Autumn.
When verdant foliage turns to beautiful hues of burgundy and gold, flannel again becomes fashionable and Midwesterners warm themselves with fresh apple cider.
When scores of families delight in the simple joy of the hay ride and corn maze in their annual pilgrimage to a pumpkin farm.
And when America’s Pastime and first love, baseball, slowly gives way to its newer, greater passion: football.
Mid-Missouri remains blanketed in its sweltering heat and humidity, an unwelcome summer tradition that
everyone must endure.
But, hard as it may be to believe in the late days of August, a chill will soon fill the air in Columbia. And with it returns the unparalleled pageantry of the college game.
The stands of Faurot Field, empty for months and yearning for visitors, will soon be filled with the roar of the crowd. The songs of the marching band and chants of the cheer squad, Truman the Tiger’s fire truck and the pounding bass of Big Mo.
This will be replicated in colleges across the nation, with stadiums, cities and school traditions as varied as could possibly be imagined. College football’s cornucopia of legends and myths, towering heroes and villains, and unique customs are what turn the eyes of so many fans to fall and make it one of the greatest sports in the world.
And at the center of it all, 22 young men meet on the gridiron to compete for themselves, their families, their teammates, and their universities.
There’s a limited amount of room to look ahead in football. The sheer intensity and violence of each play demand a player’s entire efforts and focus.
But surely, somewhere at the back of each player’s mind, lurks the thought of gaining some small piece of glory and a legacy that can outlast their playing days and even themselves.
These moments are few and far in between, with the possibility for entire seasons to pass by without such an opportunity. But those who make the right play at the right time can establish a burning memory in the mind of each fan who saw it, a memory which can be passed down each generation and slowly turn into legend.
Red Grange has long passed on, but his four touchdowns in one quarter of a 1924 game against Michigan remain well and alive. Mizzou fans will not soon forget then-redshirt freshman Jeremy Maclin bursting onto the scene with two third quarter touchdowns in the 2007 season opener against Illinois during a consensus All-American season.
This season is ripe with the promise of such moments as the Tigers chase history on multiple fronts.
No team in program history has ever recorded a third consecutive 10-win season. And though the expanded postseason format is only in its second year, this squad will chase a first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff.
That’s a goal relatively few expect will be reached – not an unreasonable stance after losing two top draft picks and a starting quarterback.
Many will question the team’s lack of returners on offense, specifically on the offensive line and at wide receiver. They see a team that fell flat in its largest games last season and came up just short of something bigger the past two seasons.
And above all, everyone will notice a group lacking a surefire answer at the quarterback position. All of these concerns are understandable and have a legitimate chance of preventing the team from reaching its highest potential.
But a spot not just outside the preseason top 25 poll, but outside the top 30, simply has the look of tempting fate. Mizzou has thrived under its ‘Something to Prove’ motto the last two years, and lowered preseason expectations give an uber-talented team coming off consecutive double-digit win seasons plenty of bulletin board material to pull from.
Lowered expectations can sometimes be a blessing. Few anticipated the breakout 2013 and 2023 seasons, both of them ending in a Cotton Bowl victory.
The seasons that wildly surpass expectations are the ones which leave an indelible mark on the mind of a fan, and can shape the history of a program.
Football programs with histories as long as Mizzou’s are full of complexities, ebbs and flows, and – believe it or not – can be viewed and analyzed much like a tree.
Each year adds on a distinct ring, which when combined tell a comprehensive story. Every successive season is a unique layer that contributes to the whole.
Look at multiple rings, and patterns begin to emerge. Missouri football has seen eras of fantastic growth and full decades of drought, years of thick and thin and spans of time that have rotted or restored its vitality.
Push past the individual rings, eras and decades, and you will be able to see the complete picture: a program with a proud history, inconsistent past and promising future.
The Tigers underwent nearly two decades of drought before Gary Pinkel’s arrival in 2001 breathed new life into football in Columbia. The coach’s work restored a historically successful program under Don Faurot and Dan Devine, bringing on a decade of success.
Then a tumultuous 2015 season, Pinkel’s retirement, and the Barry Odom tenure slowed growth. But a renewed and vital program was never far away; all it took was the right coach and right environment.
Slowly but surely, Eli Drinkwitz built up the roots necessary for a return to the program’s former strength. That work paid off with 2023’s resurgence onto the national stage, culminating in the team’s Cotton Bowl victory, and all indications point to another era of good weather and growth for Mizzou.
Just how fair the weather, and how dramatic the growth, depends on the next few seasons – and especially the one about to spring Thursday night.
Can the Tigers take the next step to establish themselves as annual contenders and become further entrenched in the top half of college football’s toughest conference? Can this squad succeed against its toughest regular season opponents, an area where their two most recent predecessors have largely failed, and take home a victory on the biggest stage?
And can the team break through to reach an unprecedented spot in the sport’s postseason format, rising to national prominence likely unseen since the 2007 season?
The stage is set. The time for preseason predictions and nonstop prognostication has ceased.
Drinkwitz and his team now prepare to add a 133rd ring to the storied history of Missouri Tigers football. What it says, its long term legacy, and the lingering moments it leaves in the minds of Tigers fans will be determined in the coming months.
Another fantastic journey begins in Columbia tomorrow.
