The second half of the season is a mystery
Let me admit something before I get started here — I’ve probably been a little too fatalist about this Missouri season.
Maybe it’s because I grew up in the era when Gary Pinkel was turning the Tigers from perennial mediocrity to consistent winner, but it’s hard to stomach “meh” football for a long time. I haven’t suffered like a lot of Missouri fans who had to sit through years of worse than “meh,” so I’m probably a little more impatient.
However, I’m not the only one that would say the second half of the season will likely have a large role in determining the future of the program. And one of the men at the helm, Drew Lock? He’s going to have a lot of say in which direction the ship is headed.
[Lock] has suddenly developed a severe case of happy-feet syndrome in the pocket and has made multiple references to adjusting to the changes in offensive philosophy under first-year coordinator Derek Dooley. Meanwhile, the Tigers are back to 3-3 on the season, and hearing the same questions about their quarterback’s struggle to play his best against the best competition.
If Lock doesn’t finish strong, Mizzou won’t. It’s as simple as that.
It’s been the thought since before this season started — Missouri will go as far as Lock can take them. Fans have been treated to a not terrible defense and a pretty good running game in the meantime, but we’ve also seen exactly how important Lock is to this team’s fortunes.
Good Lock is 3-0. Bad Lock is 0-3. Maybe that’s a little too simplistic... but it’s not too far off.
So where does Missouri go from here? Last year, the Tigers were all but buried and somehow got to the point where a 7-5 season one year later would feel like a disappointment. They’ve got a tougher schedule this time around, but it’s not undoable.
We have no idea how Missouri will finish off this year. It feels redundant to say it, but we’ll just have to wait and see how much this team has grown.
Other Mizzou Links
- Alex Schiffer kicks off the Memphis previews with his, “Five Things to Know.” One of them is not great news for fans or the team:
During his weekly chat with @Frank_Cusumano, Barry Odom confirmed that Emanuel Hall will miss Saturday's game vs Memphis. #Mizzou
— Brian Hoffman (@b_hoffman11) October 15, 2018
Take your time, Emanuel. Lord knows how difficult these past few weeks have been for him.
- Sean Williams at PowerMizzou took a closer look at some new names on Mizzou Football’s recruiting board ($$). Gabe also posted his Monday Morning thoughts (also $$).
Yesterday at Rock M
- Missouri’s season comes down to its second half — and there aren’t any gimmes
- Zoukeepers, Episode 8: Alabama, Drew Lock, and Mizzou is 3-3
- Missouri-Alabama snap counts: Tide gets pressure whenever it wants
More Links:
- Apparently, Nick Saban says quarterback Tua Tagovailoa could have gone back in against Missouri. Why he didn’t? Who knows? Probably didn’t have anything to do with the score. Definitely not. No way.
- Also on ESPN, several of the site’s First Half All-Americans are still on Mizzou’s schedule, including one coming up this weekend.
- Here’s your daily dispatch from the college hoops trials, where Kansas is 12 kinds of tied up with a really sketchy dude.
Gassnola testified that he was part of the shoe company’s “black ops” team, recounting an array of under-the-table financial moves that included payments to former Arizona forward—and most recent No. 1 NBA draft pick—Deandre Ayton, former N.C. State and current Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr., onetime Louisville commit Brian Bowen, and recent Kansas big men Billy Preston and Silvio de Sousa.
This is a fascinating story, but the ending seems pretty set in stone: nothing will happen to anyone involved, at least not to any of the major programs or their leaders. If you keep that in mind, you’ll save yourself some major disappointment.