Twelve random thoughts on the Big XII title game

December 2, 2007

Twelve random thoughts on the Big XII title game

1. For the third straight game against Oklahoma, Missouri’s vaunted offense blew the game while its defense played well enough to win. Turnovers, as usual, were the difference. In the past three Oklahoma games, every tipped pass seemingly went right into a Sooner defender’s hands. That’s a combination of good defense and luck – sorry, Coach Stoops, luck is a factor on those plays.

2. I’m surprised Oklahoma lost a game this season. How did Texas Tech and Colorado beat this team? Missouri blew Tech and Colorado’s doors off. Oklahoma has tons of speed at the skill positions, it’s physically dominant at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and the precocious Sam Bradford is as good as any QB Stoops has ever had.

3. I wanted to choke Brent Musberger, and normally I’m a fan of his work. I saw the Missouri-Kansas game in person, but I did notice that on the Tigers’ winning safety that Musberger seemed rather melancholy. However, when the Sooners took a three-possession lead, Musberger gleefully shouted, “Boomer Sooner!”

Also, he claimed that OU would be an even bigger favorite if running back DeMarco Murrary had played. That statement is highly questionable since Allen Patrick and Chris Brown aren’t exactly chopped liver. And didn’t Missouri miss Chase Coffman more than Oklahoma missed Murray? I certainly think so, especially in the red zone.

Seriously, Brent, what the hell? Are you upset that Missouri is a better journalism school than Northwestern, or what?

4. Tommy Saunders, for the second straight week in a huge game, was outstanding. With so many great players around him, Saunders is probably the most overlooked Tiger. His toughness and uncanny ability to catch crucial third-down passes will be even more important next season with Martin Rucker graduating.

5. I haven’t questioned our play-calling all year, but Missouri ran far too many swing passes and screens early in the game. Speaking of which, where was the fake screen? That play works seemingly every time, and the way the Sooners were flying to the ball on those plays, you know it would have worked Saturday too.

Furthermore, the second play from scrimmage never had a chance. Even if Oklahoma didn’t immediately jump on Saunders, a pass thrown that far behind the line of scrimmage isn’t going to fool anyone. It was obviously a WR pass from the moment the ball left Daniel’s hand.

6. College football might be my favorite sport, but its postseason system is moronic and unfair on many levels. Either every conference should have a championship game or none of them should. If the Tigers were in the Big 10 or Pac 10, they would have made the BCS title game after the Kansas win. Instead, Missouri played an Oklahoma team that is as good as any in the country when playing its best. Meanwhile, Ohio State sits on its keister and wins a ticket to New Orleans. How is that fair? What would happen if the Buckeyes had to play Michigan or Illinois again?

I’m in favor of an eight-team playoff, but not because I feel sorry for USC, Georgia or LSU if they get left out; those teams had their chances. The real problem is a team like Hawaii or Boise State has ZERO chance of winning the national championship no matter what it does. Public perception and hype should not be factors in crowing a champion. There is a reason why games aren’t played on paper; sports are much more unpredictable than the so-called experts are willing to admit. Kirk Herbstreit – in my opinion, one of the best analysts on TV – essentially said Pittsburgh had zero chance of beating West Virginia and would lose by five touchdowns. How’d that work out?

7. I’m going to sound like a complete homer here, but the Missouri-Oklahoma game was not nearly as lob-sided as the 38-17 final indicated. Not to take anything away from the Sooners, but the Tigers shot themselves in the paw at crucial times:

-Chase Daniel uncharacteristically overthrew an open Martin Rucker in the end zone early in the game, and Missouri settled for a field goal. The Tigers couldn’t punch it in with two chances from the 1 and again took three instead of seven.
-With the game tied at 14, Missouri’s offense was rolling. But Daniel took a bad sack at an even worse time by rolling too far out of the pocket. Right tackle Colin Brown had his man sealed off to the outside, but Daniel inexplicably scrambled to the outside and ultimately stalled the drive. There was no reason to leave the pocket.
-Daniel drilled Rucker in the face with a pass that was intercepted by Oklahoma. It appeared that there was a miscommunication of some sort on the play, because Rucker looked for the ball too late.
-Oklahoma tried to give Missouri life with a first-down holding penalty when the Tigers trailed by 11. However, that advantage was negated on the following play by a ridiculous 15-yard facemask penalty. It was indeed a facemask, but there’s no way it should have been a personal foul.

8. Sometimes, I wonder why I love sports so much. Missouri is 11-2 and enjoying by far its best season of my life and arguably in its history, and yet, I’m still bummed out.

9. Missouri’s two-point conversion was a beautiful play and helped give it some momentum before halftime, but at that point in the game, the PAT would have been the wise choice. If it failed, Missouri trails 14-12, and Oklahoma would have made it a two-possession game with its next touchdown. Sure, Missouri MIGHT have eventually had to go for two, but there’s no reason to do it that early in the game. Coach Pinkel needs to burn that godforsaken chart.

10. Jeff Wolfert is still perfect in his Big XII career. Enough said.

11. Despite the pain of coming so close to playing for the national championship and losing, Missouri has nothing to be ashamed of. It lost two games to one excellent team. People have been waiting for the Tigers to take the next step under Pinkel, and this season was it; Big XII North champions, a school-record 11 wins, a 7-1 conference mark in the regular season, possibly a BCS bowl appearance, and Daniel will likely make a trip to the Downtown Athletic Club next week.

Missouri will undoubtedly be in the preseason top-10 in 2008, and we’ve recruited arguably the two best QBs in the state. The world is not coming to an end; it just feels that way right now.

12. Let’s go kick some ass in our bowl game.