The Missouri football team has officially passed its first test of the season. For the first time since coach Gary Pinkel’s initial season, the Tigers have not dropped a game in the opening five games of the season.
It might seem a little disheartening to think that it has taken more than three years to get to the point where the Tigers can win the games that they’re supposed to, but there’s no denying that this team is showing a level of maturity that was nowhere to be found in the teams from the past four seasons.
That maturity was never more evident than it was Saturday as MU pulled out a 28-13 victory against Colorado. The Buffaloes were hanging with the Tigers at the start of the second half when CU quarterback Bernard Jackson completed a 63-yard pass to Dusty Sprague and two plays later punched the ball into the end zone making the score 21-13.
The Tigers followed with a horrendous looking drive that stalled after a series of questionable play calls that included a trick pass play to Chase Daniel, a kneel down after it appeared that Daniel thought there was an offside penalty but the play was never blown dead (Daniel began screaming at the officials once the whistle blew), and a fake field goal on consecutive plays.
Colorado had the ball with good field position, putting the Tigers up against the ropes.
In years past, this was the cue for the Tigers to lose their composure, fall apart and suffer a devastating loss. But not this team. The Tiger defense forced a quick three-and-out, and the offense followed that with a touchdown drive to make the score 28-13 and regain control of the game.
A series of eerily similar events occurred three weeks ago at the start of the second half of the Tigers’ game against Ole Miss that produced the same results.
And that, Tiger fans, is why there is reason to believe that this team is legit. That ability to take a punch, to have things not go their way and still keep their composure, is what leads me to believe that we could be seeing the Tigers playing for a Big 12 championship come December.
That’s not to say that everything is perfect on Faurot Field. The past three victories have all been ugly. Missouri’s top ranked defense gave up 373 yards to the worst team in the Big 12 on Saturday. As good as Daniel has been, he still tends to stare down his receivers from time to time and needs to learn when to cut his losses and take a sack. And the best team the Tigers have beaten won a total of three games last season.
But the bottom line is the Tigers are 5-0 for the first time since 1981. The fact that Pinkel was able to lead his team through the first five games without stumbling has to rank the victory over Colorado on Saturday as one of the biggest wins during his tenure at MU.
Now the Tigers travel to Lubbock, Texas, to face a good Texas Tech team. The game will be nationally televised Saturday night on TBS, and the real test will begin.
csg446@mizzou.edu
Copyright 2007 - MOP Squad Sports
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