I’ve never really been able to figure out whether the spring game is the end of the season or the beginning of it. I guess it would stand to reason that it’s the beginning since the seniors who were with the team in the fall are not allowed to work with the team in the spring. But that doesn’t mean those players are forgotten.

The 20 seniors that coach Gary Pinkel continues to credit for the rise of the Missouri program were honored during halftime of Saturday’s Black and Gold game and received a standing ovation. As they stood there, each receiving their platinum and diamond Cotton Bowl rings, they looked up at the crowd of more than 26,000, the largest crowd ever to see a Missouri spring game (despite the cold and drizzle), and couldn’t help but think that they had something to do with it.

“They built this,” quarterback Chase Daniel said. “That senior class is going to gone down as the best in Missouri history. They should feel total ownership in it. They brought the fans out here and we’re just doing the show.”

But as much as those players reflected on the days of yore, there was a new crops of players making names for themselves and hoping to continue building on a foundation that was rooted last year.

Guys like Daniel, Tommy Saunders and Sean Weatherspoon will carry on the leadership the seniors brought to Mizzou, but younger players such as Derrick Washington will build on the on-field high note that ended a record-breaking campaign.

Washington supplanted Jimmy Jackson as the team’s starting running back earlier this week and looked every bit the part to the diehard fans who had been reading about the legend created by various spring practice reports.

“They told me Tuesday I was going to be starting, after the last scrimmage,” Washington said. “It feels good. The hard work paid off. I’ve been working hard all summer and spring and it finally came together. I’ve just got to maintain position.”

Washington led all rushers with seven carries for 35 yards and a touchdown and four receptions for 37 yards. Washington’s catches out of the backfield were inspiring considering that wasn’t a play Missouri utilized very much last year and when they did, Washington was usually subbed in to run the play, making it a dead giveaway.

“I think that’s pretty natural,” Washington said. “It’s God-given. It’s something I’ve been using since day one.”

Washington also took a page out of Chase Coffman’s book by hurdling safety Munir Prince, after Prince was the victim of a cut block by tight end Jon Gissinger.

“That was a nice block right there,” Washington said. “I had to hurdle, put a little Chase Coffman. You know we went to the same high school so I can take that from him. I can borrow that from him.”

The offense defeated the defense 71-28 in a scoring system that awarded the offense points for first downs, scoring plays, and plays of 20 or more yards. Most of that was compiled by Daniel and the first string offense against the second team defense. The No. 1 defense was equally as impressive by not allowing a touchdown and allowing just one drive past the 50-yard line.

Perhaps Saturday’s scrimmage didn’t signify a beginning or an end. Perhaps it was just a continuation of an amazing run that most around the program don’t want to classify. Maybe it’s just Mizzou football the way Gary Pinkel envisioned it when he decided to take the job seven seasons ago.

“There’s a great expectation level, which is good, I like that,” Pinkel said. “There are a lot of pluses and that comes with winning. The moral of the story is keep winning… It’s different for us. We had a season last year where we end up fourth in the nation, win 12 games and now can you go back to winning double digit again? I don’t know. It’s kind of like a year ago when we are you going to win at a higher level? Well, I hope we were gonna. And we did. Can we do it again? We’ll see.”

***

Quick notes…

** Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and center J.T. Beasley will both have surgery on Monday to repair torn labrums. Both will be in immobilizers for about two weeks and then start rehab. Both are expected to be ready for the beginning of fall camp.

Weatherspoon’s roommates are no strangers to caring for the injured. He lives with Jeremy Maclin and Danario Alexander, who have both had knee surgery.

“I think it’s going to be arthroscopic and I’ll be ready pretty soon,” Weatherspoon said. “William Moore had the same procedure and he said he could play today…

“It’s just the surgery house, I guess. I think they’ll do a pretty good job of taking care of me because I took care of those guys when they were down, too.”

** Missouri will lift and condition for the next few weeks leading up to finals. The team will be off finals week, and then Pinkel said he encourages his players (and coaches) to get away from football until the team reconvenes on June 2. That meeting date is a week earlier than Pinkel originally suggested, but he said the seniors wanted to come back a week early.

Pinkel said for the first time ever, all of the incoming freshmen are taking at least one session of summer school and participating in summer drills with the rest of the team.