Yes, unfortunately it did.

Some quick observations from week number six of the college football season, served up in four quarter style. Legal Disclaimer: these views are my own and may be really dumb.

1st Quarter – Mizzou: Some friendly advice for Tiger fans

Doling out life advice after your team gets curb stomped on national TV is an interesting way to start the week, but here we are. We all saw what happened Saturday in College Station. It was unexpected. It was shocking. It was awful. It was the type of outcome that could leave a mark on the psyche of Tiger fans for awhile. Hopefully it doesn’t leave a lasting mark on this team, but we’ll see what kind of culture is inside the locker room going forward. The team culture has seemed strong the last couple of years under Coach Drink, so let’s hope that’s a foundation built on brick and stone that keeps people together, and not one built on sand that falls apart during times of trouble.

It was fun having our Tigers be part of the national conversation and being featured on all of the talking head podcasts, studio preview shows, national media outlet stories, etc. for the season’s first six weeks. It’s not going to be fun going forward, and you’re going to hear the terms ‘fraud’ or ‘paper tiger’ or any number of ways that the pundits will be labeling this team for the time being.

My word of advice is this. If you are the type that gets easily upset by what media types say about your team, if you are the type that takes the jabs personally, if these things make your blood boil and make you get in wars of words online – just take a break this week. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of football social media/podcasts to help your peace of mind. Give yourself a break and don’t go there this week, unless you’re the type that can see that stuff and let it roll off your back. Focus on having a great week at work, with your family or your friends, and when you wake up Saturday morning, turn the TV on ESPN2 and at 11 am (central), grab your drinks and snacks and root like hell for the Tigers to have a great day.

Of course, we fully expect you to digest every single piece of content produced this week by the Rock M Nation team. There will be demerits issued for deserters there.

2nd Quarter – SEC: Thanks, Vandy, for easing the pain a bit

Holy cow is football a crazy variance game. Three unbeaten SEC teams in the top-10 got beat Saturday. In the only game that wasn’t an upset, our #9 Tigers got boat raced in College Station. Unranked Arkansas, which just might be in the process of saving Sam Pittman’s bacon, upset #4 Tennessee, 19-14 in a surprising result. And the ultimate coup was Vanderbilt erasing decades of futility against #1 Alabama and knocking the Tide off their pedestal with a 40-35 upset win that was their first over ‘Bama in 40 years. That reminded me of when Mizzou finally beat Nebraska in 2003 for the first time since 1978, that was such an watershed moment for the program and the fans.

On behalf of Mizzou fans, I’d like to thank Vandy for taking the spotlight off of our clunker against A&M. If ‘Bama and Tennessee had won their games, the Tigers would be getting 100% of the attention in SEC circles, but now we’re just part of what happened to be a random crazy week in a crazy sport.

I liken it to a dark day in Mizzou hoops history – the 2012 NCAA Basketball Tournament loss to Norfolk State. After we lost that game, it felt like the world had ended and we’d never live it down. But then just an hour later, mighty Duke suffered just as humbling of an upset to Lehigh to soften the blow just a bit. That helped me chalk it up to a bad, random day and that ultimately, sh%# happens, you know?

So thanks Vandy. And thanks Arky, for that matter. Us Mizzou fans appreciate you lessening the pain a bit. Oh, and screw you, Norfolk State. There, I feel better now.

3rd Quarter – National: It was madness, madness I tell you!

If you were wondering where all of the upsets had gone recently, then you really enjoyed the national landscape in week #6. After several weeks of very few surprises overall, this week delivered the drama big time.

Seventeen top-25 teams saw action this week. Seven of them went down in flames, including #1 Alabama, #4 Tennessee, #9 Mizzou, #10 Michigan, #11 USC, #22 Louisville and #25 UNLV.

An eighth ranked team should have been added to the mix, but #8 Miami, Fla. pulled yet another one out of the fire when they erased a 25-point second half deficit to post a 39-38 road win at California. That comes on the heels of Miami winning one of the luckiest games ever when they survived a successful Hail Mary touchdown pass on the last play of the game against Virginia Tech, only to have the Hokie score erased by a questionable replay review.

That’s two unbelievably lucky wins in a row for the ‘Canes, who are fast becoming very hateable again, akin to their dynasty days of the 1980s and early 90s.

4th Quarter – Potpourri: Mizzou’s offense had the right idea

With the catch-all category, I’m going to wrap up with one more thought about the Tigers.

On the lead up to Mizzou’s game at Texas A&M this past week, there was much discussion about the Tiger offense and would they look improved or any different than they had the first four games. I was part of that discussion on Rock M, as I was hopeful that the bye week would lead to being more aggressive.

On Saturday, SEC Nation was live from College Station, and they did an arrival interview with Coach Drinkwitz where he mentioned something that piqued my interest. I’m paraphrasing here, but at one point he acknowledged that the team had been playing “reserved” and that the coaches had been coaching “reserved” and that it was time to cut it loose.

Those were words I was wanting to hear, and despite the disastrous final outcome on the day, I do feel like the Tiger offense showed a more aggressive mindset initially. Unfortunately, things went sideways so fast that any game script quickly went out the window.

Throwing mid-range on the first play of the game was great to see, and then I liked the call to go on 4th down once the Tigers got into A&M territory. We all know that Mizzou got screwed royally by the overturning of the DPI call, and who knows how that might have changed the day? But aside from that, big plays were there to be had when the game was still in the balance, and the Tiger offense took their shots. Brady Cook and Theo Wease just missed on a potential house call when a pass down the left seam went off Wease’s fingertips. Hard to know if the missed connection was the throw being a little too inside the seam, or if Wease needed to bend his route out more than he did. Or perhaps it was both? Either way, you’ve got to make that play if you’re going to win a game like this on the road against a good team.

Of course, on the very next snap, Cook rolled the pocket right and found Luther Burden behind the coverage for a 75-yard catch-and-run TD to momentarily make it 10-7. An unfortunate lineman downfield penalty wiped that out to the collective disbelief of Tiger fans. After that happened, it seemed like Mizzou’s collective resolve went in the crapper, which was surprising and disappointing.

In the end, it was a butt-kicking in impressive fashion by A&M, and I am in no way trying to paint a rosy picture by saying the Tiger offense was better than it looked, because 10 points won’t cut it. However, I do feel good that they had the right gameplan and mindset going in on a day that just went haywire. Sometimes, the best-laid plans just don’t work. This was one of those days. If the Tiger defense had held up better, I like to think we would have seen the offense do some exciting things.