Pourover: A sloppy recovery

SB Nation

The last four games have not gone the way you wanted them to go. Outside of the Overtime win at Auburn, Missouri has missed three other opportunities to keep their playoff hopes alive, and lost their starting

quarterback along the way as well.

But two narrow losses, and another you could chalk up to an overwhelmed freshman quarterback, doesn’t mean the rest of the season can be forgotten. There are still a lot of things to accomplish, and much to play for.

And while last nights game wasn’t the cleanest of contests, the game showed the Tigers weren’t quite ready to give up on this season just yet.

Mizzou was penalized 11 times for 74 yards, and it certainly seemed like if there was a questionable call it was going to go against the Tigers. Intentional grounding, targeting, facemasks… even the guys in the TV booth weren’t sure what the officiating crew was up to on several of the calls. Mississippi State ran 9 plays inside the Mizzou 10 yard line in the 2nd quarter, on a drive extended by three Tiger penalties. But if there’s one thing you can give credit to an Eli Drinkwitz coached team, is they’re resilient. And when they held Mississippi State out of the end zone and forced a field goal you felt pretty good.

But then there was a botched snap.

And then Toriano Pride scooped the ball up and returned the ball 62 yards setting up the first of three Ahmad Hardy touchdowns on the night.

So instead of staring down a deficit if State had scored a touchdown, or a narrow one point lead if they kicked a field goal, Mizzou put themselves up 11 with just under 3 minutes to play in the 1st half.

More adversity would hit the Tigers, a Hardy fumble in the first half led to the Bulldogs cutting the lead 21-17. But never you mind, Hardy would scamper 72 yards a short while later, Pride would return an interception for a touchdown on the next series, and Mizzou was in business.

The game was anything but a conventional Mizzou win. The Tigers, so far this season, have won with long sustained drives, tough running, and complete control of the time of possession. This game didn’t feature the same themes we’ve seen all season. State held the ball for 13 more minutes than Missouri did. But Hardy, and Jamal Roberts also, out-rushed the Bulldogs by more than 200 yards. Their rushing yardage nearly eclipsed the Bulldogs total offensive yardage. And really for the first time all season, Mizzou lived off big plays.

Mizzou only had 112 yards of passing yardage, but 77 of those yards came on three plays, two for touchdowns. They had 10 rushes of 10 yards or more, with 5 of those going for more than 20 yards.

There’s no mea culpa for Mizzou in this game. Mississippi State is 1-6 in the SEC for a reason, and their run defense is 2nd worst in the SEC, and third worst in overall yards. Missouri did what they were supposed to do. They ran all over the Bulldogs.

What’s also important, is they sent a really terrific and foundational senior class off in style. Guys who have been such fixtures in the success of the last three seasons. Daylan Carnell, Drey Norwood, Connor Tollison, Zion Young, Tristan Newson, Toriano Pride, and Chris McClellan. Also some other additions who are seeing their home seasons end like Kevin Coleman, Keagan Trost, Jalen Catalon, and a few others. What they’ve built is something impressive, and they deserved their moment to be carried off with a painted white rock.

Next up is Oklahoma, who just beat Alabama in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Sooners have looked questionable all season long, but they keep finding ways to win close games. The defense is better than Mississippi State. They’re first in the SEC in total yards, and they’re 2nd in overall yards per carry in rush defense. They’re better than Auburn, who held Mizzou to just 91 yards rushing. So the Tigers better be ready to strap in.

Here’s something more fun: the last time Mizzou won in Norman? 1966.

But who knows. Stranger things have happened.