Alright, we’ve done a lot of basketball this week and there’s more to come, but let’s take some time to think about the football season while Missouri is on a bye.

One of the first things I wrote for MizzouToday was a “Benefits of the bye” story heading into the matchup with Texas A&M.

I think we all know the major benefits of the bye right now. Brady Cook needs to get as healthy as possible if the team wants him to play again this season, not sure how much I believe Eli Drinkwitz when he said he “Absolutely” expects Cook back this season, and if not, the extra week is the perfect time to install an offense that works to the strengths of whoever is going to be taking snaps next week when the Tigers host Oklahoma.

Boy, that matchup looked a lot more exciting coming into the season than it does now.

So instead of another benefits of the bye story, let’s take a look back at the middle third of the season. What went right, what went wrong, what surprised me and what disappointed me.

Cook cemented his legacy as one of the toughest competitors I’ve ever seen play any sport. That performance against Auburn, coming back from a trip to the hospital to lead two scoring drives and breathe life into a team that seemed dead, was honestly inspiring.

I’ll give you guys a little peek behind the curtain here, I’m still adjusting to a new style and new timing with my writing, so I’ve tried to have some of my game story done before the game ends. I didn’t used to have to do that working at a newspaper because one way or the other, it was going to be published the next morning.

I had a lot of that Auburn story written midway through the third quarter. It felt like Cook was done for the day and I had seen what I needed to about the capabilities of the offense with Drew Pyne. After Luther Burden fumbled that punt, a two-score lead seemed insurmountable.

Then the second Cook came back out of the tunnel in his pads and started warming up, I deleted it all. Whatever happened the rest of the way, the story had changed just because he was back, even if the team still lost, it was going to have to be a different story start to finish.

Then that throw to Mookie Cooper happened. I started working out ideas for a “Brady Cook got to be a hero” story and stuck with it. Even as a couple of drives stalled out early in the fourth quarter, I left that story as the idea because I was confident in how the game would end and if I was wrong and the Tigers lost, it would take me an extra 30 minutes to get the story out.

I get very invested in stories, it’s part of why I enjoy writing them so much, and when he came back out and looked physically capable, I was confident in what the story would be. I just had to watch it play out.

Obviously the two losses. Texas A&M and Alabama aren’t the same as performances, but the Tigers laid an egg on national TV twice in two major opportunities.

Going into the middle third of the season, people, myself included, were making plans for the college football playoff and the question was becoming would the Tigers get to host their first game or would they maybe even get a bye.

Coming out of the middle third, the playoffs are out the window without a whole lot of chaos around college football, which is always possible, but unlikely.

If those performances had been competitive, even just Texas A&M, because a team can be forgiven for a poor game when it’s starting quarterback leaves in the first quarter, then we’re having a different conversation. But those two games are seared into the minds of the playoff committee.

The Tigers failed in that goal because they failed to show up in the big moments.

Jamal Roberts has played very well.

That’s not necessarily a surprise based on talent, but he hadn’t really gotten any opportunities, even against cupcakes, to show what he was capable of. I was shocked when he was the one taking carries at the end of the Auburn game, but he has fully proven that he’s one of the best options on roster for the Tigers and has set himself up as the bell cow for next season when Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll are gone.

I’m not 100 percent sure they’re both out of eligibility after this year because both of their first seasons were 2020 and Carroll especially played limited snaps in 2020 and 2021, but I think Roberts has made it clear he’s the most talented option going forward into next season.

I’ve talked a few times about the receiver room and the passing game as a whole.

I don’t blame them for poor stats against Auburn or Alabama when they spent most of the game with Pyne throwing to them and the Texas A&M game involved Cook missing a lot of throws, but its just been a continuation of the early-season thoughts and has turned from “Well they just haven’t gotten going yet,” to “Oh man, this room has had a rough year.”

The pass-catching group was touted as one of the best in the country coming into this year and because of a combo of factors, just hasn’t come close to living up that billing.

I was disappointed in this stretch with the offensive coaching as well.

The play calling has been an issue and the choice to keep sticking Pyne out there after mistake after mistake shocked me. If Pyne is still the choice next week or there haven’t been some major changes to the offense to at least try to bring out his strengths, then this will be a very disappointing coaching performance in the middle and final thirds of the season.

Head on over to the Tiger Walk to let me know what you thought went right and wrong and what surprised and disappointed you.