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Teams that finish the first half of the season 1-and-5 don’t talk much about bowl games. And Missouri isn’t exactly doing it openly either. But a simple glance at the second half of the schedule offers at least some hope that things could turn in the right direction for the Tigers.

Frazier’s right. The rest of the Missouri schedule doesn’t feature a team with a winning record. The next two games are non-conference matchups with Idaho and Connecticut. Both teams are 2-and-4. The most impressive win of the bunch is the Huskies’ 28-24 triumph over Temple last week and the Owls are 3-and-4 themselves.

After that it’s Florida (3-3), Tennessee (3-3), Vanderbilt (3-4) and Arkansas (2-4). Add it all up, it’s a 15-22 record for the Tigers’ final six opponents.

“We got a six-game stretch here,” head coach Barry Odom said. “Take them one at a time and take some of the momentum that we do have in spurts of the game and find a way to put that together for four quarters.”

Every coach—and almost every player—talks only about the next game. Teams just want to “go 1-and-0.” But Odom said he has talked to his team about the second half of the season as a whole.

“I did. Very open and direct,” he said. “They know what’s out there and what’s not out there. It’s the elephant in the room. Let’s talk about it. We know what we’ve got this week. Take care of business and we know what we’ve got next week.”

This was when Odom showed the media the can of lighter fluid he used to—literally—burn evidence of Missouri’s first six games this season.

"We had a little bonfire," linebacker Brandon Lee said with a laugh. "It got a little dangerous honestly."

"I heard stories about the old coach Odom," offensive lineman Yasir Durant said. "Now I see why."

Such a move can be viewed as a unifying moment or a hokey one. The Tiger players said they liked it.

"That lifted our spirits up," cornerback DeMarkus Acy said. "We just forgetting about the past. It's like an old season for us. Carrying over to these next six games, we feel like we have a very good chance to win these next six."

"Guys were definitely fired up," Durant said. "People all over the room were fired up. Even the coaches were fired up."

Either way, Missouri is going to have to improve significantly to get things headed in the right direction. Sure, the rest of the schedule features nothing approaching Auburn or Georgia, but Missouri hasn’t done anything to be able to look down on anyone. The Tigers are two-touchdown favorites on Homecoming against Idaho this weekend. Win that and they could be favored in Hartford next weekend as well. With a little momentum, perhaps the last four league games could all be viewed as toss-ups.

"We feel that we can win out the last six games," Lee said. "I know that we haven't gave the best the first six games. Starting out 1-and-5, that's definitely not the way we planned on starting. But the last six, clean slate and we feel that we can win out. Get our seniors to a bowl game. That's the main goal right now.

"That's in the back of our minds, but you've got to take it one game at a time. Because if we overlook Idaho they can easily come in and beat us on Homecoming and then we're back at square one."

Missouri will get a boost defensively with the return of two players off suspension this week. Defensive tackle A.J. Logan has missed the first six games due to a suspension resulting from an NCAA academic investigation. Linebacker T.J. Warren was never specifically tied to that investigation publicly, but he has been missing from the depth chart all season and appears this week—at the same time as Logan.

Neither player was available to the media this week, but Odom praised Logan’s dedication during the suspension.

“I’m so proud of that guy,” the coach said. “You talk about the example of an unbelievable great teammate and a leader. I’m so happy for him being back. He’s going to help us make some improvements, but also there’s a lot of things you can point to in life and growing and maturing and handling things the right way. He’s knocked it out of the park.”

Logan has played offense and defense on the scout team and even volunteered to play kickoff coverage if he could help.

“He wants to play as many snaps as he can play because he knows he doesn’t have a lot of time left,” Odom said.

With Warren back, Mizzou has moved nickel back Kaleb Prewett back to safety full-time, his position prior to the switch this year.

“It’s about getting our best 11 on the field,” Odom said. “Brandon Lee also has progressed and made strides that we feel he can really be the guy at that position specifically on first and second down then on third down we’ve got a whole room full of stuff.”

"I feel like I've been playing well and I've been told I've been playing well," Lee said. "So I guess you could say I've been playing well."

Those aren’t likely to be the only changes on defense. Cam Hilton has practiced at four different positions in the last two weeks. Tre Williams has seen increased playing time in the last two games. Missouri has spent a lot of time searching for potential solutions to recurring defensive issues.

“There are going to be guys lined up at a lot of different spots,” Odom said.

Chief among Missouri’s problems has been a complete lack of pressure on the quarterback. Mizzou has 11 sacks this season, putting them 78th in the country. Defensive tackle Terry Beckner leads the way with two.

"I'm not gonna speak on the defensive line or the guys that's blitzing," Lee said. "We need to show more sense of urgency and be more anxious to get that opportunity on third and long to get to the quarterback."

"We just got to communicate more as a defense," Acy said. "Some players weren't communicating as well as we need to. We just got to come together as a unit, get all the positions in the same room so we can come together on the field."

The Tigers’ problems were on full display last weekend against Georgia, as the Bulldogs rolled up 53 points and nearly 700 yards. It was the sixth straight game Missouri has surrendered 30 or more, breaking the school record which was set last season.

Missouri doesn’t have the talent in the secondary to play man-to-man very often. But they don’t have the ability to win one-on-one up front very often either. Apply more pressure and you sacrifice coverage. Drop into a zone and you give opposing quarterbacks more time. It’s a puzzle the Tiger coaches haven’t yet solved.

“We didn’t do either one very well the other night so we went to more of a zone principle and now he had more time,” Odom said. “The times we did have a little bit of pressure we weren’t able to hold up long enough coverage wise. Some of it is scheme wise, some of it is they go and they make a play.”

Tyler Howell played virtually every snap at left tackle for Missouri last year. But the last few weeks, he has split time with another junior college product, Yasir Durant.

"Me and T. Howell still fight, just to battle each other, test each other in every area," Durant said. "Just like D-linemen, they're coming in, rotating in, keeping each other fresh."

While some wonder where Howell has gone, offensive coordinator Josh Heupel says the rotation is more about Durant's ascendance than Howell slipping.

"We didn’t have any depth a year ago. A year into our program, recruiting, we’re starting to develop some of the depth that you want to have," Heupel said. "He’s a young player, going to continue to improve. We like a lot of the things that he’s doing."

Durant got off to a rocky start in his first game with a couple of false start penalties. But he has settled in the last couple of weeks.

"I think my confidence has been building up," Durant said. "We got five guys that can come in and just go without being potty trained."

Damarea Crockett left the Georgia game with an injured shoulder. Odom said he would likely be limited, but was expected to practice on Tuesday. Anthony Sherrils has cleared the concussion protocol and is back at practice. Cornerback Christian Holmes continues to progress, but hasn’t been cleared for contact.

If Crockett is unable to go by the weekend, Ish Witter would be the starter and Larry Rountree III would back him up.

"We hit one there recruiting wise. I think he’s got a chance to be a special player. He loves the game," Odom said of Rountree. "That’s what I’m excited about. Most of the guys in that class, they absolutely love to play ball."

"Coach always talks about next man up," Rountree said. "If I'm the next man up, I'll be ready."

After those two, the depth chart is a mystery.

“At this point, don’t know who that would be,” offensive coordinator Josh Heupel said.

Saturday’s game kicks off at 11:00 a.m. on SEC Network. Mizzou Madness—the fan event for the men’s and women’s basketball teams—will tip off across the street at Mizzou Arena an hour after the end of the game.

Next week’s game at Connecticut kicks off at 5:30 Central time and was picked up by CBS Sports Network.