On Saturday, I gave you ten thoughts on the Kansas State game. Mondays will generally be reserved for more big picture discussions/thoughts. So here we go.
1) We will start with the one thing coming out of the Kansas State game that has to be recognized. It was awful. No question. Can't happen. That said, it doesn't have to end the season. Every week we lose track of the fact that what a team is one Saturday doesn't necessarily mean the team is that the following Saturday. Texas nearly beat Alabama last week. If they play that way every other week, they'll be 11-1 and in contention for the college football playoff. Missouri looked awful on Saturday. If they play that way every other week, they'll be 3-9. I don't think either one is going to happen. Missouri can be fine and can reach the goals most people set before the season...if Saturday is its worst effort of the season. The problem comes if Saturday is representative of the team Missouri actually is. We'll start to find out whether that's the case in 12 days. I know people hate the "one game doesn't define our season," but it is actually true.
2) Saturday is up there with the worst games in recent memory. It was kind of similar to last year's Tennessee game. But the one it really reminded me of was the 35-3 loss to Purdue in 2017. I went back and found what I wrote after that one.
Tell me I couldn't have changed a few names and written the exact same column this weekend. That can be taken as really scare because with the benefit of hindsight we know that Barry Odom ended up being a .500 coach that got fired. It can also be taken as proof of point No. 1 here because that Missouri team ended up making a bowl game (albeit mostly because they played a tissue paper soft schedule in the second half of the season) and then won eight games the following year. Again, I know patience isn't the Internet's thing, but we will only really get the answer three months from now.
3) I don't know when we hit the point that every loss had to mean we talk about firing the head coach, but we've been there for a few years.
Stay up to date on all the Mizzou news with your premium subscription
Talk about this story and more in The Tigers' Lair
Make sure you're caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video and live streaming coverage
