird disjointed season all along, so why shouldn't it end in some weird way where it really ended a week before we realized it was over?
2) Let's be clear: Letting players go home for Christmas isn't what caused this. All the reporting and everything Eli Drinkwitz said yesterday points to the Mississippi State trip as the root of this. And that would make sense because that was nine days ago and would fall within the generally accepted time frame for symptoms to start showing up. Players went home for Christmas Monday and were back on Friday night and the chances that tests on Saturday morning would reveal extensive problems from players going home aren't very high. So the idea that the players going home for Christmas caused them the bowl game is misguided. All that said, here was the best thing Drinkwitz said yesterday:
And the congregation said, AMEN. Look, I like football a lot. I have a job because of college football. It has provided a good life for my family and opportunities for my children. But it's football. It's a diversion. I've been impressed with the reaction from Missouri fans which has largely been "I wish they could have played, but I'm not going to freak out about it." Iowa fans, from what I've seen, handled it...less well. Maybe that's the difference between losing a game you expect your team to win and losing one you expect it to lose. I don't know. But, again, it's the Music City Bowl between two average to above average football teams who were going to be without most of the best players in the game. What are we really missing out on here?
3) Here's the thing I like most about Drinkwitz. He seems to be a reasonable human being who has a pretty good handle and outlook on things:
So on one hand he spent much of the season jabbing at us for picking them to win two or three games and using that to motivate his team. On the other hand, he admits he wouldn't have picked them to win five. He has a good handle on the team and the program he has without being overly negative about it. If you watched the games, you saw the same thing he did. Missouri was better than most of the bad teams it played this year and not nearly as good as any of the good teams it played. It doesn't take a brilliant football mind to figure that out. And it's not going to be an instant fix. As Drinkwitz said, instant fixes don't happen at places like Mizzou. They might happen at Georgia or Florida, both of which have been a little down in recent years then changed coaches, recruited their asses off for a couple years and got right back in the thick of the national title conversation. That's not the reality Missouri has and Drinkwitz knows it. It's good to hear him acknowledge it while he also isn't resigned to saying it will never happen. You can be realistic without depressing everyone.
4) Missouri's offense retained an important piece on Sunday.
I bet most wouldn't guess this, but Chism ended up leading the Tigers in both receptions (35) and yards (458) this season. Now, we can definitely have a discussion about how neither number is high enough to lead a Power Five football team, even in a shortened season, but he was the most productive receiver they had this year. And the most encouraging part is he got much better as the season went along. Through four games (one of which he didn't play), Chism had four catches for 64 yards and a notable probably shouldn't have said that quote after the first game. In the final six games, he caught 31 passes for 392 yards and had at least five catches in five of the six games. I don't know that he's a number one receiver necessarily, but I think he can be a really good number two receiver on a good team. He'll probably need to be Mizzou's No. 1 again next year, but as we discussed above, the Tigers are probably at least another year away from being a team that's in position to compete for a division title. If Chism can give the Tigers two years where he has 80 catches and 1200 yards, he's done more than you hoped he would do when you signed him.
5) We should find out about the rest of the players who have the option to return in the next few days I would think. Now that the season is over, it will benefit both the team and the players for those guys to make decisions quickly. I'm expecting Kobe Whiteside to come back and I think there's a pretty good chance Chris Turner and Markell Utsey do as well. Mike Maetti and Akial Byers could, but I'm not sure. Add that to Sean Koetting, Grant McKinniss and Chism and those are some nice pieces to get for an extra year. Let's take a stab at a two-deep if those guys all return:
QB: Connor Bazelak/Brady Cook or Tyler Macon
RB: Tyler Badie/Elijah Young
WR: Keke Chism/Chance Luper
WR: Jalen Knox/Barrett Banister
WR: Tauskie Dove/JJ Hester
TE: Daniel Parker/Niko Hea
OT: Zeke Powell/Bobby Lawrence
OG: Luke Griffin/Xavier Delgado
C: Drake Heismeyer/?? (For now, I'm not including Maetti here)
OG: Case Cook/Jack Buford
OT: Hyrin White/Javon Foster
Dominic Lovett is the most likely guy to fit in somewhere here among the recruiting class. I think he'll be a return man and maybe get some offensive run as a true freshman. Jay Maclin and Kris Abrams-Draine could also be in the rotation here. Connor Tollison may be in the two deep out of necessity as a true freshman, and Mitchell Walters will be healthy too, but I think you have to be looking for an immediately eligible transfer--if not two--on the offensive line. I also wouldn't rule out Gavin McKay being a situational tight end who sees playing time. That's a position I think Missouri needs immediate help.
DE: Markell Utsey/Daniel Robledo
DT: Kobie Whiteside/Darius Robinson
DE: Isaiah McGuire/Jatorian Hansford or Chris Turner
BUCK: Trajan Jeffcoat/Kyran Montgomery
WLB: Chad Bailey/Dameon Wilson
MLB: Devin Nicholson/Jamie Pettway
CB: Jarvis Ware/Jaylon Carlies
CB: Ennis Rakestraw/Ishmael Burdine
SS: Martez Manuel/Stacy Brown
FS: Tyler Jones/Aidan Harrison or Mason Pack
BS: Jalani Williams/Shawn Robinson
The defensive line looks pretty similar and allows most of the incoming recruiting class a year of development (even more so if you get Byers back, who I didn't include here for now). I'm not sure Montgomery plays that BUCK position, but it would make some sense. The WLB position, which was Nick Bolton's this year, I have no clue and I think is the biggest question mark on the team. I'd go after a grad transfer here. The safeties could go any number of ways and I don't have a clue who will play where. Manuel is the only sure thing, but Jalani WIlliams got enough PT this year that I think he'll factor in and I loved what I saw out of Robinson in the Mississippi State game. Give him a full offseason and I think he could be much more of a contributor than just a cool story.
P: Grant McKinnis
PK: Harrison Mevis
KO: Sean Koetting
Returns: Dominic Lovett
Total guess on Lovett. But I haven't seen anyone on the roster that tells me a true freshman shouldn't get every opportunity on both kickoff and punt returns.
