1) I'm just gonna go ahead and call it 40-6. Because that's what it was. I understand why Eli Drinkwitz called the timeout and took the defensive penalty and did everything he could possibly do to get a touchdown that didn't matter at all and made it 40-12. I didn't love it and I probably wouldn't have done it. I'm not going to make a huge deal out of it. But 40-12 isn't any more palatable to Missouri fans than 40-6 would have been.
2) All week long, almost nobody picked Mizzou. Kansas State people didn't. Missouri people didn't. National people didn't. And it turns out, it wasn't some giant sign of disrespect or some secret hatred of Missouri or the colors black and gold. It was because Missouri isn't good enough to win this game right now. I thought they would be more competitive. I picked 27-17. I thought Missouri would show up. I thought they would be in the game. Ultimately I picked Kansas State because I didn't trust Missouri to come on the road in week two in a raucous environment and play well enough to win. I was kind of right. Not only didn't they play well enough to win, but they didn't even play well enough to compete. People got mad when we said we didn't know if we learned anything from Louisiana Tech. Was it because Tech was really bad or Missouri was really good? I'm not going to tell you we've got a definitive answer yet. But I think we have a little more of an idea.
3) Yes, Missouri has quarterback issues. It has other issues too. But quarterback is definitely one of them. Brady Cook is a good runner. I'm not sure he's a good quarterback. Jack Abraham threw two passes, both to the wrong team, and had a QB rating of -133.3. Cook missed some passes you absolutely have to make, including two that could have been 70+ yard touchdowns to Luther Burden. He was open and Cook just didn't get the ball to him. I thought Burden could have extended a little more or laid out on the one at midfield (the first one). Some who have seen the replay told me Burden should get none of the blame. I'll trust you on that. I thought he could have extended more. But it still wasn't a good throw. The second one was just flat overthrown. Where were those deep shots in the first half? I don't know. Drinkwitz has called the first half of both games this year as if he doesn't really trust his QB. After what we saw today, maybe he shouldn't.
4) I think we can put the offseason argument of why Missouri was chasing transfers to bed. Bless your heart if you wanted to believe it was because he just wanted depth and an insurance policy. I think it's pretty obvious (and I've thought it was pretty obvious all along) that he wanted a starting quarterback because he didn't think he had a starting quarterback. If you're hanging on to the other line of thinking after today, I'll never convince you otherwise. Drinkwitz took a whole bunch of swings in the portal. And he missed. And that hurts. Again, there are other issues on the team. But QB is clearly one of them.
5) The biggest issue is the offensive line. I didn't think it was very good last week, but it got away with it because Louisiana Tech wasn't good enough to make Missouri pay. Kansas State was. I'm not gonna let them off the hook saying it was a unique 3-3-5 scheme that tricked them. Missouri's line wouldn't have worked against anybody today. I think they have one offensive lineman who is an average or above average SEC starter. Considering you have to play five of them, that's a problem. I don't think the fixes are on the roster either. I think he's going to have figure out a way to band-aid an offense that is subpar at QB and OL and find a way to get six wins. And then hit the portal with everything he has on the offensive line this offseason. And this time, he can't miss.
6) The defense is better. It's not better enough to carry this offense right now. It's better because there was only one direction to go. It's good enough to win six games with an average offense. It's not good enough to win eight or nine. And I'm not sure it has an average offense to fall back on. The effort was admirable in the second half, but I'm not gong to give them a complete pass for getting knifed through on the first two drives and putting Missouri in a 14-3 hole that honestly seemed almost insurmountable.
7) Today was a coaching problem. Again, there were other problems. But this team wasn't prepared. All year he said he felt great about this team. All camp he told us he had to open up the offense and let it rip. And they laid an egg and looked unprepared. Drinkwitz asked for the blame after the game. You've got it coach. I give it all to you. It was earned.
8) That said, I'm not calling for him to be fired today. He can go 2-10 this year and I'm not calling for him to be fired then either. It needs to get better this year and even better next year. But the answer is not just cut bait and move on. You have to get his recruits on the field (I'd argue it's an issue if some of them don't start seeing it pretty quickly and I'd like to see Sam Horn get at least a full quarter next week). You have to hope it works. Because if it doesn't, in the age of free transfers, this roster is decimated and you've just wasted three years and you're starting over. I've said before and will say again if Missouri fires Drinkwitz after this season I will write a column saying Missouri's administration is stupid. But there needs to be progress this year and a big step next year. And from where I sit right now, that means he has to be right on Sam Horn and the kid has to be a star.
9) I picked Missouri to lose this game in the preseason and I picked them to lose it this week. So on the surface, this shouldn't change my outlook for the year. But it does. I also picked Missouri to beat Auburn, Arkansas and South Carolina. Right now, I couldn't pick them to win any of those games. 6-6 now takes an upset or two. 5-7 is very possible. 4-8 is in play. And 3-9 isn't impossible.
10) I will tell you this right now: I will not listen to anyone that believes at this time next Saturday that any problems have been solved. I do not care what the score is or who looks good against Abilene Christian. Missouri's next chance to show me something is 14 days away at Auburn. We'll see if they do.
My column, Jarod's initial thoughts and the post-game show are on the front page. He'll have a full notebook tonight. We'll have a grade card and 10 thoughts on the weekend in college football and snap counts tomorrow morning. And then we'll rev up to do it again Monday morning. Vent away. I get it. The effort today deserves all your venom. Don't make it personal and try to stay a little bit civil.
2) All week long, almost nobody picked Mizzou. Kansas State people didn't. Missouri people didn't. National people didn't. And it turns out, it wasn't some giant sign of disrespect or some secret hatred of Missouri or the colors black and gold. It was because Missouri isn't good enough to win this game right now. I thought they would be more competitive. I picked 27-17. I thought Missouri would show up. I thought they would be in the game. Ultimately I picked Kansas State because I didn't trust Missouri to come on the road in week two in a raucous environment and play well enough to win. I was kind of right. Not only didn't they play well enough to win, but they didn't even play well enough to compete. People got mad when we said we didn't know if we learned anything from Louisiana Tech. Was it because Tech was really bad or Missouri was really good? I'm not going to tell you we've got a definitive answer yet. But I think we have a little more of an idea.
3) Yes, Missouri has quarterback issues. It has other issues too. But quarterback is definitely one of them. Brady Cook is a good runner. I'm not sure he's a good quarterback. Jack Abraham threw two passes, both to the wrong team, and had a QB rating of -133.3. Cook missed some passes you absolutely have to make, including two that could have been 70+ yard touchdowns to Luther Burden. He was open and Cook just didn't get the ball to him. I thought Burden could have extended a little more or laid out on the one at midfield (the first one). Some who have seen the replay told me Burden should get none of the blame. I'll trust you on that. I thought he could have extended more. But it still wasn't a good throw. The second one was just flat overthrown. Where were those deep shots in the first half? I don't know. Drinkwitz has called the first half of both games this year as if he doesn't really trust his QB. After what we saw today, maybe he shouldn't.
4) I think we can put the offseason argument of why Missouri was chasing transfers to bed. Bless your heart if you wanted to believe it was because he just wanted depth and an insurance policy. I think it's pretty obvious (and I've thought it was pretty obvious all along) that he wanted a starting quarterback because he didn't think he had a starting quarterback. If you're hanging on to the other line of thinking after today, I'll never convince you otherwise. Drinkwitz took a whole bunch of swings in the portal. And he missed. And that hurts. Again, there are other issues on the team. But QB is clearly one of them.
5) The biggest issue is the offensive line. I didn't think it was very good last week, but it got away with it because Louisiana Tech wasn't good enough to make Missouri pay. Kansas State was. I'm not gonna let them off the hook saying it was a unique 3-3-5 scheme that tricked them. Missouri's line wouldn't have worked against anybody today. I think they have one offensive lineman who is an average or above average SEC starter. Considering you have to play five of them, that's a problem. I don't think the fixes are on the roster either. I think he's going to have figure out a way to band-aid an offense that is subpar at QB and OL and find a way to get six wins. And then hit the portal with everything he has on the offensive line this offseason. And this time, he can't miss.
6) The defense is better. It's not better enough to carry this offense right now. It's better because there was only one direction to go. It's good enough to win six games with an average offense. It's not good enough to win eight or nine. And I'm not sure it has an average offense to fall back on. The effort was admirable in the second half, but I'm not gong to give them a complete pass for getting knifed through on the first two drives and putting Missouri in a 14-3 hole that honestly seemed almost insurmountable.
7) Today was a coaching problem. Again, there were other problems. But this team wasn't prepared. All year he said he felt great about this team. All camp he told us he had to open up the offense and let it rip. And they laid an egg and looked unprepared. Drinkwitz asked for the blame after the game. You've got it coach. I give it all to you. It was earned.
8) That said, I'm not calling for him to be fired today. He can go 2-10 this year and I'm not calling for him to be fired then either. It needs to get better this year and even better next year. But the answer is not just cut bait and move on. You have to get his recruits on the field (I'd argue it's an issue if some of them don't start seeing it pretty quickly and I'd like to see Sam Horn get at least a full quarter next week). You have to hope it works. Because if it doesn't, in the age of free transfers, this roster is decimated and you've just wasted three years and you're starting over. I've said before and will say again if Missouri fires Drinkwitz after this season I will write a column saying Missouri's administration is stupid. But there needs to be progress this year and a big step next year. And from where I sit right now, that means he has to be right on Sam Horn and the kid has to be a star.
9) I picked Missouri to lose this game in the preseason and I picked them to lose it this week. So on the surface, this shouldn't change my outlook for the year. But it does. I also picked Missouri to beat Auburn, Arkansas and South Carolina. Right now, I couldn't pick them to win any of those games. 6-6 now takes an upset or two. 5-7 is very possible. 4-8 is in play. And 3-9 isn't impossible.
10) I will tell you this right now: I will not listen to anyone that believes at this time next Saturday that any problems have been solved. I do not care what the score is or who looks good against Abilene Christian. Missouri's next chance to show me something is 14 days away at Auburn. We'll see if they do.
My column, Jarod's initial thoughts and the post-game show are on the front page. He'll have a full notebook tonight. We'll have a grade card and 10 thoughts on the weekend in college football and snap counts tomorrow morning. And then we'll rev up to do it again Monday morning. Vent away. I get it. The effort today deserves all your venom. Don't make it personal and try to stay a little bit civil.
