First things first. I know this is supposed to be about football, but holy smokes, how fun was that basketball game on Sunday?! I literally had goosebumps from the time I got to my seat until 15 mins after I got home! Legitimately the most exciting Mizzou sporting event I've seen in three years. While they didn't win, they looked like they belonged.
How did a group of glorified high school kids seem to belong on the same court as a seasoned, battle tested kU team? The obvious answer is talent. But at one point we were trailing by almost 20 points. How did we get back in the game and only lose by 6? The answer is heart. You can take effort, enthusiasm and grit, roll them into a ball and what you get is heart.
I hope our football team was watching. Not one team left on the schedule has a winning record right now. The rest this season is set up for the taking. But [forgive me for this brief interruption, but I JUST SHOT MY FIRST DEER EVER! I'm writing this on my phone in a tree stand. I look up and there's a small buck 20 yards dead ahead, I slid my phone in my pocket, stood up, grabbed my bow and I STUCK EM! SO AWESOME! S/O to True Son Boyd Comfort for putting me in a stand on their beautiful property] we're going to have to play with as enormous amount of heart to pull it off. We're going to have to come from behind to win some of these and we're going to have to burn clock while playing with a lead to pull it off. We have to have the heart to play disciplined and locked in and do whatever required to win.
Ruc’s Keys to the Game
*Start Fast
*Keep the pedal to the metal
*Play disciplined football
We need to start fast. Especially in games against lesser opponents, it’s important to set the tone early. If we can step on their neck early it will keep them from gaining any momentum. Offensively, we need to take the ball if we win the coin toss, march right down the field and score a touchdown. Defensively, our guys should be flying around. A stop on the first drive or a turnover would really help set the tone that it’s going to be a long day for the Huskies.
Once we get out to an early lead with a little cushion we can’t let up. We have to keep pouring it on and avoid giving UCONN a sliver of hope. These are the types of games, especially on the road, where if you let a team hang around and have a chance to make the game interesting or even win in the end, they just might.
The effort is getting better, but the discipline still bothers me. Last week we committed 6 penalties for 50 yards. It takes no skill to pay attention. It takes no skill to not jump offsides. They’re going to have to continue to clean this part of the game up if they want to rattle off these last 6 six games. If you want to win, you can’t beat yourself and that’s exactly what penalties do.
I’ll end this the same way I did last week (maybe it’s good luck). I can’t name one player for UCONN and I hope I can still say that after Saturday. MIZ!
