The Missouri offense celebrates Brady Cook’s rushing touchdown during the homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at Faurot Field in Columbia. (MICHAEL BANIEWICZ/ROCK M NATION)

Nobody wearing black and Gold gave up on Saturday, and they got rewarded for their efforts.

Some quick observations from week number eight 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 – Improbable wins like this are hard to watch, but fun to relish afterward

If you’re like me you went through the entire spectrum of feels Saturday morning/afternoon watching our Tigers bumble, stumble, fight, scratch, claw and comeback for a Homecoming win that will be remembered for a long time.

The win certainly won’t go in the pantheon of beautiful games, but it will go down as one of the grittiest in program history. I’m no fan of the in-game win percentage analytics stats that are popular now, but I would imagine after Auburn pounced on a fumbled punt for a touchdown in the third quarter to take a 17-3 lead, that Mizzou’s win percentage had to be in the single digits – especially with the prospects of QB Brady Cook coming back seemingly out the window.

But the good guys did indeed hang around, thanks to the Tiger defense, and one crucial Drew Pyne-led scoring drive that ended in a field goal that served to give some hope. Then, Cook had his Willis Reed moment coming out of the lockerroom and Tiger Nation rejoiced at the end.

Saturday’s game reminded me of a couple other improbable Tiger comeback wins that will always stand out to me – 2005 versus Iowa State and 2014 at South Carolina.

The 2005 game of course featured freshman Chase Daniel coming off the bench for an injured Brad Smith and leading the Tigers to a 27-24 overtime win. Mizzou trailed 24-14 after a Cyclone TD with just nine minutes left in the game, and all seemed hopeless. But the offense scratched out a field goal drive to pull to within one score and after the defense forced a punt, Daniel and company drove for a game-tying TD with just :20 seconds remaining. In OT, Iowa State went first and missed their field goal, and the Tigers made theirs (by PK Adam Crossett) and they walked off the field 27-24 winners. It was the real start of the Chase Daniel legend.

In 2014, Mizzou drove for a TD on its opening possession, but it was all Carolina after that. The Gamecocks led 10-7 at halftime, and 13-7 after three quarters. All seemed hopeless when they took a 20-7 lead with just 7:25 left in the game – especially given the fact that Mizzou’s offense was flat out awful after the initial score. Get this – from Mizzou’s second offensive possession in the game, up until Carolina took that 20-7 lead – Mizzou had 11 drives. Those 11 drives resulted in 39 snaps and netted 69 yards. Total. That’s 1.8 yards per snap. The team was dead in the water and there was nothing other than blind faith to go on. But lightning struck in the 4th quarter when a 41-yard pass from QB Maty Mauk to WR Bud Sasser seemed to take the lid off and led to a TD run by RB Russell Hansbrough with 6:49 to play. The Tiger defense followed with a three-and-out and the offense put together the game-winning TD drive capped off on a 4th-and-1 score by Hansbrough from one yard out (his third rushing TD of the game). You walked out of the stadium that night feeling we’d stolen one.

There’s no real through line here linking all three of the games, other than all three seemed like there was no way the good guys would prevail. The 2005 win effectively saved a season and the 2014 win was a catalyst to an SEC Eastern Division title, and who knows what this one will lead to? No matter what plays out, it’s fun to look back and compare them. Let’s hope that Saturday’s unlikely win over Auburn propels Mizzou into a magical run the rest of this season.

2nd Quarter: SEC – Welcome to the SEC

It’s kind of rewarding as a fan to see Texas and Oklahoma get knocked down a peg, and that’s exactly what we saw on Saturday. Texas, previously undefeated and ranked #1, got manhandled by Georgia and OU was embarrassed by South Carolina. Making matters worse, both games for the SEC rookies were at home.

It’s just one week and as random as the results seem to pop up each week this season, who knows what’s in store for each team the remainder of 2024?

But the results were a clear wake up call for both programs just how tough the SEC is on a week-to-week basis. The level of athleticism in this league from top to bottom can’t be argued, and is head and shoulders above what they saw on a weekly basis in the Big 12. The Big 12 has some quality teams in 2024 and some very compelling story lines that we’re seeing play out this season.

That disclaimer aside – does anyone buy that Iowa State or BYU would be undefeated if they were in the SEC? I sure don’t. For my money, K-State is the best in the league and I expect to see them win it ultimately and gain the league’s automatic bid into the CFP. Colorado, Cincinnati, Texas Tech and Arizona State are all having nice seasons, but they wouldn’t stand a chance of contending in the SEC.

Texas and Oklahoma are going through the hard lessons learned that Mizzou experienced early in its SEC existence. Mizzou had seven straight winning seasons from 2005-11 as it exited the Big 12 but went just 5-7 in its first year in the SEC in 2012. There were a bunch of injuries that helped derail Mizzou’s inaugural SEC season for sure, but in general, it was really eye-opening to everyone in the Tiger program to see first hand just how big, fast, strong and talented the SEC athletes were.

I’m sure both UT and OU will be just fine long term, and it’s way too early to throw dirt on the Longhorns’ season. After all, they are still 6-1 and in line for CFP contention. It’s a little different down in Norman, where the Sooners are hurting at 4-3 and facing a schedule that includes games against Ole Miss, Mizzou, Alabama and LSU – instead of games against Cincinnati, Baylor, kansas and TCU. Good luck with that one.

Welcome to the SEC, guys.

3rd Quarter: National – Big games on tap this weekend

It’s still too early to spend much time debating who’s in or who’s out of the 12-team playoff field, but there are some big games this weekend on tap that will help shape the course of things going forward.

On Friday night, former Tiger player and coach Barry Odom and his UNLV Rebels host Boise State at 9:30 pm (central time) on CBS Sports Network. A lot of pundits have Boise as the most likely G5 representative in the CFP field, but UNLV could put a crimp in those plans with a win in this one.

Seems odd to say, but a huge game this week will see Navy host Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium on Saturday at 11 am (central). Navy has been a great story so far this year, as the Midshipmen are 6-0 and ranked, while Notre Dame seems to have put their shocking upset loss to Northern Illinois to bed. It’s hard to imagine Navy (or Army, for that matter) having a realistic shot at the CFP with even as much as one loss. But, if they can shock the world this week, all options are still alive.

Saturday afternoon at the same time Mizzou kicks at Alabama (2:30 pm central), Illinois plays at new #1 Oregon. The Ducks are three-TD favorites early on, but we’ll see how they handle the pressure of that ranking next to their name. You know Illinois will throw everything they can at this one, knowing that any loss the rest of the way probably knocks them out of at-large bid possibilities.

4th Quarter: Dealer’s Choice – Tiger fans hung in during dour times

I was in the stands Saturday in my usual seats in Section 126 and from my perspective, Tiger fans did themselves proud. Naturally the crowd looked great, with another packed stadium. There was great energy coming from the stands despite the early start, and even though there wasn’t much action to cheer over, the fans stayed involved, just hoping for something to break our way.

Then, when things turned dark and Auburn put a couple TDs on the board in the third quarter, a stunned silence crept over the crowd. With no prospect of Brady Cook returning at that time, a 17-3 deficit felt like it might as well have been 56-3. This is when I feel in the past, you would have seen a lot of fans head for the exits, even with a quarter-and-a-half left to play.

But the fans stuck around, hoping for a miracle, and you felt the energy pick up a little when Drew Pyne led a drive that ended in a field goal. Then, we suddenly saw Cook throwing the ball on the sideline and everyone started getting more excited. After a defensive stop, Cook took the field to huge cheers and chants of “Brady, Brady, Brady.” It was all magic after that.

In the end, Tiger fans got rewarded for their efforts with the amazing comeback win, and kudos to the fans for sticking out some ugly times – they deserved the Homecoming win. It doesn’t always work out for the good guys, but this is an example of why you never give up on your team, no matter how bad things look.