It’s not technically something we’re supposed to want, but did anyone else feel like there was a little stank missing from Saturday’s game?
I’m not saying it wasn’t a bit chippy. It definitely was, and there were plenty of extra shoves and words to go around from both sidelines. But something tells me it’s going to be a few years before we really start to feel the same hatred on the field that we feel in the stands. And that’s fine. So long as we can keep disrespecting each other like normal citizens.
I was so looking forward to this week’s Disrespectful Play Index, mostly out of excitement that one of the freshman would uncork a big play and lose his marbles on the field in reverie. No marbles, but at the very least we were all treated to an exciting (if not all-time-great) game. There were plenty of big plays from the Tigers, which often produce the best DPI fodder, but the outright professionalism that defined Mizzou’s victory (and dominance through the final three quarters) quelled any sort of disrespect bubbling over into something that would break the scales.
That being said, we’ve still got a fun play to highlight this week, one that marked a key turning point in the game and, as fate has seen fit to bless us, brings a highly-touted wide receiver bearing the No. 3 back into our spotlight.
As a reminder, here’s the scale with which we measure:
Category 1: How difficult/impressive was the play? (0-20)
Category 2: How hard did the opposition try? (0-20)
Category 3: How much did his teammates help? (0-5)
Category 4: What did the player do immediately afterward? (0-20)
Category 5: How did everyone not involved react? (0-15)
Category 6: Is there a backstory/context to consider? (0-20)
And, courtesy of Mr. Kevin Coleman, here’s your DPI Play of the Week.
Category 1: How difficult/impressive was the play?
All in all, the pitch-and-catch aspect of this play isn’t too difficult. Like most teams in kU’s position, they were sitting off in a soft zone with the intent of discouraging any big plays through the air (whoops!) leaving plenty of room for Kevin Coleman to find a pocket of space and Beau Pribula to anticipate the route. It’s a great throw, no doubt, but this is one you would expect these two to make given the circumstances.
If we’re going to give Coleman a little bit of credit pre-YAC-mode, it comes from the fact that his slight hesitation shakes any sort of disruption coming from the defender who’s sitting off at the front of the prevent defense. It’s a really crisp route that sets up what’s about to come very well.
Of course, 30-plus yards of YAC are going to juice the score quite a bit, but we’ll get into that. For now, we’ll say the fundamentals of the play being executed and the big gain that comes after can suffice for an ab0ve-average score, though not the highest we’ll get from this category in 2025. 15/20
Category 2: How hard did the opposition try?
I do think that after several years of doing it, my favorite part of writing the DPI is finding screencaps of defenders falling in comical ways. Maybe it’s the Jackass in my millenial blood, but I still find guys falling down endlessly amusing, especially on a football field.
Coleman doesn’t have to do too much work to get his first man on the ground, as his little jump back gets the man off-balance enough to send him toppling. I do think it’s worth noting, however, that he now has halted his momentum with two men closing in. Which makes what happens in the ensuing seconds so much fun.
It’s here where touted Pitt transfer, Bangally Kamara — who was playing in a knee brace after being an injury doubt for most of the week — is set to make his mark. Kamara had a strong game for someone who wasn’t supposed to play, but you can already sense the disadvantage he’s at against Coleman, one of the country’s shiftiest wide receivers in open space. He’s closing in at Coleman with top speed, certainly hampered by a gimpy knee and unable to stop and start with the speed he’s used to.
This doesn’t look like much in freeze frame, but Coleman’s juke in real time is a thing of beauty. He’s barely breaks his stride while Kamara simply whizzes by him and into the path of linebacker Trey Lathan, eliminating him from the play. Would it be more disrespectful if Kamara had slipped and doinked his facemask off the turf? Of course! Is it still very funny to watch him comically run past KC, making what I imagine to be the funniest sound in Doppler Effect history — something like, “hhhhaaaaaaHNNGGGGGHHHHOoooooooooshh?”
Also of course! 14/20
Category 3: How much did his teammates help?
There’s not a lot of help from his teammates here, so we’re already looking at a perfect score in this category. But I did want to give you both a glance of an image that has stuck in my head from Saturday: the sight of nine — or 82 percent — of the kansas defense chasing him down. First from a crowd angle…
Then, my personal favorite, from a field cam angle.
It’s like the Flying V in Mighty Ducks, only if they sucked more. 5/5
Category 4: What did the player do immediately afterward?
Unfortunately this is where we start to tail off from the overall score. Coleman does a little hopping, skipping and jumping, but the reality that he gets caught at the 3-yard-line and that there’s still a few seconds to play before Mizzou can officially tie the game up kind of dulls the overall effect. I imagine Coleman will have more fun cellys in the locker, so here’s to the anticipation. 8/20
Category 5: How did everyone not involved react?
Again, the professionalism of Mizzou comes to mind here. They’re focused on scoring and getting into the locker room with some points. There’s a bit of high-fiving and celebrating, but nothing worth remembering. Bad for the DPI score, good for the overall result! 5/15
Category 6: Is there a backstory/context to consider?
Yeah. That’s all there is to it. 20/20
For his mad dash to the red zone setting up the tying score at the end of the second half, Kevin Coleman’s YAC-ified explosive play was 67 percent disrespectful to kansas, Bangally Kamara, its fans and the overall legacy of that vile institution.
