Missouri football truly is unleashed.
Mizzou ran loose in a big win this past weekend, thumping an overmatched Texas Tech squad 41-10, and the team’s rise in the polls Sunday reflected their prowess. Well, for the most part.
The Missouri Tigers now find themselves ranked #13 in all three major polls—including the BCS—but their jump may be due more to upsets this past weekend than any doing of their own. South Carolina plummeted after its loss to Vanderbilt, as did South Florida, California, and Kentucky after their upset losses. So does Mizzou deserve to be higher than #13? In one word, yes.
Many voters still can’t get over the fact that the Missouri Tigers are one of the best teams in the country. A two-loss Florida team is receiving more attention because, well, they’re Florida. USC has one loss, just like the Tigers, but it came at home to 3-4 Stanford, not on the road at 7-1 Oklahoma. USC has one of the richest histories in college football though, and Missouri simply does not.
The Tigers showed on Saturday that they do belong with the big dogs though, with a great all-around effort. Columbia now boasts much more than just a top offense; there’s also some superb defense being played at The Zou. Holding the top offensive team in the nation to 10 points is simply remarkable. It was the ultimate shock-and-awe; I still can’t get over it.
The new “Blackshirts” of the Big 12 forced once-Heisman-hopeful Graham Harrell into four interceptions. In his previous seven games, Harrell had thrown three. They also held the Red Raiders to -9 rushing yards. For those of you scoring at home, that’s less than zero.
The Tigers allowed 397 total yards, but that’s well under Tech’s average, and only 10 points resulted from it. Tech averaged 50 points per game coming in to Saturday. Most teams held 40 points below their scoring average would actually have negative points.
Jason Whitlock, a columnist for the Kansas City Star and traditionally one of Gary Pinkel’s harshest critics, titled his latest piece “Missouri is a national-title contender.” It’s when people like Whitlock change their minds about a program that you can tell it’s on the rise.
Pinkel’s oddball gadget plays and funky formations are finally paying off in a big way. No one is complaining about the lack of a goal-line formation now. And maybe he and his team have improved their focus and attitude off the field as well: in previous years I’m not sure the Tigers would have produced such a dominating effort after a disappointing loss the week before. This year they did, and that’s why this season really is different.
Mizzou deserves every bit of credit they receive and probably a little more on top of that. For so long this program has been a joke or has choked, and this year the tide is turning. Not to say that a collapse isn’t possible, but that’s about as likely as Kansas going undefeated. Not happening.
Pinkel and his team say they don’t pay attention to rankings, but I’ll guarantee you that they’re all bursting with confidence right now. And you know what? I don’t see them losing it anytime soon.
In the season that Michigan loses to Appalachian State, Kansas goes 7-0, and three straight #2 teams lose, I don’t see any reason why Mizzou shouldn’t contend for the national title.
Damn, it feels good to be a Tiger.
-- Tyson Sprick
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