| 12 October 2009
I realize this post is coming way later than it should have. Contrary to reports from Sammy Vegas I have not been holed up in my apartment sipping Colt 45 from a can and watching my DVDs of the ’07 and ’08 Nebraska games. But he wasn’t far off.
Honestly, I bounced back pretty quick from this one. Thursday night was awful. AWFUL. (That 'hey hey hey goodbye' chant the Nebraska fans did at the end of the game might have been the worst I've felt since the Fresh Prince of Bel Air series ended.) And while the Tigers’ chances of winning the North are now really slim and 4-3 seems like a frighteningly real possibility, I’m still feeling OK about this season. At the beginning of the year I predicted 8 wins in the regular season. I also said I’d be OK with that and I still feel that way. I also don’t think nine wins is out of the picture either and I think that would make this season a resounding success.
-If you’re a fan of NBC’s Friday Night Lights you probably remember the classic episode from season one when the Dillon Panthers have to find a replacement field to play on because of a nearby chemical spill. Rather than use their opponents home field or a neutral district stadium Dillon coach Eric Taylor decides to have his team build a local abandoned pasture into a temporary field. The point of doing so was basically to get away from all the distractions that come with a big time football program. Playing the game on an abandoned field returned the game to its purest and most barbaric origins.
And of course there was a torrential downpour during the game that turned the contest into a classic battle of wills where the winner would be the team that made the fewest mistakes and played just a little more physical.
That’s not quite what Thursday was but it was pretty close. It was amazing how surreal it was to watch a game at Faurot without all the sights and sounds we’ve grown accustomed to.
-You could probably debate all day about whether or not Nebraska proved it was the better team or whether the Nubs were the benefactors of a classic Mizzou chokejob. I’m not going to get into that argument. Bottom line, come the fourth quarter the game’s final outcome was still in doubt and what team started making plays while the other started making mistakes. Hats off to the Huskers.
-This win doesn’t mean Nebraska’s back but I do think it means they’re back as a perennial North contender. That defense is very legit. I know a lot of Tiger fans don’t like hearing this and I don’t much like saying it, but I’ve got Suh on my Heisman ballot. (Well, I would if I had a Heisman ballot.) He absolutely impacts a game every bit as much as Tim Tebow or Sam Bradford.
-Major props to our regular Nebraska commenters like Sammy Vegas, Husker Engineer and Mr. Bump. (Sorry if I excluded anyone.) I’ve gotten into some pretty heated debates with them in the past but it’s all been in good jest. They handled the victory with class and continue to bring interesting perspectives to the comments section of our blog even when I don’t always agree with them.
But to the Husker douched who came out of the woodworks to babble mindlessly about how “THEBLACKSHIRTSAREBACKSUCKITMIZZOUJAKFLSDJLKASDJ!!!!!!” Fuck off pathetic pieces of shit. To reiterate what Big Head said, congrats on celebrating your program’s biggest win in some time by going onto a Mizzou blog to talk shit. Classy indeed.
-If Husker fans are going to insist that this game isn’t a rivalry then they need to make sure they don’t have fans hugging in the street after winning it. Because that’s what I saw in CoMo on Friday night. Just sayin’.
-A lot of people made a big deal about Pinkel going for the touchdown on 4th-and-1 at the end of the first half. To me that’s a no-brainer. You can’t bank on your defense pitching a shutout unless you’re a team known for its defensive prowess. I’m reminded of Dick Vermeil’s comments a few years back when the Chiefs won a game against the Raiders on a last second 1-yard touchdown when a field goal would have sent the game into overtime. Basically he said if you don’t have enough faith in your offense to gain one yard to win a game then you don’t deserve to win. Good play call by Pinkel but an obvious one.
-It was amazing to hear some of the comments from Mizzou fans in the stands. Listening to them you’d think we should fire Pinkel, bench Gabbert and move on to basketball season. It was one bad game for a young team. Nothing more and nothing less. Take a deep breath and relax. A couple weeks ago I read a stat that said Mizzou had won more games over the last three years than any program in the country. Might want to stick with these guys.
Also extremely disappointing to see the number of fans that left early in this one. First when it was 12-0 then when the Tigers fell behind eight. Sometimes I wonder why Mizzou fans can’t get any national respect then I see those douchebags. If you were one of those fans that left then don’t bother coming back. You’re scum. Go cheer for Texas or OU. That will be a lot more convenient for both of us.
-While I’m definitely sticking with GP and Gabbert and I’d a long ways from giving up on this season, I do think the coaching staff needs to make some major changes to the offense in the offseason. I’m not saying scrap the spread offense like some message board wackos are, but I wanted significant changes made that will enable to run the ball better than it has been.
The most important moment of the Pinkel era was when he and Dave Christensen elected to implement the spread offense. They cut their losses with the plan to turn Brad Smith into a traditional QB and went with an innovative offense that a lot of people thought was crazy. The spread offense more than served its purpose. It saved Pinkel’s job, put Mizzou on the national radar and enabled them to get recruits it hadn’t been able to get in decades. But to a certain extent I think it has run its course.
Again, I’m not saying to completely change the system. But at the end of the year make significant tweaks based on the personnel on the roster.
-Really concerned about Derrick Washington/the offensive line. Why in the world is the running game less effective than it was last year? It just doesn’t make sense. If it’s an issue with D-Wash then I think it might be time to start giving more carries to De’Vion Moore and Kendial Lawrence. I think D-Wash is still the starter. You still don’t give up on a guy with that much potential despite how he’s looked through five games. But Pinkel has said this is the most talented group of RBs he’s had at Mizzou. Utilize that depth.
-I’m also getting really worried about the depth the Tigers have at wide receiver. Not so much for this season but for the future. Despite their struggles on Thursday I still feel pretty confident with the Danario-Perry-Kemp trio. But once Alexander and Perry graduate who’s going to step up. As much as I like Wes Kemp I’m not sure I see him as a No. 1. Jerrell Jackson is a pretty solid contributor but where are the playmakers going to come from?
-It looked like Friday was Will Ebner’s coming out party. That guy was a beast. Which makes the fact that be might be done for the year all the more gut wrenching. Get well soon, Will.
-This is off the subject of Mizzou-Nerbaska and I don’t usually get into the college football recruiting thing, but I’m really excited about Gary Pinkel pursuing this guy. Blue Springs running back Darrian Miller. Kid is on pace for over 2,000 yards on a team competing for a state championship. It is completely unfair watching the way he dominates opposing defenses. I’ll just say I could see him in Black and Gold and I can see Tiger fans being pretty happy about it.
-Also off the subject, but great read in Sunday's Star on former Tiger Michael Keck. Sounds like he's found a home at Mizzou Light.
-Oklahoma State should be an interesting test for the Tigers. Last year when Mizzou suffered its first setback they followed it up with an embarrassing performance in Austin. But honestly, the Tigers could have played perfectly and still probably wouldn’t have stopped the Longhorns the way Colt McCoy was playing. With all the Dez Bryant drama and the Pokes looking increasingly vulnerable this is a perfect game for the Tigers to get back on track. It’s not a must-win for Mizzou in terms of making this a successful season. But it is a must-win if they still want to compete for North supremacy. M-I-Z!
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