After 1-5 start, possibility of bowl game is back on the table for Mizzou

A few weeks ago, the sky looked bleak for the Missouri football.

The team had lost a nonconference game at home against Purdue and didn’t show much fight in losses to South Carolina and Auburn.

Now the stars are slowly starting to align.

After playing competitively in losses at Kentucky and Georgia, Missouri is 3-5 after beating Idaho and Connecticut. With four games left, Missouri doesn’t play a team that currently has a winning a record. Two of those opponents, Arkansas and Tennessee, both 3-5, have coaches on the hot seat and wins over both would cool Barry Odom’s.

Tigers quarterback Drew Lock said after Saturday’s win over the Huskies that he looks at all of Missouri’s remaining games as “winnable,” and believes the team has a real shot to make a late run to get into the postseason.

“I’m excited for next week to try and make this happen,” Lock said on Saturday.

Missouri plays host to 3-4 Florida at 11 a.m. Saturday. Gators coach Jim McElwain agreed to step down Sunday and Florida will be coached by defensive coordinator Randy Shannon for the remainder of the season.

This isn’t the first time the Tigers have seen an opponent throw a curve ball the week before they play.

In 2015, Georgia announced star running back Todd Gurley was suspended for a possible violation of NCAA rules. The Bulldogs started true freshman Nick Chubb, who led Georgia to a 35-0 win. In 2016, LSU fired coach Les Miles the week before its game against Missouri and still won 42-7.

Odom told reporters on Monday that last season’s experience with LSU doesn’t help the team prepare for Florida because the teams and personnel are a lot different. He added that he expects Florida to play similarly to what it’s done throughout the season.

“It’s going to be a huge game for them,” defensive end Marcell Frazier said on Saturday. “They got some stuff going on. They’re going to play hard.”

The Gators will also be without running back Malik Davis, who is out for the year because of a knee injury sustained against Georgia and linebacker Kylan Johnson, who injured his hamstring. Prior to his injury, Davis had rushed for 526 yards and two touchdowns on 79 carries.

While senior running back Ish Witter and Frazier echoed Lock’s words that the Tigers still have a bowl game on their radar, Odom said he’s still telling the team to take things day-to-day.

He reiterated on Monday that if the team focuses on daily things like practice and other short-term goals, the long-term ones will take care of themselves.

“Forget big picture,” he said after Saturday’s game. “If we worry about what’s ahead of (Florida), if we worry about what’s ahead of that one, that’s of no value of what we’re trying to do as a team. I don’t think we can handle that mentally.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 3:28 PM with the headline "After 1-5 start, possibility of bowl game is back on the table for Mizzou."