No pain, no gain. Or - in Mizzou football's case - lots of pain, possible gain

What's on

Sure, things were sad at the close of the night on Saturday, but there were plenty of highlights too!

Here's five of them. Some might argue that these were the best five things that happened. Are they right? Well, I'd say that's up to you.

You need to let go. It's time to move on.

Don't you dare let Barry Odom catch you focusing on the past. Mizzou plays Delaware State this weekend. It's time to start looking ahead. Let's do that.

Pain is good motivation

Columbia Tribune - Tigers look to put demons of agonizing loss to bed

Missouri Coach Barry Odom described the postgame locker room as being filled with frustration, anger and sadness.

"There were all the things that go along with pouring your soul into something and coming away on the wrong end of things," Odom said. "That hurts."

The loss lingered with Odom, too. He missed a chance to become Missouri’s first head coach to win his initial matchup against a ranked opponent since Warren Powers beat No. 5 Notre Dame 3-0 in 1978.

"I celebrate wins like nobody’s business, and I live in misery with losses," Odom said.

Post-Dispatch - Mizzou stewing over loss to Georgia

"I don’t think you ever move away from a loss," said Scherer, whose team hosts Delaware State (0-2) on Saturday. "I don’t think I moved away from losses we had three years ago. But you take the positives and the negatives and say, ‘If we would have just done this better, the outcome would have been different.’ I’m not into making a loss sound good, no matter if you lose by one point or whatever it is, but there are things we can look at and feel confident moving forward."

Black and Gold Illustrated - Mizzou Media Day Notebook: Moving on After a Loss to Georgia

Odom said there were a lot of emotions in the locker room afterward, but he wasn’t worry about that carrying over in a negative way going forward.

The first-year head coach said he spent a lot of time on Sunday with his players and they were anxious to get back to work and focus on the Tigers’ next opponent, Delaware State.

Columbia Tribune - TAKE TWO: Odom, Tigers suited to gain from pain

No one was more busted up afterward than MU’s leader, who went on to make it clear that the Tigers will perfect what they have planned but more importantly learn and adjust.

The blueprint is solid, one that just takes a little patience from the faithful, as those who dogged the defensive line through the first two games witnessed with Saturday’s shutdown effort from that unit. It’s the call for introspection and outward adaptation that has to be so heartening for fans, though.

Pinkel deserves much credit for getting Missouri to a point in which playing for conference titles was the expectation. And he advanced the Tigers there by changing his offense, his philosophy, his demeanor just enough. To put MU on that next plane, though, he needed to better follow that instinct to throw in a few more wrinkles and forsake "WDWWD."

Charles Harris has arrived. Be afraid.

Post-Dispatch - Tigers welcome back Charles Harris

Last week, Harris indicated there’s been some friction with the staff’s changes to the defense, especially for the linemen, who aren’t unleashed to rush the pocket on every snap in Cross’ more structured, gap-control read-based scheme.

"I knew (the sacks) were going to come," he said. "It’s just a matter of time a matter of executing, a matter of staying true to playing within Cross’ (plan), whatever he wanted me to do. I’m the player. He’s the coach. I’m doing whatever he wants me to do. I’m trusting that."

Cross said the defense’s commitment to the new system was much better Saturday and credited the improvement for MU’s smothering run defense.

The offense is also in the building. They're in the cheap seats, but there's room to move up.

Post-Dispatch - Mizzou notes: Offense exceeding Odom's expectations

Odom hoped the addition of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel would transform his offense but kept his expectations under control.

"I had some hesitation getting excited about it because I wanted to see it," he said. "But I thought we had a shot at doing some of the things we’re doing. I needed to see it with the lights on. I needed to see it in real life in competitive environments. I hope we continue to progress because there’s still a lot out there that side can do."

KC Star - Energetic Kendall Blanton caves out playmaking roll in Mizzou's offense

"They gave me this chance to be here," said Blanton, who was also a prep basketball star. "I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to be anywhere else, and they gave me this chance to be here and I’m grateful for that. So, it’s a great day to be a Tiger every day I come out here."

Perhaps no day was greater — at least, so far — than two weeks ago when Blanton caught his first career touchdown during a 61-21 rout against Eastern Michigan.

It was Blanton’s first trip to the end zone since Nov. 1, 2013, when he scored on an 85-yard catch and run in leading Blue Springs South to an 11-8 upset against Rockhurst during the opening round of the Missouri Class 6 state playoffs his senior year of high school.

We've got ourselves a Braggin' date

MUTigers.com - Mizzou Hoops at Braggin' Rights Slated for ESPNU

Mizzou Men's Basketball will face Illinois in the 36th Annual Bud Light Braggin' Rights Game on national television, with the game scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT broadcast on ESPNU on Wednesday, Dec. 21. The yearly clash between the Tigers and Fighting Illini takes place once again inside the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Running, running. And running, running.

MUTigers.com - Commodore Classic Win Earns Schweizer SEC Runner of the Week

Following a first-place finish at the Commodore Classic on Sept. 12, junior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) was named the Southeastern Conference Runner of the Week, announced by the conference office on Tuesday. The honor marks the first time in her career Schweizer has won the award.

The Tiger junior shaved 13 seconds off her personal-record time to win the 5000m race with a time of 16:46.70, finishing 13 seconds ahead of the runner-up. In a field of 261 runners that featured five SEC schools, including No. 19 Mississippi State and No. 26 Vanderbilt, Schweizer guided Mizzou to a fifth-place finish at Percy Warner Park.

The win is Schweizer's second career first-place finish after winning the 5000m race at the Forest Park XC Festival in St. Louis, Mo., on Sept. 11, 2015.

Gotta.

Go.

Fast.