The Mizzou Massacre
The most shocking aspect of Missouri’s humiliating 56-31 loss at Texas wasn’t the final score.
It was Mizzou’s softness.
This team was not ready to play. The Tigers played scared. I know Texas has more talent, more depth, and the physical toughness to dominante on both lines. That’s certainly the No. 1 reason why the Longhorns made brisket out of the Tigers.
But how do we explain Mizzou’s incredible stage fright in a big game? the Tigers have been playing the big rooms for a while now. They’ve had plenty of games on ESPN and ABC. They’ve been on the cover of Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine and other national publications. They had a showdown game with Kansas last season, and played Oklahoma twice, including a matchup in the Big 12 Championship. And they’ve played Illinois twice in St. Louis, and that’s a rivalry game with a lot of built-in pressure.
Those games should have prepped the Tigers and conditioned them for the meeting in Texas. At the very least, I expected Mizzou to put up a fight and generally play well and come up short. And while losing should never be acceptable, it is possible to lose in a way that maintains respect.
Mizzou lost a ton of respect and credibility on Saturday night. The MU offense, predictably overrun by the Texas front, was shaken and rattled. And QB Chase Daniel lost his poise (again). The Tigers opened the game with three-and-outs on three of the first four possessions. And forget this bunk about Daniel playing in the NFL; if the dude encounters even a faint pass rush it unhinges him. Getting smacked around is standard in the NFL.
On defense, the Tigers offered little resistance and the Longhorns bullied them for first-half TD drives of 94, 82, 43, 41 and 92 yards. Look, the Longhorns are a powerful force on offense, but Mizzou made it to easy for them.
Given that the Tigers had a solid defense in 2007, and were returning nine or 10 starters for 2008, how can this unit be so feckless? What happened here? How did these players forget how to play pass defense in less than a year’s time? How and when did they lose their competitive fire? When did the turn so soft? And why can’t defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus get a response from the players, or adjust his schemes to close the glaring holes in the Mizzou secondary? Why are his blitzes so predictable? Texas knew when the blitzes were coming and Colt McCoy carved it up.
And the questionable coaching isn’t limited to the defensive side. Just how many times did Gary Pinkel and offensive coordinator Dave Christensen need to see redshirt freshman Elvis Fisher get buried at left tackle at Texas before they’d conclude it might be smart to give the young man some help? And why did it take the MU coaches six quarters (four vs. Oklahoma State and then the first half vs. Texas) before they closed those wide O-line gaps that made it so easy for the Cowboys and Longhorns to stuff the run or crash Daniel’s pocket?
Pinkel, Christensen and Eberflus did a terrible job of preparing their team for the last two games, and even a worse job of adjusting. And there’s really no excuse for that. Again, if Mizzou loses because of the talent deficit, that’s one thing. But it was more than that. the timid Tigers got jacked in Austin because they weren’t locked in, competitively. And once Texas began rolling, the MU coaches did nothing to slow the avalanche. Mizzou was in a daze, players and coaches.
This team wasn’t ready for a big game.
The coaches weren’t, either.
And Pinkel still hasn’t beaten Texas or Oklahoma.
Reality check?
MU is at best the sixth-best team in the BIg 12. Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State are clearly superior. And objectively, you’d have to put Kansas ahead of Missouri at least until the Tigers and Jayhawks meet and settle their annual feud later in the season. At least Kansas went into Oklahoma yesterday and competed like crazy, putting up a fight and getting a lot of things done on offense until the Sooners pulled away late. At least KU didn’t go into Norman and lay down, the way the Tigers did in the first half at Austin. I hate to say this, but what happened Saturday night reminded me of the Woody Widenhofer years, the Bob Stull years.
(Some of you have since written in to say that the above Stull-Woody reference is a cheap shot … you’re probably right. But I was really frustrated watching that game, because, despite what some of you believe, I want the Tigers to win. I’m not saying that this Mizzou team is as bad as those sad-sack outfits, but Saturday night brought back some unpleasant flashbacks. That’s all).
This was one of the most disappointing efforts I’ve ever seen from a team that was supposed to be great, supposed to be a contender for a national title. Instead, we’ve discovered an unfortunate truth: Missouri is not ready for the big time. At least not yet.
-B
Look, our defense played soft, I agree. But McCoy clearly has fate on his side. Who throws 3 incomplete passes in a college football game? At one point he fumbled and the ball bounced right back up into his hands as he went on to complete a first down toss. He threw a touchdown pass that William Moore tipped before it landed in a Longhorn receiver’s hands. If you give us that touchdown they reversed (when it was VERY hard to determine if Alexander was out or not) and that drive the officials ended on the phantom pass interference call against Coffman, which Pinkel accurately described as “Bull S**T”, then that’s a completely different looking first half. We outscored them after the first quarter.
We’d be celebrating it as a “shootout” and a respectable fight on a national stage had a couple things gone differently. I agree there’s still a disparity in talent on both lines and our defense seems to be about 2 seconds behind on every play, but you folks need to get some perspective. My take is that Oklahoma isn’t that good either (see Kansas Game) and Big Game Bob Stoops has choked on a national level way more than Gary Pinkel has, with more talent to boot. This football powerhouse thing is a process, not an overnight miracle. The program is headed in the right direction, but got beat by a smoking hot Texas team. Things like that happen (Florida 51, LSU 31) and us only dropping a few spots in the polls is indicative of that truth. I’m confident the Big XII championship game will play out differently.
Agree with you Bernie. Nothing is good with what happen in these past two loses. Clearly the OKL State lose effected this team. Not going for the 4th and 1 TD was the biggest mistake of the entire year. It cost the Tigers much needed confidence to not win that game, and by losing that game, going in to Texas was going to be a mess (and it was). Mizzou is not a top 15 team. I agree that based on Mizzou’s performance, and losing a key game at home, they are 6 in the big 12, until they prove otherwise.
Time to perform Mizzou, simple as that.
It’s frustrating! I’ve pulled hard for Mizzou. But don’t dwell on the loss. I watched Kansas play OU last weekend. They have a good program this year. Thats a “must win” if Mizzou wants to salvage this season with some measure of respect.
The game against Texas was a very mortifying experience. I remember hearing Pinkel speak so clearly after the Big 12 Championship loss to Oklahoma on how he could see exactly what Mizzou needed to solidify the team for a championship next season. That was the Big 12 Championship debacle against Oklahoma in which the commentators so obviously started talking about trivial matters just to past the time. In the game against Texas, I was hit by a moment of reoccurence. When in the midst of an obviously mortifying defeat, the commentators so obviously started talking about trivial concerns. The commentators even made jokes about the Missouri hype and performance that they thought slipped past us. It was very mortifying indeed. It was obvious that Pinkel did not accomplish in recruiting what he said was needed. He didn’t get the bigger,stronger and faster players.
There are other factors as well that make a good,very good and great player. A player needs guts. A player needs on-the-field intelligence. A player needs instincts. The majority of Missouri players are timid. They keep their torsos out of what they believe is harms way while trying to grasp/tackle an opposing player with their hands as he flies by. They stand by while watching opposing players pile on extra hits to a teammate. They often turn down the opportunity to give an opposing receiver or running back in particular a good shot when close enough and within the rules. This always tells that opposing player to expect to get hit every time and no matter catching or not catching the ball. They are not finding a man to check until the whistle blows. The corners and linebackers did not jump at least one passing route, even with the dozens of usual throws from the Texas quarterback. The Missouri defensive front is not much of a theat to an apposing quarterback and the Missouri offensive front doesn’t hold the line and can’t open holes. Their are no basic running formations. The offense needs another threat besides Maclin and Chase C. I have already said too much to go into the coaching deficiency.
Bernie, you’re absolutely right. There’s very little if anything that I can disagree with you about regarding what you said here. I’m a diehard Mizzou fan trying my damndest to keep things in perspective, trying to remind myself that all of this still beats the bad ‘ole years, trying to get myself jacked up over the fact that there’s still a chance to win the Big 12 North and to make it to the Big 12 championship game…and yet, try as I might, I cannot shake the disappointment and frustration I’m feeling over these last two losses. Simply put, Coach Pinkel and the boys let us down. They did so by losing to an OSU team at home that they should have beat, and by not showing up to at least compete and have an effort that we as fans could be proud of at Texas. Hopefully in the weeks ahead if the team gets back on track, this lingering feeling of disappointment from these two defeats will fade, but for now, it’s there and there’s just no denying it. Oh, and btw, if Mizzou wants to continue to view Oklahoma and Texas as such unbeatable behomeths(sp?) that are in an upper that they’re not capable of reaching just yet, maybe someone should tell that to the likes of Colorado and KSU, both of which managed to slay those two supposed unconquerable beasts last season(Colorado over OU, KSU having beaten Texas AT Texas!). PS–Where have you gone, Stryker Sulak?
Although you were a little harsh (I was too right after the game) a lot of what you said was pretty close to the hard core facts. You know that I’m the ultimate Mizzou fan, but also a realist. It’s going to be very, very hard for Mizzou to become one of the elite teams much less stay there. This was the year that everyone thought we at least had a chance. I thought we might lose to TX, but it’s the Okie St. loss that surprised me. That can not happen if you want to be a Top 5 team (especially at home). The TX score was an anomaly (look at the Brady-less Patriots against the Broncos Sunday night). TX got on a roll and nothing went right for Mizzou. Maybe it was just a ploy by Pinkel. Look terrible against TX, win the North and catch them overconfident in the Big 12 Championship game in KC (yeah, right!). I’ll be at Columbia/KC hoping for the best.
It’s the Catholics fault that Mizzou can’t be Top 5 in Football
For years the pundits thoughts were: Why can’t Mizzou be good in football when (1) they’re the only D-1 school in the state (2) between two large cities (3) in a state in the middle of the country? The truth is: there just aren’t enough good football players in MO since kids are shoved into soccer for the first 10-15 years of their lives. Football is far from #1 in MO as it is in all the big football school states (see the PD article on recruiting). There are 20-30 recruits from MO each year that can make a D-1 or D-2 roster as opposed to 300-400 from Texas. So to be good you have to recruit nationally. That’s possible, but not easy. Many of these recruits are in southern states. Are they going to want to come North? Mizzou would have to outwork other schools and not make too many mistakes in valuations. Also, they would have to out-coach other teams. Can we say that’s going to happen? (I was just kidding about the Catholics. My wife’s a Catholic and I’ve teased her about soccer for years.)