On this final Monday of 2022, I am presented with two choices for you fine readers. It's a good news/bad news situation. We're going to be about half and half. So which do I deliver first? I subscribe to the George Costanza theory of life. Always leave em wanting more
1) Missouri lost 27-17 to Wake Forest on Friday night in the Gasparilla Bowl. On one hand, I am not qualified to speak specifically on this game because I saw the first ten minutes and the last three. On the other hand, I am perfectly qualified to speak specifically on this game because I have seen it about six other times this season even if I didn't see this one in particular. The Missouri team you guys saw on Friday was representative of the Missouri team we watched in 2022. The defense was pretty good to very good until it was just so obvious that the offense couldn't hold up its end of the bargain and the defense broke.
Some might argue with the defense's level of excellence in that game, but without three starters, Missouri held Wake Forest 32 yards below its season passing average, 63 yards below its season average for total yardage and nine eight points below its season average. That's good enough for me to call it excellent.
The offense? The Tigers were 15 yards below their passing average, 53 below their rushing average, a touchdown below their scoring average against a Wake defense that finished the season 91st in total yards allowed and 84th in points allowed. So...not good enough. Which is exactly what Eli Drinkwitz said after the game.
2) I'm not particuarly concerned about the Gasparilla Bowl in and of itself. Missing four starters, Missouri was a one-point underdog and was in a three-point game with five minutes to play. The Demon Deacons made a play to win the game and the Tigers didn't. It's another one in the "almost good enough" category and there have been plenty of those this year. We really only learned one thing in this game: No matter the bowl game, fans still care about the outcome. If your team plays, you want your team to win. I'm not going to say Missouri didn't care about this game. But four starters (plus the punter) opted not to play and Trajan Jeffcoat missed the game with a mystery injury. There has been the usual angst after a loss, just as there was after the Armed Forces Bowl loss last season. I'm not saying that angst is misguided, just that the fans put far more importance on this specific game than the teams do (this is not a Missouri thing). It hurts a little more and lingers a little longer because it's the last game and rather than having a chance to erase it in seven days, you now have to wait eight months.
3) The real issue is this: I don't know any more about Missouri's program overall than I knew 12 months ago.
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