1) I wasn't sure Missouri was going to be able to bounce back from last week's loss. In fact, I said at one point this week Georgia was a good team to play because the Auburn game is the kind of loss that can beat you twice and it didn't matter this week because Georgia would take care of beating Missouri on its own. That didn't happen. Missouri bounced back and answered the bell. It went toe to toe against one of the best teams in the country for 60 minutes. But the end result was the same. And now we find out if Mizzou is capable of getting back up and doing this all over again. There are a lot of things to like. But those things have to start leading to results on the scoreboard. And it's fair to wonder if this team is capable of bringing tonight's effort to a game that doesn't involve the No. 1 team in the country in their house. Next week's game is the season to me. If Missouri plays well--maybe not as well as tonight, but well enough to beat Florida--a bowl game is back on the table. If it sinks to the level of the competition and loses to the Gators, tonight matters a whole lot less.
2) Stand up and be counted Harrison Mevis haters. He missed a kick last week. It was one he should have made. But the vitriol sent his way (and, yes, I include this board in that) was embarrassing. The personal attacks were over the top. For Mevis' part, he faced the media on Tuesday, said he missed a kick he has to make and he would respond on Saturday. He did. If Missouri won this game, he would have been the MVP. I'll go to battle with that dude as my kicker over anyone else in America.
3) You can't help but wonder how different this game looks if Dominic Lovett plays the second half. He's the only Missouri receiver that can consistently get open and make plays against SEC competition right now. He had six catches for 84 yards midway through the second quarter, got hurt on an ill-fated reverse and didn't touch the ball again. Missouri's offense wasn't great in the first half, but it was good enough to win. Without Lovett, it just didn't have enough.
4) Before I come down hard on Eli Drinkwitz, and I'm going to, I'm going to give him credit. The fact that this team bounced back from last week to play as well as it did tonight is a credit to him. That's not easy. They could have mailed it in and assumed a loss like you did and I did and everyone else did. They didn't do that. That's coaching. That's getting your guys to believe. He did that. He also had some of his guys, and by his guys I mean the ones he signed and brought into this program (Lovett, Ty'Ron Hopper, Joseph Charleston, Kris Abrams-Draine) show that they belong on the field with teams like this. Missouri doesn't have enough jimmies and joes, but it's got some. And that's why any talk of moving on from Drink after this year was premature and stupid. He's bringing guys in that can compete on this level. He just doesn't have enough of them yet.
5) So about that last series. First of all, let me give you Drink's explanation because I did ask him what he was hoping to get done and if he'd do anything different. He said he didn't want to run the ball because he wanted to leave enough time that if Missouri didn't move the ball and score it could get the ball back. And I do understand that line of thinking. You've got a better chance to score if you get the ball twice than if you only get it once. But I have two problems with that. First of all, it seems kind of like limiting your first attempt because you know you're going to get another one. But Mizzou didn't know it was going to get another one. It was only going to get another one if everything went perfectly and the defense stopped Georgia. By that time, UGA had scored on six consecutive drives. The chances of getting a stop were less than the chances of just running your regular offense.
You don't have to run the ball, but I didn't like the play selection. I'll be the first to tell you I don't know what the first read for Brady Cook was, but his first down pass to Luther Burden had no chance. Why not run a short pass you know you can complete and get four yards? The second down pass was into triple coverage. On third down, Barrett Banister was open and Cook missed him. I'd have much preferred Missouri ran a couple of plays to put itself in position to be in third and four or fourth and four rather than third or fourth and 10. For the record, I still would have gone for it on fourth and ten. I understand if you go for it and don't get it the game is over and I understand why he punted in fourth and ten. I just didn't have any faith Missouri would get to have the ball again. As it turned out, that's what happened.
Everything Drinkwitz said about that drive is defensible and makes some sense. I still don't think he handled it correctly.
6) For the first time this year, I believe Missouri has a very good defense. For much of this year I've thought it was decent--clearly better than the offense--but I wasn't sure it was really good. It is. Those dudes were flying all over. They kept Georgia out of the end zone for more than 50 minutes and gave the offense chance after chance after chance to take control of this game. Blake Baker might be coaching his way into a chance to run a program of his own next year.
7) The penalties. My God, the penalties. There were some bad calls that hurt Missouri in this game. But officiating didn't lose it. The two penalties that lost it were the correct calls and they just can't happen. Unfortunately, they were on the same guy. When Mizzou ended up having to kick a field goal after having first and goal at the 1 because of a Mitchell Walters false start, it felt like a moment that would come back and haunt them. When a Walters hands to the face nullified a first down catch by Banister on third and seven that would have put Missouri in field goal range, it felt like it completely changed the game. If you assume a touchdown from the 1 and you assume Mevis (who was 5/5) makes the field goal, that's seven points. Missouri lost by four. The Tigers had 7 penalties for 66 yards. Both numbers are better than the season average. But those two, you can't even measure the damage.
8) I know we have to talk about the quarterback. The last drive definitely showed some of his limitations. For most of this game, Brady Cook was good enough to win. On the final drive, he wasn't close. A commenter on our postgame show summed it up best. Cook isn't the reason Missouri is losing these games, but he's also not a reason they can win. It feels like this team needs a QB that can elevate the offense and be the reason they win. I don't think it has that guy on the roster. Which brings us back to the same argument of missing on Tyler Macon and missing on all the transfers and we are where we are.
9) This was the most fun I've had at a Missouri game in a pretty long time. It was a great atmosphere. It was incredibly competitive. It was suspenseful. There was energy. It reminded me of how fun these games can be. Let's have more fun games please. Maybe we should have Brad Smith, Chase Coffman and Gary Pinkel in the house every week.
10) Does tonight change my outlook on the season? Not yet. Coming into today I thought Missouri would go 4-8 or 5-7. For now, I still think that. If they can bring tonight's effort into next week's game at Florida and come away with a win I might be convinced they get three more and make a bowl game. But I've got to see that happen before I predict it.
2) Stand up and be counted Harrison Mevis haters. He missed a kick last week. It was one he should have made. But the vitriol sent his way (and, yes, I include this board in that) was embarrassing. The personal attacks were over the top. For Mevis' part, he faced the media on Tuesday, said he missed a kick he has to make and he would respond on Saturday. He did. If Missouri won this game, he would have been the MVP. I'll go to battle with that dude as my kicker over anyone else in America.
3) You can't help but wonder how different this game looks if Dominic Lovett plays the second half. He's the only Missouri receiver that can consistently get open and make plays against SEC competition right now. He had six catches for 84 yards midway through the second quarter, got hurt on an ill-fated reverse and didn't touch the ball again. Missouri's offense wasn't great in the first half, but it was good enough to win. Without Lovett, it just didn't have enough.
4) Before I come down hard on Eli Drinkwitz, and I'm going to, I'm going to give him credit. The fact that this team bounced back from last week to play as well as it did tonight is a credit to him. That's not easy. They could have mailed it in and assumed a loss like you did and I did and everyone else did. They didn't do that. That's coaching. That's getting your guys to believe. He did that. He also had some of his guys, and by his guys I mean the ones he signed and brought into this program (Lovett, Ty'Ron Hopper, Joseph Charleston, Kris Abrams-Draine) show that they belong on the field with teams like this. Missouri doesn't have enough jimmies and joes, but it's got some. And that's why any talk of moving on from Drink after this year was premature and stupid. He's bringing guys in that can compete on this level. He just doesn't have enough of them yet.
5) So about that last series. First of all, let me give you Drink's explanation because I did ask him what he was hoping to get done and if he'd do anything different. He said he didn't want to run the ball because he wanted to leave enough time that if Missouri didn't move the ball and score it could get the ball back. And I do understand that line of thinking. You've got a better chance to score if you get the ball twice than if you only get it once. But I have two problems with that. First of all, it seems kind of like limiting your first attempt because you know you're going to get another one. But Mizzou didn't know it was going to get another one. It was only going to get another one if everything went perfectly and the defense stopped Georgia. By that time, UGA had scored on six consecutive drives. The chances of getting a stop were less than the chances of just running your regular offense.
You don't have to run the ball, but I didn't like the play selection. I'll be the first to tell you I don't know what the first read for Brady Cook was, but his first down pass to Luther Burden had no chance. Why not run a short pass you know you can complete and get four yards? The second down pass was into triple coverage. On third down, Barrett Banister was open and Cook missed him. I'd have much preferred Missouri ran a couple of plays to put itself in position to be in third and four or fourth and four rather than third or fourth and 10. For the record, I still would have gone for it on fourth and ten. I understand if you go for it and don't get it the game is over and I understand why he punted in fourth and ten. I just didn't have any faith Missouri would get to have the ball again. As it turned out, that's what happened.
Everything Drinkwitz said about that drive is defensible and makes some sense. I still don't think he handled it correctly.
6) For the first time this year, I believe Missouri has a very good defense. For much of this year I've thought it was decent--clearly better than the offense--but I wasn't sure it was really good. It is. Those dudes were flying all over. They kept Georgia out of the end zone for more than 50 minutes and gave the offense chance after chance after chance to take control of this game. Blake Baker might be coaching his way into a chance to run a program of his own next year.
7) The penalties. My God, the penalties. There were some bad calls that hurt Missouri in this game. But officiating didn't lose it. The two penalties that lost it were the correct calls and they just can't happen. Unfortunately, they were on the same guy. When Mizzou ended up having to kick a field goal after having first and goal at the 1 because of a Mitchell Walters false start, it felt like a moment that would come back and haunt them. When a Walters hands to the face nullified a first down catch by Banister on third and seven that would have put Missouri in field goal range, it felt like it completely changed the game. If you assume a touchdown from the 1 and you assume Mevis (who was 5/5) makes the field goal, that's seven points. Missouri lost by four. The Tigers had 7 penalties for 66 yards. Both numbers are better than the season average. But those two, you can't even measure the damage.
8) I know we have to talk about the quarterback. The last drive definitely showed some of his limitations. For most of this game, Brady Cook was good enough to win. On the final drive, he wasn't close. A commenter on our postgame show summed it up best. Cook isn't the reason Missouri is losing these games, but he's also not a reason they can win. It feels like this team needs a QB that can elevate the offense and be the reason they win. I don't think it has that guy on the roster. Which brings us back to the same argument of missing on Tyler Macon and missing on all the transfers and we are where we are.
9) This was the most fun I've had at a Missouri game in a pretty long time. It was a great atmosphere. It was incredibly competitive. It was suspenseful. There was energy. It reminded me of how fun these games can be. Let's have more fun games please. Maybe we should have Brad Smith, Chase Coffman and Gary Pinkel in the house every week.
10) Does tonight change my outlook on the season? Not yet. Coming into today I thought Missouri would go 4-8 or 5-7. For now, I still think that. If they can bring tonight's effort into next week's game at Florida and come away with a win I might be convinced they get three more and make a bowl game. But I've got to see that happen before I predict it.
