Missouri nearly had their comeback sealed.
I wanted to write about the unbelievable catch Luther Burden III made to put Missouri back in the lead. I wanted to be able to write about another Brady Cook comeback and game winning drive. And maybe even talk about Eli Drinkwitz and his close game magic the last few years.
But sometimes it just doesn’t fall your way.
Facing a 21-6 halftime deficit, the Tigers stormed the field at Williams-Brice Stadium for 29 minutes… and felt short in the final one. I hate giving credit to South Carolina, mostly because I’m still not convinced Shane Beamer is a good coach. But he’s certainly got his team playing really well, and they executed far better than the Tigers did in the final minute. Which is all that ended up mattering.
In games like this, most of the attention will fall onto the failings in the last minute when you had a lead and a chance to hold South Carolina’s offense down. Mizzou’s defense struggled with tackling all game long, really, but especially in the final quarter. But the biggest missed tackle might have been Johnnie Walker, Jr. letting LaNorris Sellers wiggle out of a sack on a 3rd and 10 with 7 minutes to play. Missouri was up 22-21 at that point, and putting SC in a 4th and very long deep in their own territory means you’re getting the ball back with a chance keep the momentum.
By that point the defense had stiffened and forced the Gamecocks scoreless on three straight drives. So instead Sellers recovered and threw for a 1st down, extended the drive and they were able to score shortly after. That play shifted the game back to a toss up.
Did Mizzou miss the opportunity? Yes, they did. But for what this season has become I feel pretty good with how things went.
Maybe it’s a myopic way to look at the season. And no doubt you’re going to feel like this game slipped away from you. On the flip side, South Carolina has been playing really good football and were on the verge of blowing you out. They had Missouri on the ropes.
Last week the Gamecocks slapped Vanderbilt 28-7 on the road. Two weeks ago they hammered a (then) 10th ranked Texas A&M squad. Three games ago they blitzed Oklahoma. The combined score in those games was 107-36. Most fans think of South Carolina as the team who no-showed against Ole Miss, but they also nearly beat Alabama and probably should have beaten Alabama. They smoked Kentucky. And had LSU on the ropes before letting that game slip away. What I’m saying is U of SC is way better than we expected them to be before the season.
Missouri took their best haymaker, got back up and started punching right back.
There are no moral victories in the SEC. I’m not talking about moral victories. The Tigers are a relative to preseason expectations 7-3. They need a win on the road at Mississippi State and a home win over a stingier-than-you-think Arkansas squad to get to 9-3 and feel like they got close enough to those preseason expectations. 10 wins is on the table, with a bowl win.
I’m not sure how much you’re watching the rest of the league or the rest of college football, but back-to-back double digit win seasons isn’t easy to do. 5 teams won double digit games last year. 3 of those teams won double digit games the year before. 7 teams in the SEC still have a chance at 10 wins this year. Texas is the only team with 9 wins, and 5 teams have 8 wins:
- Texas 9-1
- Texas A&M 8-2
- Georgia 8-2
- Tennessee 8-2
- Alabama 8-2
- Ole Miss 8-2
- South Carolina 7-3
- Missouri 7-3
If Missouri plays like they did in the second half against MSU and Arkansas, I suspect they finish 9-3. That had the look of the team we’ve been hoping to see all season. They were physical up front and wore down a spunky Carolina front four. They scored more points against SC than anyone other than LSU.
I’m disappointed Missouri lost. It was there, they had it and let it slip away like LaNorris Sellers running through a tackle. Any playoff picture is all but gone at this stage of the game, and that’s ok. It stinks, sure. But go finish this season strong and you still have a lot to show for the kind of program you’re wanting to build.
Other SEC Scores:
- (3) Texas 20, Arkansas 10
- (12) Georgia 31, (7) Tennessee 17
- (10) Alabama 52, Mercer 7
- (15) Texas A&M 38, New Mexico State 3
- Florida 27, (22) LSU 16
- Kentucky 48, Murray State 6
- Auburn 48, UL Monroe 14
