
Plus, thoughts on the SEC title game, flag planting and more
Some observations from week number 14 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 – Thanks to Theo
My colleagues at Rock M Nation have analyzed Saturday’s win over Arkansas quite thoroughly, and my thoughts were pretty simple – that game was a perfect microcosm of the entire 2024 Mizzou season. Uncomfortable at times, a little ugly, but a gritty, never-say-die team found a way to gut out a win. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but it was a blast to be part of.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, a 9-3 season will land the Tigers agonizingly short of the first-ever 12-team playoff. I still submit that they would be in the mix for an at-large bid had they been able to hold off South Carolina and stood 10-2 right now. And as much of a bummer as that is for everyone who dreamt of a playoff game for Mizzou, I still think this season should be viewed as a big positive overall. I think it shows that the Tigers can be in the hunt more often than not in this new era of college football.
While all of the seniors who were recognized before Saturday’s game deserve a ton of praise, I wanted to focus here on one of them who I feel played a huge role in this team’s success the past two seasons – wideout Theo Wease, Jr.
Wease might not have set any receiving records in his two years at Mizzou, but this dude was money anytime the ball came his way. The 70-yard catch-and-run he had against Arkansas Saturday might have been the key play of the game – even though it didn’t end in a touchdown. That play led to a field goal which changed the complexion of the fourth quarter game flow. And it was representative of the big-moment ability that the Oklahoma transfer brought to this offense.
There’s no doubt that Wease benefited from opposing defenses focusing a lot of their energy on containing his counterpart Luther Burden III these past two years. But he still had to make plays and do his job whether his number was called or not – and by all accounts he was one hell of a leader on the game field, on the practice field, and in the locker room.
We’ve only been in the transfer portal era for a few years now, so I’m sure Drink and staff will continue to bring in major impact transfers, but it’s hard to imagine one who will be such a hit as Wease. To me, he’ll be the gold standard going forward for what a transfer portal addition can do for your team.
In his 25 career games as a Tiger, Wease produced 104 catches for 1,491 yards and nine touchdowns. He caught at least one ball in every single game here. Those are some great numbers, and when you factor in the leadership he provided to a program trying to find its footing, there’s a lot to be thankful for.
I have no idea if Theo will play in Mizzou’s bowl game or not, and if he decides to sit out and not risk his health in order to prepare for the next level, I would totally get it. I, along with all Tiger fans, would be sad to have seen him in his last game at Mizzou, but if that proves to be the case, at least he went out on a high note.
Either way, I hope he got one hell of a big stone from the Rock M after the game.
He deserved it.
2nd Quarter: SEC – Title Game Rematch
Well, we made it through an exciting season of SEC football, and in the end, the final standings didn’t get as chaotic as they looked like they might 2-3 weeks ago, when there were some real possibilities of a 7-8 team tiebreaker coming into play for determining the SEC Championship Game participants.
In the end, it was pretty cut-and-dry. Texas, 7-1 in league play, will face off against 6-2 Georgia. The Bulldogs were tied at second in the standings along with Tennessee, but held the head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to a regular season win over the Volunteers.
Most pundits seem to think that no matter the result of this weekend’s game in Atlanta, that both UT and UGA will advance to the 12-team playoff. I tend to agree, but I do think it’s fair to wonder if that would be the case should the game result in a blowout win by Texas that deals Georgia its third loss of the season?
Of course, this game serves as a rematch of a regular-season contest won by Georgia, 30-15, in Austin, Texas in October. The game wasn’t as close as the final score indicated, so it’s a little interesting to see that the Longhorns have been installed initially as field goal favorites for a game being played in Georgia’s backyard.
This will mark the eighth time since the inception of the SEC Championship Game in 1992 that the title game was a rematch of a regular-season contest. In five of the seven previous instances, the team which won the regular-season game, also won the championship contest. It hasn’t happened in awhile though, with the last time coming in 2017. That year, Auburn downed Georgia 40-17 in Auburn, Ala., but Georgia returned the favor in Atlanta with a 28-7 win in the rematch.
This time around, the psychology of the game is intriguing to me. Yes, of course, both teams want to win the SEC trophy and claim the subsequent first-round playoff bye that will undoubtedly come with it.
But, knowing that they are both likely in the playoff win or lose, just how much effort and energy will they expend to win this one? I feel weird to even suggest that they won’t both go all out, but you have to admit there could be a point when one team decides to downshift if they can tell the game won’t go their way, or if a key player gets knocked out of the game due to an injury.
Regardless, here’s hoping for a great championship game, and a memorable post-season for this historic college football season.
3rd Quarter: National – Rivalry Week and the Planting of Flags
Rivalry Week came and went and it did not disappoint. Lots of exciting games all over the country that included big upsets, and dramatic finishes galore.
I don’t remember the act of planting your school’s flag in the middle of your opponent’s field being such a big deal in the past, but it sure took center stage this weekend. It all started with Michigan at Ohio State. When the Wolverines pulled off the huge upset, Michigan players grabbed their flag and proceeded to the 50-yardline where they rubbed salt in Ohio State’s wound by waving and planting the flag quite emphatically.
We all saw what resulted – a pretty involved brawl that included some injuries and according to news reports, pepper spray being used on participants. While it was compelling TV, ultimately it’s something that puts a pock mark on the game.
I think it’s reasonable to understand both sides of the equation here. Michigan was a three-TD underdog in what’s been a disappointing season overall for the defending national champs. You get the emotions and what prompted them to celebrate like they did. You also certainly get the frustration that boiled over from Ohio State and wanting to defend their home turf. I imagine that Buckeye fans are lamenting the fact that their team didn’t show as much fight during the game as they did in the post-game brouhaha.
As the day progressed, we also saw flag-planting efforts by winning visiting teams North Carolina State (at North Carolina), Arizona State (at Arizona) and Florida (at Florida State) get met with resistance by the losing home teams, at varying levels of altercation.
Lastly, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian drew praise in how he handled his team’s on-field celebration after they won at Texas A&M. His Longhorn players seemed intent on planting a flag at midfield, but Sark quickly ran out there and put a stop to it before things escalated. He acknowledged after the game that he had seen on TV what took place earlier in the day in Columbus, Ohio, and that he acted because he didn’t want that type of situation to go down in College Station.
Passion is one of the main reasons we all love college football so much. It’s just a different feel with college football as it relates to the NFL. Sure, there’s tons of passion for the pro version of the game, but it’s just different at the college level. With that, it’s so easy to go overboard when you win, and it’s really hard not to overreact too emotionally after a devastating loss.
I’m sure we’ll see plenty of penalties and suspensions handed down for all of the transgressions this past weekend. I’m not sure what kind of rules can be created to prevent this from happening in the future, but I’m sure we’ll see some kind of legislative efforts to try and put a stop to it.
4th Quarter: Dealer’s Choice – When Weather Ruins Your Plans
The weather that rolled through mid-Missouri on Saturday was really unfortunate for everyone – the teams, the fans, the Athletics Department, the City of Columbia – you name it. It was a bummer that the stands weren’t jam-packed for this senior class that gave us so many memorable moments these past several years, but it’s understandable that people chose to stay home given the nasty weather and road conditions.
Personally, it was a bummer for me, too, because I’m part of that last grouping of out-of-town fans who didn’t make the trip in after evaluating the road conditions. We live at the Lake of the Ozarks and had our whole family together for the holiday. We had plans for all of us to be there Saturday, but when we woke up that morning to see the snowy, icy and worsening conditions, we had a decision to make. It went back-and-forth all morning, but when our daughters kept seeing reports of accidents and even one tragic fatal crash near Columbia, we put it to a vote.
It was a split decision, but ultimately the vote was to not chance it, so we stayed home and watched the first half at a bar on the Bagnell Dam strip, then went home for the second half. Our decision not to go was very conservative, no doubt, and I had buddies who gave me grief for choosing not to go, so there’s that. But we were going to either go or not go as a family, because we don’t get to have our girls with us all that often – it was either all in or all out, no half measures.
Our youngest daughter had a recent scare driving in snowy/icy conditions where she goes to college. That still bothers her, so that was a big part of the decision. I wish like heck that the weather would have been tame enough to make the trip in, but I’ll never apologize for choosing the safety of my family over anything. I did feel some fan guilt for not going and I wish we could have been there, but I won’t regret the choice.
I know there were a lot of Tiger fans (especially from the KC side of the state) who chose to brave the elements, and kudos to all of you. I believe there were a fair amount of others who chose to stay home. Kudos to you, as well. I hope nobody regrets their choice, whether to go or stay home.
In the end, we’ve all have to make these types of nuanced decisions, where there’s really no right or wrong answer.
Except for one – eff kU.
That’s never the wrong call.
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