Mizzou feels burden of perfection during prolonged losing skid

Missouri is on the cusp of history, but that’s not a good thing.

The Tigers have lost 11 straight Southeastern Conference games, which is one shy of the longest conference losing streak in program history.

During Frank Carideo’s forgettable reign in the early 1930s, Mizzou lost 12 straight games in Big Six play, including a staggering nine by shutout, from November 1932 through November 1934.

It’s a dubious record the Tigers, 2-7, would match with a loss against Vanderbilt at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

First-year coach Barry Odom, who’s been in charge for the last five SEC losses, frequently mentions the razor-thin margin for error Mizzou has this season.

It almost seems as if perfection is required for the Tigers to halt the lengthy slide.

“The goal is obviously to be perfect going out, but you know that you’re never going to play a perfect football game,” freshman running back Damarea Crockett said. “But we have to be as close to perfect as possible in order to win the game.”

That seems like an incredible burden — perfection — for any team, let alone one with retooled offensive and defensive schemes under a first-time head coach with precious few veterans coming off a turmoil-filled 5-7 campaign.

“It probably does (place a heavy burden),” Odom said, “but that’s OK. You’re never going to be perfect, but, by god, let’s work to get there. Let’s work to not make a mistake.”

Last Saturday’s 31-21 loss at South Carolina was a prime example.

Missouri had more first downs, more sacks, fewer penalties, more total yards and rushed for nearly a yard more per carry.

That’s a lot of positives in the Tigers’ favor, but the Gamecocks balanced that by forcing three turnovers without committing any, cashing in on every red-zone trip and avoiding hiccups in the kicking game.

Mizzou, which missed two missed field goals and shanked two kickoffs out of bounds, fell well short of perfection, but it’s unclear how much that need for and quest toward perfection affects Odom’s squad.

“Not during the game,” sophomore quarterback Drew Lock said. “You’re just in the flow of the game and not really thinking about, ‘Yeah, I need to be perfect this week.’ When you look back at the film and see the three or four plays you wish you could have back, you kind of feel like you need to play perfect.”

College football comes with innate pressure, especially in the limelight of the SEC, so maybe it shouldn’t be a problem.

“Is it undue pressure? Yeah, probably so, but that’s all right,” Odom said. “The mental toughness that we’ve got to be able to withstand some of that stuff is all right, too.”

If the Tigers can harness that drive for perfection, it actually could prove beneficial.

“I feel like it betters us to be honest,” said Crockett, who leads MU in rushing with 683 yards and eight touchdowns. “I feel like it holds us to a higher standard and, to get better, we need to be held to a higher standard. I feel like it’s good for us.”

The results haven’t been there, but it’s not for a lack of effort.

“You can never play perfect, but you can limit the amount of mistakes …,” sophomore linebacker Brandon Lee said. “That’s what we practice for; practice makes perfect. There’s little margin for error in any game that you’re trying to win.”

So perfection will remain the goal out of necessity, because anything less has shown it doesn’t work.

“We need more energy,” Crockett said. “I just feel like we’ve got to play harder. We have to, because obviously were not getting the job done.”

Comparing Mizzou’s longest conference losing streaks

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Mizzou feels burden of perfection during prolonged losing skid."