Spare thoughts from Mizzou’s 28-21 win over Arkansas

Dec 3, 2024 | Uncategorized

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Missouri offensive lineman Cam’Ron Johnson (74) plays in the snow after the win against Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024 at Faurot Field in Columbia. (MICHAEL BANIEWICZ/ROCK M NATION)

Let’s close the notebook on Arkansas, shall we?

Sammy had some thoughts this weekend on Mizzou’s 28-21 win over Arkansas. But we’re not done yet!

It’s OK to enjoy Mizzou’s season, even if it wasn’t perfect

This sort of feels like one of those things that shouldn’t need to be said to reasonable adults. But we watch college football, so can it be said of us that we’re reasonable adults?

If we could make a word bubble graphic to chart which words are being used in discussion of this season, I think “disappointment” would be one of the biggest words on the board. Between the offensive regression and the falling just short of College Football Playoff expectations, it’s difficult to look at the season and feel 100 fine about how everything went down.

I should also say that if someone tries to scold you for expressing that disappointment, don’t let them! It’s OK to want better things for your football team, and accepting that standard is something the current staff has encouraged. Eli Drinkwitz isn’t going to be content to go 7-5 four seasons in a row just so he can have double digit wins every so often. Clearly, he wants to win big and has Mizzou set up for that sort of success. Fan buy-in at that level is a key part of the game. So don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t be disappointed by “just 9-3.”

However, it’s equally important to remember to enjoy the ride as much as possible. Even if it wasn’t perfect, the 2024 season conjured up some incredibly fun moments. The Brady Cook comeback against Auburn was an all-timer. Beating an upstart Vanderbilt, which would directly proceed to knock off ‘Bama, in 2OT was thrilling. The Oklahoma victory was the sort of bananas game that we’ve come to expect Mizzou to lose time and time again… except they didn’t!

Holding two contrasting things in tension is one of life’s most challenging skills… and one of its most important. Those who can live in that tension experience the beautiful nuances that only life (and, in this case, college football) can give us. Was Mizzou as good as we’d hoped? No, but they were still pretty damn good. Good enough to beat three-quarters of the teams that ran out to face them. The fact that we get to feel disappointed about that shows that the Tigers are going in the right direction.

10 more spare thoughts…

In lieu of chucking up 10 random thoughts, I’m going to say thank you to 10 seniors and grad students who I’ve enjoyed watching during their Mizzou careers. Let’s say five on defense and five on offense… OK, four on offense, one on special teams.

  • Thank you, Corey Flagg, Jr., for your instant impact and leadership on a defense that needed it!
  • Thank you, Joseph Charleston, for being a tackling machine and big-moment-haver in the secondary over the past two years.
  • Thank you, Joe Moore, for coming home to play for your local team and providing some much-needed depth on the outside of the line.
  • Thank you, Tre’Vez Johnson, for being one of the many Florida Gator defectors over the years and bringing your big-game experience and ability to what has been a very fun secondary to watch.
  • Thank you, Kristian Williams, for being a rock on the interior of the defensive line for three years. Even in your tougher moments, I never doubted that you’d come good.
  • Thank you, Mookie Cooper, for being one of my favorite players over the past few years. You were one of the most overlooked players every game, and I loved watching you make defenses pay for it.
  • Thank you, Drake Heismeyer, for being the local kid who played and stayed for the love of the school. And for shoring up the line in the final games of this 9-win season!
  • Thank you, Tyler Stephens, for being one of the first guys to transfer to Mizzou and earn your playing time. I always have time for trend-setters.
  • Thank you, Mitchell Walters, for being yet another Mizzou-lifer. It’ll be incredibly strange to not see your name on the roster next year.
  • Thank you, Luke Bauer, for the many punts and the one dime against Kentucky.

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