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It’s 1 a.m. and I want to go to sleep. But the adrenaline is still fresh in my veins and I want to do my best to capture the emotion of tonight.
I echo what Big Head said about needing a new heart. I made the comment to my buddy I was watching the game with that I think these games take four years off of my life each season. Was this the most dramatic Border War game I’ve seen? I don’t know. I’m not going to try to rank them because God knows there have been some wild ones over the years.
But I will say this, no opponent takes me on the metaphorical roller coaster ride like the kansas Jayhawks. They bring out the best and the worst in me. They remind me why I love sports. They cause me to wonder if I care about these things a little too much. They do what a rival should do to a true sports fan.
-I don’t know if Danario Alexander will get the Belitnikoff. It doesn’t look like he will. So be it. We can argue about how good of an NFL prospect he is and where he should be drafted. The NFL scouting process is a complex beast. But bottom line, there was one guy who was hands down the best wide receiver in college football this season. His name was Danario Alexander. It’s not up for debate.
-Super ‘Nario was our most explosive player and best playmaker tonight. But Derrick Washington was the team’s most consistent offensive weapon. He was effective from start to finish. Say what you want about the other guys who contributed tonight but I don’t think there’s any way the Tigers win without the efforts of D-Wash. He hasn’t had the season we were expecting from him but tonight he showed us why we had those expectations in the first place. And don’t look now but he’s had four solid performances in the last five games.
-The Tigers’ defense didn’t have too many bright spots. There was little to no pass rush for most of the game and the secondary’s struggles have already been well documented. (This was also probably Sean Weatherspoon’s worst game of his senior season.) But two guys who really impressed me were Kip Edwards and Kevin Rutland. Especially Edwards. Major props.
-We make a lot out of the whole Todd Reesing-is-a-douchebag thing here at Mizzourah and with some of the pictures of him floating around out there I don’t think you can blame us. And for the last three years he’s held the throne of My Most Hated Athlete.
But now that his career is done and over I’m going to come clean. I respect the hell out of the guy as a player. No I don’t think he was ever quite at Chase Daniel’s level. But when the game was on the line the dude scared the living shit out of me. Thank God Pinkel didn’t leave any time on the clock for Reesing to get another shot at the end of the game because I have no doubt that I would have lost consciousness had he gotten the ball back.
He had my hate. He has my respect.
-That said, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tickled about the fact that the two most significant plays of his career were safeties in the same end zone at Arrowhead.
-Dez Briscoe’s performance tonight provided the perfect microcosm of his career. His final numbers are staggering. Fourteen receptions for 242 and two touchdowns. He showed why he’s considered to be such a special talent. But his dropped passes and fumbles also showed why he’ll likely be remembered as somewhat of an enigma.
-When Gary Pinkel elected to punt the football away on fourth and short with just over three minutes left and only one timeout remaining I was positive he made the wrong decision. Lets face it, kU was probably one first down away from victory. And anything less than another Jake Harry punt down inside the five was really going to stack the odds against the Tigers.
And after all that happened I’m still not sure GP made the right call. But that’s the thing about coaching. Sometimes it’s a guessing game. And when a guy guesses right then you tip your cap to the man.
And one enormous Mizzourah salute goes to Jake Harry IV. I’m not well versed in the history of Mizzou’s punting greats but I can’t imagine it’s a stretch to call him the best the Tigers have ever had.
-Of course, the Tigers were aided by Mangino’s insanely controversial decision to throw on three straight downs when the obvious move was to run the ball and at the very least force the Tigers to burn their last timeout and run a minute or so off the clock.
I can kinda see the logic behind Mangino’s decision. Mizzou’s secondary had an obvious deer in the headlights look to it on the previous couple of possessions. The Tigers have been solid all year long against the run and consistently inconsistent against the pass. He was leaving the ball in his best playmakers hands—the same playmakers that were instrumental in leading kansas to its most successful stretch of football in the modern era. So it’s not like Mangino just went batshit crazy with those play-calls.
All that said—not to sound all Tony Dungy—you just have to run the football there. But then again, what did he have to lose? His job? In my opinion it was definitely the wrong call, but the more I think about it the less insane I think it was.
-Going back to Pinkel’s coaching job, I’m not sure if this was one of his best performances or one of his worst. But doesn’t that sum up Gary Pinkel? Some of the mishaps and play-calls will drive you to drink like Sod in the P&L. You’ll curse him and stare at him in disbelief. You start to wonder if there’s something to what all his naysayers are constantly spewing.
But if there’s one thing you can and must say about Gary Pinkel coached football teams it’s that they’re tough. How many times throughout the course of this season has this team had the opportunity to fold? It could have been pretty easy for them to be in the exact position that kU is in now. But these guys know how to pick themselves up after getting punched in the mouth. They’ve shown that this season and they sure as hell showed that tonight. And I don’t give a shit how cliché this last paragraph sounded.
Oh and lets never bring up that dumbass “Mangino has Pinkel’s number” argument again. Seriously.
-Grant Ressel, I don’t quite no what to say. If we ever encounter each other at Harpo’s or Bengal’s or Field House or any other CoMo bar you will not be paying for your drink. I will assure you of that my friend. Lets just leave it there.
-This season isn’t quite over so we can’t totally grade it, but I think barring something catastrophic happening in the bowl game it’s safe to call this season a successful one.
Eight wins (which I predicted by the way), a decent bowl, a program crushing victory over kU, a record setting year for a fan favorite who had never quite put it all together until now, a Senior Day win, the emergence of a couple super-duper stars (Aldon and Gabbert), and a buttload of experience for the underclassmen. When you’re accomplishing that in a down year it’s a pretty damn good sign of the overall health of your program.
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I tell you what, I'll take 8-9 win rebuilding seasons every time. HOW BOUT THEM TIGERS?!