Pourover: An inch, a foot, a mile away

SB Nation

Well, that sucked.

For Missouri to make the playoff this season they were going to need to get some breaks. Through most of the season they’d gotten a lot of the breaks they needed. The Tigers were 6-1

and had fought to get there. They overcame deficits, poor play, ill-timed turnovers and penalties, and found ways to win games.

They needed that streak to continue in Nashville. Instead, the breaks went 180 degrees the other way.

It’s hard to even calculate the number of bad breaks, some of which were just boneheaded plays or penalties. Some were literal bad breaks.

I should stop short of talking about a literal bad break, since we don’t quite have the full word on Beau Pribula’s lower leg injury. Eli Drinkwitz stated in the post game press conference that Pribula had no breaks, but it sounds like he dislocated his ankle and will be out for a while. Full results should be known soon enough. But man, that’s a tough break to overcome.

On top of needing some things to break your way, you also need health. Last year’s playoff quest sputtered when Brady Cook got banged up. This year is going to see a continued pursuit, but with a true freshman at Quarterback.

Matt Zollers is a heralded recruit, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he came into the game and acquitted himself quite well. But when Pribula left on a cart, and the freshman entered, I entered into an emotionless state. Like getting knocked into the Astral plane by the Ancient One in a Doctor Strange movie. There was only acceptance, whatever was going to happen was going to happen. And then Zollers launched a Hail Mary pass which fell into the arms of Kevin Coleman, who made a great catch with two defenders draped over his back. But he was inches, maybe centimeters, short of the goal line.

An inch away from tying the game.

Football is always heralded as a game of inches, but it’s also just a game of little tiny happenstances that add up. Eli Drinkwitz said in his post game press conference that Missouri was on the wrong end of the flags, and he’s not wrong. But both teams were flagged 8 times for over 80 yards. That’s a lot. But as much as Missouri was on the wrong end of the flags, through either their own mistakes or through officiating miscues, the Tigers were the ones who left a lot on the field.

Total NET yards +111, total rushing yards +24, total passing yards, +87, 1st downs +9, total plays +33, red zone attempts +1, 4th downs +4, possession time +13 minutes. This was the game Missouri wanted, and they didn’t capitalize on their chances. They made it into the red zone just three times and came away with just 7 points. That includes one missed field goal and a turnover on downs at the half yard line.

I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen one tripping penalty in a game, much less two. The first negated a Tiger run that would have put the Tigers with 1st and goal at the 1 yard line. The second nearly killed the Tigers hopes on the final drive, until a Vandy pass interference penalty gave them new life.

Point being, Missouri played like the better team for the bulk of the game. The defense did enough to win. The offense, again, sputtered at the wrong times. This comes one week after the Tigers let Auburn look like the better team before snatching the win away in Overtime. I don’t know where the Tigers will end up on StatsOWar’s weekly ‘Did we really get beat that bad?’ social media post for NET success rate, but this was a missed opportunity. It hurts all the worse knowing it happened when you lost your starting quarterback, maybe for the season. When your true freshman quarterback came in and threw a game tying touchdown pass to your third string tight end.

Missouri is now 6-2, and the playoff feels all but out of reach. The Tigers were always a bit of an outsider in the discussion, but now they’re well outside of it. A truly good season is still there for the taking, but made all the more challenging now with your offense thrown into disarray following Pribula’s injury.

You have a week off before having to face a top 5 team in Texas A&M. Mississippi State, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are all that remain after. Everyone at this stage is quality. None of these games are a given. And it’s likely you’ll be underdogs at least twice. Better get to work.