2022-23 Rock M’mys: Gut-Wrenching Moment

It’s awards season at Rock M Nation, and we’ve got a lot to celebrate from the 2022-23 school year. New hires, postseason highs, incredible individual and team performances... There’s a lot of good things going on in CoMo, and we intend to talk about it.

And because we always strive to do things a bit differently around here, and because — let’s face it — I’m a bit extra, we’ve created our own award, the Rock M’my. Consider it to be part Emmy, part Espy, and all parts love of Mizzou Athletics. (pronounced Rock Emmy)

With the help of our team, we brainstormed award names and threw out some nominations. I encouraged the writers to not just consider the major sports and the top dogs, but to dig below the surface and select worthy nominees from all the teams. Luckily, our staff represents a diverse group of writers with knowledge about a variety of Mizzou sports, so this wasn’t too much of an ask. With each nomination, you’ll also find a bit of backstory, so you, the fans, can make an informed decision, because at the end of each post, you’ll vote.

Once all the votes for each award have been tabulated, I’ll present a winners list, and that student-athlete will win our completely serious award that will undoubtedly be the greatest triumph of their lives thus far.

In case you missed the vote (which closes July 4 at 7pm):

• Newcomer of the Year
• I’m Him/I’m Her
• Best Performance in a Supporting Role
• Most Euphoric Moment

Let’s begin.

On the flip side of all the great things that happened this season in Mizzou Athletics — see Thursday’s Most Euphoric Moment or the week prior’s I’m Him/I’m Her— there also were those moments that left you feeling a sense of despair, swearing, dramatically sighing, thinking we’d all been Mizzou’d again. Moments you wish you’d developed very specific amnesia so you could avoid thinking about it ever again. It could have been an injury (or several), an unexpected trouncing, a bad losing streak, a shitty call that determined an outcome of a game. Something that made you go, “Ew” and retreat to the nearest watering hole, another tv channel, or anywhere else to get away from that. Because unfortunately, with all the good there was a good bit of unpleasantness mixed in.

This is our final category of the Rock M’mys before we present the winners, so might as well go out on a really sad note, right?! Might need some therapy after this, especially if you’re a football fan (yikes).

Here are the nominees for Gut-Wrenching Moment

Mizzou vs. Auburn Football

Missouri fans are used to having their hearts (metaphorically) ripped out, but twice in the span of, like, 30 minutes? That’s exactly what happened against Auburn, when Harrison Mevis booted what would’ve been a game-winning 26-yard field goal at the end of regulation, followed by Nathaniel Peat dropping the ball at the one-millimeter line on what would’ve been a game-winning touchdown in OT.

The odds of these two things happening were astronomically low. Including extra points, Mevis had converted 91 (!) consecutive kicks from inside the 20-yard line up until his John Carney-esque shank, and Peat hadn’t fumbled in 163 carries up until his loss-sealing screw-up.

Usually, when players drop the ball before the goal-line, it’s because they celebrated too early. This time, the ball literally just fell out of Peat’s hand. God was a Tigers fan on that fateful September afternoon…just not the one that Missouri fans would’ve wanted them to be. — Quentin Corpuel

40-12 against K State

In my short history of covering sports, I have rarely seen a game take the winds out a program’s sails quite like this one did. Entering the 2022 season, many people labeled the KSU-Mizzou matchup as a pivotal swing game for both teams that should come down to the fourth quarter.

Instead, the Missouri offense sputtered to a halt on the road, as Brady Cook could get nothing going and the running game was nonexistent. On a rainy morning in Manhattan, K-State exposed the Tigers and created a sour environment around the program for roughly a month. -Parker Gillam

Pitching Depth Decimated

Mizzou Baseball started off the season with an impressive 17-3 record with wins over Texas and TCU, plus a sweep over Tennessee (all three Super Regional teams). For the first time since joining the SEC, it felt like Steve Bieser’s club was on track to reach the NCAA Tournament with an impressive resume they built early on.

However, losing high quality arms for the rest of the season in rapid succession like Carter Rustad, Tony Nuebeck, Ian Lohse, and Sam Horn was just too much to overcome for this team to survive the SEC gauntlet — and it ultimately ended Bieser’s tenure at Missouri. — Sammy Stava

Border War No-Show

After racing to a 9-0 start to the season, Mizzou returned home in early December for their first Border War Showdown affair in Columbia in a decade. Mizzou Arena greeted the Tigers with an environment reminiscent of days long ago. What followed wasn’t so much a gut-wrenching moment, but an endless sequence of torture. Mizzou found themselves down 30-16 at the twelve minute mark of the opening stanza. The Tigers could never find footing and eventually succumbed to their bitter rivals by a decidedly large margin. The good vibes generated by a hot start quickly turned in to the all too familiar sense of, “Here we go again.” -Matt Watkins

The Dream Dies Against Georgia

The 2022 Georgia Bulldogs may be the best college football team to ever play the sport. Is that too far-fetched? It doesn’t feel like it, not after watching them steamroll their way to a perfect season, topped by a frog massacre in Inglewood.

For one night, though, the Bulldogs were mortal. And that night was in early October, when a thoroughly mediocre Missouri Tigers team was minutes away from rewriting the narrative on one of the sport’s greatest juggernauts. While the first half was an unexpected delight, the Bulldogs started to slowly drain the Tigers’ blood throughout the third quarter. The killshot came in the fourth quarter, when Mizzou’s second-to-last drive, one that brought them 30 yards in three plays, ended with a 29-yard punt to give Georgia massively favorable field position. That’s when the nausea set in for me. —Josh Matejka

Lady Vol Meltdown

After a hot start to conference play, Missouri WBB hit a bit of skid as they faced the gauntlet of Arkansas, LSU and South Carolina. Riding a 3-game losing streak, the Tigers desperately needed to pull off a tough win when the Lady Vols came to town in late January. It seemed like everything was coming together for the Tigers, and a Hayley Frank three-pointer with 1:25 left in the game made it 65-60 Mizzou. On the ensuing possession, the Tigers forced a Lady Vol turnover, seemingly sealing the dub with 1:01 left.

Unfortunately, the Tigers completely lost their bearings after this. Following two Tiger turnovers that resulted in five points on the board thanks to a blatant missed carry call on Rickea Jackson, the momentum shifted and the score was all knotted up with the Lady Vols in possession of the ball. With nine seconds to go, Jackson then took the ball to the basket with the Tigers’ defense unable to recover in time to get a good contest. She sunk the and-one bucket with just one second to go, resulting in the Lady Vols 68-65 win. The Tigers’ late game collapse started a familiar trend that would continue into the rest of the season. -Adeen Rao & Lauren Rosenberg

Roughing the Kicker, Seriously?

For a moment, the Missouri crowd roared as the Tigers looked to have made their most impactful stop of the season against Kentucky. But then, a booming punt went out of bounds as a penalty flag hit the ground near the goal line. What happened next could only be described as the epitome of the Missouri football season.

Will Norris was flagged with roughing the kicker, despite pleas from those watching throughout the stands and Twitter that the punter had stepped out of the tackle box after a botched snap. The penalty moved the Wildcats up 15 yards and gave them a fresh set of downs, essentially clinching the Tigers’ fourth SEC loss. It’s safe to say that gut-wrenching moment played at least a small part in Missouri’s next game—a 42-point throttling to Tennessee—and the infamous call makes Tiger fans wonder as to what could have been had they been awarded the ball with over two minutes remaining. -Brandon Haynes

SEC Tourney Blowout

For the majority of the game, it seemed like Mizzou Women’s Hoops would break their 10-game losing streak against Arkansas which started in 2019-2020, the first post-Sophie Cunningham season. The Tigers looked refreshed and ready to go with the NCAA Tournament still on their radar. They had forced star Razorback Erynn Barnum into foul trouble and led 64-56 in the third quarter. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Arkansas came out rolling with a huge fourth quarter run and outscored Mizzou 29-10 to kick the Tigers out of the tournament with a final score of 85-74 and put the nail in the coffin of their NCAA Tourney hopes. -Lauren Rosenberg

Time to Vote!