Pinkel: Bringing Mizzou Back
OK, now that I vented and released all of the frustration accumulated while watching Mizzou’s inexcusably lame 56-31 loss at Texas, it’s almost time to turn the page. We’ll talk about Mizzou’s clear opportunity at redemption over the next few weeks.
But first, let’s take a look at coach Gary Pinkel’s basic but necessary approach in his effort to rally the Tigers after their two demoralizing losses. Pinkel believes his team lost focus along the way. He indicated that media-fan hype may have gotten the best of his players. Pinkel said as much Tuesday.
“These last few weeks (before the Texas game), our kids couldn’t turn on ESPN without somebody talking about Mizzou,” he said. “This has been a new experience for a lot of them. We went through this last season, but it happened late. This season it’s been there from the beginning.
“And I don’t think our focus is as good as it should be.”
That’s why Pinkel has gone hard with the “5:30″ approach this week. He’s been drilling it into the heads of his players since the final gun sounded at Texas. The Tigers play Colorado at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Pinkel wants his squad to be consumed by the challenge of beating the Buffs — and nothing else. It’s a good message. And it’s the right approach to this game. I don’t think there’s any question that Mizzou was impacted by the rise in the polls, the talk of Heisman Trophy for Chase Daniel, the intrigue over national-title chances, and the circus maximus aspect of being near the top. And the Tigers need to lock in on the only thing that matters: winning games, and not worrying about trophies and polls and what Lee Corso is saying.
And if they take care of business, the Tigers can get well soon.
Let’s take a look at the upcoming schedule:
* COLORADO: #42 in the BCS. Last in the Big 12 in points scored and yards per game. Last in passing yards. Only 10th in third-down conversion rate. The Buffs have played solidly on defense, but I’m looking at the other side of the ball for now. And here’s a chance for the struggling Mizzou defense to play well and build some confidence.
* @ BAYLOR: #78 in the BCS. Again, Baylor isn’t among the better Big 12 offenses. The Bears rank 9th in the conference in points, 10th in yards, 10th in passing yards, 11th in third-down rate. The defense is 8th overall, and 11th against the run. Another chance, in theory, for the Mizzou defense to grow more confidence.
* KANSAS STATE: #69 in the BCS. The offense isn’t bad. But the Wildcats are last in the Big 12 in total defense, and pass defense, and only two Big 12 teams have allowed more points.
* @ IOWA STATE: #106 in the BCS. The Cyclones are scuffling on offense, currently ranking 11th in yards, 11th against the pass, 10th in points and 12th in third-down conversions. And they’re 11th in yards allowed and points allowed.
After that?
The Nov. 29 showdown with Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
KU is 2-1 in Big 12 play so far. Missouri is 1-2.
The Tigers have a little ground to make up, but rival Kansas figures to get dinged between now and the Mizzou game. After losing at Oklahoma last week, the Jayhawks host Texas Tech (No. 8 in the BCS) on Saturday. Then comes another home game, vs. K-State. Then a road game at an improving Nebraska team. Then a home game against No. 1 Texas.
If the Tigers get that intense focus back and win the games they’re supposed to win, if they use this stretch to improve on defense and reestablish consistency on offense, if they use this opportunity to cut down on the mistakes that have plagued them over the last two losses, then they’ll come out of this in strong shape. They can capture the Big 12 North.
Thanks for reading.
-B
Fundamentally, you’re clearly on point - the Tigers do control their own destiny. If they win out, including the KU game, they repeat as Big XII North champs. The challenge comes in how they get there and what they do against the South representative on December 6. Clearly a win in the conference title game keeps them in the pantheon of contemporary powers, however what happens if the Tigers mail in a couple of close wins against ISU and Baylor, barely covers or misses slightly in wins against K-State on CU, wins a nail-biter against a 2 or 3 loss KU squad and gets pounded by UT a second time? Mizzou winds up with a very, very nice 10-3 record (I’ve had season tix since 1979, so a 10 win season is still a cause for glee in my household) but probably queues up behind OU, OSU and Texas Tech for the consolation bowls. Assuming the Big XII fills two BCS slots, one would presume a South team will get the Cotton Bowl bid. Perhaps MU gets lucky and the Gator Bowl exercises their Big XII option, giving the Tigers a chance to play on New Years Day. If not, then it may be a Holiday or Alamo bowl bid to play a second or third runner up from the Big 10 or Pac 10. Not exactly marquee matchups, and even a convincing win isn’t going to look nearly as good as what the Tigers did the prior year and will likely net a year-end ranking no higher than say 12th. How’s that going to help the team’s long term prospects for recruiting? In order to recapture the magic, the Tigers NEED to pile on the points from this point forward, never taking their foot off of the pedal. That will get some attention back on this highly-touted, high-powered offense. And Coach Pinkel and his minions need to do a much better job of keeping his players’ mouths shut and minds off the hype going into the conference title game. I thought he did a fantastic job last year of focusing the team’s attention away from the BCS snub and focusing it on destroying an already vulnerable Arkansas squad. I hope he’s up to the task with this new challenge which has manifested itself much earlier than last year’s issues.
Bernie, thanks for regaining some perspective. This week is huge for the Tigers. We will find out more about Gary Pinkel and his staff this week than we have in a long time. If this team refocuses and wins 4 straight heading to the ku game, well, that’s a heck of a season w/ a ku win, and by the way, probably a top 10 end of the regular season ranking…not too shabby.
As to last week’s game. Yes, we are not in OU or UT’s arena, but how many teams are ? Certainly no one else in the big12. Let’s see TTech beat someone with a pulse before proclaiming them ANYTHING. Congrats to Ok State, they beat us…barely.
MU got embarrassed by Texas, but it’s college football, it happens. Ask Georgia who trailed Alabama 31-0 AT HOME a few weeks back. Or, LSU who lost 51-21 at Florida. And upsets happen…heck OU got waxed in January by WVU and lost a big lead to a bad Colorado team a year ago. Yes, MU hasn’t won a “big” one so you can question the coaches, etc…but heck LSU is the defending champ so what’s their staff’s excuse for not putting up a fight at Fla.
College football isn’t the NFL where 3 good drafts and some wise FA pickup can get you to the top quickly. College football is a long haul game. Year after year of recruiting, especially long for ALL the big 12 north schools who have to compete for Texas kids. And they don’t compete with Texas, cause Texas will always get the top kids from that state. Fortunately for Mizzou they don’t have to be better than Texas or OU, they have to better than the North which they definitely can do. That’s why college football is so great. Win out and head to KC and who knows what happens. Thanks for regaining your head.
All good points as usual from Bernie. It’s possible the Tigers right the ship and win out to get back to the Big 12 Championship. But I’m guessing we see one more loss in the regular season (that still might be enough to get to the Championship). I’m sure the hype had something to do with the poor performance in Texas. But let’s be honest, we all had a reality check the last two weeks. And what it tells us that the Tigers talent is #1 or #2 in the Big 12 North, but somewhere between #5, #6, or #7 in the Big 12 overall. That’s certainly a let down from my expectations earlier this year. But being a 1986 graduate of Mizzou, I remember some incredibly bad football in those years. In comparison to those dark years, Coach Pinkel and his staff have made great strides. And it appears the kids are working hard and have good character. I wish them the best for the rest of this year. But my instinct tells me it may take a little more time and a little more talent to beat the big boys like Oklahoma and Texas. When that happens I’ll be excited. If it happens this year I’ll be estatic.
I think we should have a little compassion for Terell. After all he not only has to share catches with his new teamate, he also had to share catches with O.J. they both had 2 catchs, and O.J. had more yardage!
Bernie, I think Pinkel is going to have to get the defense to tighten up and shut the rest of the teams down that are left on the schedule, no more track meets. Hopefully not get blown out of the water like texas did to them. I am not going to get down on the players for Mizzou, I know those kids try unlike alot of NFL players, so maybe the defensive coaching needs to be addressed.
Bernie, the Colorado game may be the biggest game of the year. Pinkel and his staff have to show they can get the team refocused. I’m sure it was difficult for the players to stay focused with all the national media attention they were getting. That is not an issue now. Mizzou has a good shot at making it to the Big 12 championship game. However right now, Colorado needs their full attention!