It wasn’t long ago I said that Mizzou had arrived in Big-Time football. Another step to that regular status took place against Oklahoma State last Saturday night. They lost their last game of the season if they want to remain in that rarified air.
At this point, the lesson taught to them will carry for the rest of the season. You can lose in early October and still have a legitimate chance at the Bowl Championship Series. Anything after that and you put you fate in someone else’s hands.
The Mizzou game had a strange twist to it. The Tigers ran into a team that had excellent athletes who were well coached for the occasion. The Oklahoma State Cowboys frustrated the Tigers early and often and even exposed a few things along the way that future Tiger opponents will pay attention to. The lack of a short yardage game haunted Missouri last year, and now here we go again.
Memo to Mizzou: Recruit a fullback. The defense was exposed again, blitzing only to be caught in too much man-to-man coverage. All correctable issues. The hope is to have these items rectified soon.
MIZZOU travels to play the number one team in the country, Texas at Austin, this weekend. Surprisingly to some, it’s a very winnable game for the Tigers.
Rams win? Wow.
While it has been quite fashionable to pound on the Rams lately due to their shortcomings on the field, it must be noted that they now have their first win of the season. What does it mean?
The Rams will not have a winless season. The Rams have something to build on. The Rams liked playing for Jim Haslett. The Rams still have a shot at a top draft choice.
The Rams will find it tough to win their next few games, due to a schedule that features the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots. Both will be without their starting quarterbacks, but the Rams have a ways to go before that comes into play.
The Rams need to make a decision on Rich Incognito. This guy continues to take the same bonehead penalties that he did when he first started with the Rams. Everyone says “That’s Richie, he just battles.” I say that’s stupid and he will make the team’s battles tougher if he sticks around. We are not talking about a future hall of famer here. Future night club bouncer is more like it.
As for the Rams, it was evident from the effort they turned in for Jim Haslett that only Osama Bin Laden would have been less of coach than Scott Linehan in motivating players. Now that we know they have the ability to quit on whomever, the question remains how long will they play for Haslett and how good they are. If they start playing like pro bowlers, then we have a character issue. We now have a group that we cannot trust nor totally support. Only time will tell.