For long-time Missouri fans, the Texas Bowl matchup against the Longhorns represents a chance to reunite with (and maybe get back at) an old conference foe. And for those who have a history with the Tigers, it is an exciting matchup with some nostalgia.
"Every minute of the day," head coach Barry Odom said when asked about the anticipation for the matchup. "Everybody uses motivation different ways, but we'll be ready to go play."
But the truth is, not a single player on either of these teams has played against each other. None was older than a high school junior when Mizzou and Texas shared a league. Few have likely heard Deloss Dodds talk about the Longhorns' bad years being better than the Tigers' good ones.
"Honestly I don't know a lot about it," wide receiver Emanuel Hall said. "Before I came here, I didn't know anything about Mizzou. I came on an official and I was like 'Dang, I really like this place' so I ended up committing."
"I don't think a lot of people do,"wideout J'Mon Moore said. "I'm a little familiar with it myself."
This game is important to the Tigers...but mostly because it is the next one.
"This group, anytime you're going to line up and play, we want to go win," Odom said. "Not gonna have to set anything on fire. It's not gonna take much. These guys want to go play a great game and finish the season the right way. We got a chance to do something that hasn't been done in college football history."
"More excited about the whole bowl experience itself," quarterback Drew Lock said. "The fact that we are going to a bowl and not going home and lifting weights at the local gym and throwing balls on your high school field. Much rather be going down to Houston."
"It's a big deal around here," Moore said. "Even without people knowing the history, we're still going to attack it like a serious game because it is."
HALL AND CROCKETT SHOULD PLAY
Hall, a junior wideout who caught 33 passes for 817 yards and eight touchdowns this season, went through his first practice since injuring his hamstring on a long touchdown catch against Arkansas in the regular season finale.
"I feel good. Really good," Hall said. "I'm just now getting back into it, but by game time I should definitely be ready."
"He was more so getting his hands back in shape and getting the hand-eye back," Lock said. "We'll see him open it up a little bit more so in these upcoming practices."
Hall says he will be ready to go in Houston on December 27th. There is less certainty about the return of tailback Damarea Crockett, who ran for 481 yards on 80 carries in the first five-and-a-half games of the season before injuring his shoulder against Georgia. Odom said his workload is increasing in practice and he anticipates Crockett being ready to go.
"We'll see how that goes," Lock said. "Obviously you want the best for him. You don't want to rush into anything. And if that means we sit him for one more game to keep him fresh for next season, then so be it."
COACHING MOVES
Saturday was the first opportunity to get comments from Odom about the hiring of linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves II and offensive line coach Brad Davis. Here is what the coach had to say on each.
Hargreaves: "Hargreaves was a guy that I've known for a few years just mainly through recruiting, then we coached against each other when he was at Houston. Know some guys that worked with him and all the research that I did kind of hit all the boxes on, number one, being a great teacher for guys, being a tremendous mentor and leader and a guy that's got great loyalty. He's to the point that he's got an opportunity in his career he had a lot of different options and opportunities and he wanted to be a part of this."
Davis: "Brad I've known for a couple years. He's worked his way up really quickly. He was at North Texas two years ago and I know their head coach Seth Littrell really well. Sam Pittman, the offensive line coach at Georgia, and I communicated a lot about him. They were together at North Carolina. A lot of crossover guys that I have a lot of trust in went overboard about not only his coaching and teaching ability, but also what kind of guy he is in the staff room, on the road recruiting, I've been around and seen that up close. Then loyalty and trust, again, that word's going to keep on coming up. He hits a lot of those different things. He's going to be unbelievable for our kids and our program."
Neither Hargreaves nor Davis will be involved in the game plan for the Texas Bowl, but both will be around the team for the next few days.
The one current opening on the Tigers' staff is for an offensive coordinator (and, presumably, a quarterbacks coach). Odom said he did not anticipate announcing anything prior to the bowl game.
"I'm interviewing guys every day between now and then," Odom said. "Making sure we get the right fit for who we need and our program needs. There's a lot of guys that are interested in the position both in-house and out-of-house."
One of those interviews is being conducted with UCLA offensive coordinator and interim head coach Jedd Fisch. Fisch arrived in Columbia on Friday night and observed Missouri's Saturday morning practice. He talked with Odom, deputy athletic director Brian White, receivers coach Andy Hill and Lock during and after practice.
Fisch led the Bruins offensive to improvements of nearly nine points and more than 80 yards per game this season after coming over from Jim Harbaugh's staff at Michigan. When Jim Mora was fired, Fisch led the Bruins to a 30-27 win over California which made them bowl eligible. UCLA will face Kansas State in the Cactus Bowl the day after Christmas.
