We’re now, what, about 29-30 hours removed from the end of the Texas Bowl? It’s pretty much time to move into Season Post-Mortem Mode, but since yesterday’s Links post didn’t actually have any links in it, here’s a smattering.

One of the bigger compliments you can give someone is acknowledging that they got under your skin.

Well done. By the way, Drew Lock wasn’t mad about Tom Herman’s taunting (at least, not really), so maybe we shouldn’t be either, huh?

“I didn’t,” Lock said, “but hearing about it, it’s kind of funny. ... When that coach is mocking your dance move, you must be doing something right. You’re not a nobody. You’re definitely doing something that’s catching other people’s attention.”

Mizzou sure could’ve used Emanuel Hall.

About midway through the second quarter or so, it hit me: is Hall getting completely shut down? Is he even on the field? As it turns out, it was the latter.

With horrendous field position limiting Drew Lock’s and Joe Jon Finley’s options, Mizzou most definitely could have used its best top-popper.

“When you’re sitting on the 5-yard line the playbook thins down to probably five to 10 plays,” Lock said. “And they’re definitely not shots downfield. You feel for (Finley) a little bit because that’s not a representation of how good of a coach he is.” [...]

To beat Missouri’s balanced attack, Texas flooded the secondary with defensive backs, usually two deep in coverage to guard against the long ball, and used their five-man fronts to outmuscle MU’s five- and six-man protections against the run and the pass.

Running back Damarea Crockett also didn’t play after attempting to get back up to speed during the bowl break. That absence was perhaps also felt, but thanks to the midseason emergence of both Ish Witter and Larry Rountree III, Mizzou was fine at running back. Hall’s emergence was a massive difference-maker for this offense, and his absence was felt much, much more.

One thing is certain: with J’Mon Moore gone, Hall is not allowed to get injured next year. Sorry, Emanuel. Hope you got all your nicks and dings out of the way this fall.

The Tigers also could’ve used Josh Heupel and Glen Elarbee.

That didn’t sit well with Marcell Frazier, who noticed that outgoing UCF head coach Scott Frost stayed to coach his team’s bowl game, but the incoming UCF head coach and OL coach didn’t do the same.

“Heupel left us in a bad position. It is what it is,” Frazier said. “And Elarbee left us in a bad position. As men, they have to look in the mirror. They let a bunch of teenage boys down, 18- and 19-year olds down. They left, and they have to do what’s best for their family, but I think it showed up a little bit today.

“We were doing things that we haven’t done since maybe the Auburn game. It showed up. You practice almost for a whole month without an O-coordinator or an offensive line coach after having one of the most dominating offenses in the nation, and it’s tough. I believe they let some guys down.”

Field position was going to hurt Mizzou’s aggressiveness no matter what, as was Hall’s absence. Plus, Texas’ defensive front is the best Mizzou had faced in quite a while, and that was going to be the case with or without Elarbee. But the absence of the two coaches certainly didn’t help, even if it’s hard to definitively say how much it hurt.

And now we wait.

It’s hard to move completely into 2018 Mode until a couple of things happen: 1) Barry Odom hires and offensive coordinator and 2) Drew Lock announces his stay-or-go decision.

Regarding the former:

(That’s from yesterday, so “tomorrow” is today.)

Regarding the latter:

“If we would have come out here and scored 150 points on them it wouldn’t have made a difference; (if we) came out and scored zero, wouldn’t have made a difference,” said Lock, whose 79-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second half led to the celebration that was mocked. “I still have things to evaluate still. Want to take in a little more information that I can before the January 15 deadline.”

Most of us agree that Lock should probably return, but it’s hard to fault him for gathering every possible piece of information in making this decision.

The OC will happen first, it’s safe to say. Tick tock.

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More Links:

• There were highlights!

• There was a press conference!

• Here are 10 season takeaways from PowerMizzou.
• Bowl travel over Christmas: a tricky proposition.
• There’s apparently a new wrestling event called the South Beach Duals, down in Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Mizzou is a part of it. Tough life. The fourth-ranked Tigers will take on No. 12 Cornell, No. 14 Rider, No. 24 UNC, and Kent State over two days.