Amid bowl ban and talk of Odom’s future, Mizzou earns much-needed win over Arkansas
All week, the Missouri Tigers were subjected to the “outside noise.”
There was the NCAA ruling Tuesday, leaving Mizzou postseason ineligible after its infractions appeal was denied. There was also that five-game losing streak, the Tigers morphing to a losing team after a 5-1 start.
On top of all that, there were murmurs about coach Barry Odom’s future.
“No idea,” Odom said when asked what comes next after MU’s 24-14 win in Little Rock. “I’m just going to wake up in the morning and go to work.”
So when Mizzou won its last game of the season at War Memorial Stadium, it was one final positive in an otherwise trying season. Linebacker Nick Bolton said that with no postseason game in the offing, the Tigers treated Friday like their own bowl.
“It’s always good to get a win,” Bolton said. “Our seniors deserved it, our coaches deserved it, we deserved it as ourselves because all the work we put in. We hadn’t won at the end of the game. So it was important for us, important to send our seniors out the right way.”
When the noise was at its peak, the Tigers held a players-only meeting — on Thanksgiving, no less.
They spoke about what they were thankful for, including the team’s morale during the losing skid. Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott said he couldn’t disclose who talked, exactly, though it was a mix of captains and upperclassmen.
The meeting was a moment of camaraderie for the players, Elliott said, a chance to reset before Friday and the end of the season.
There was also talk about playing for the coaches — the players knew all too well that job security was no sure thing for Odom and his staff. Bolton said everyone in the locker room wants Odom to remain their coach.
“We just talked about how we want to get a win for our coaching staff,” Bolton said. “Obviously, if we lose to Arkansas, our coaching staff is probably not going to be here.”
Mizzou took care of business on both sides of the ball against Arkansas. With starting quarterback Kelly Bryant out for MU because of knee and hamstring issues, freshman Connor Bazelak made his first career start.
Bazelak, a true freshman, was impressive before going down with his own right knee injury, an awkward slide and hit knocking him out of the game. That led to backup Taylor Powell, a Fayetteville, Ark., native, playing against his hometown team. Powell completed 8 of 14 passes for 105 yards, an interception and his first career touchdown pass.
Others with Arkansas ties also shined. Barrett Banister, another Fayetteville native, caught a career-high six receptions for 60 yards. Jonathan Nance, a graduate-transfer who previously played for Arkansas, caught the game-sealing touchdown pass from Powell.
“It was the same tunnel I walked down many times,” Banister said Friday. “Same stands I’m used to seeing. It was fun, a little nostalgic.”
Defensively, a previously struggling Mizzou secondary played well against Arkansas, which started its fifth quarterback of the season in Jack Lindsey. Lindsey threw for two touchdown passes but completed only 10 of 26 passes for 75 yards.
Aside from former “Last Chance U” star Rakeem Boyd running for 95 yards on 21 carries, the Arkansas offense was largely held in check.
Mizzou’s season done, all eyes are now on Odom and what athletic director Jim Sterk deems necessary for Mizzou’s future.
Odom’s players stand behind him, stressing he’s the man for the job and who they want going forward.
“Every week, everybody’s talking (wanting the coaches) to get fired, they’re talking about players need to get benched, players need to do this,” lineman Trystan Colon-Castillo said. “Through all of that, we’re still together. We work, we grind every single day.”
Last December, Odom received a contract extension through the 2024 season that raised his salary to $3.05 million per year — still the lowest in the Southeastern Conference. With Friday’s win, he is 25-25 in four seasons since succeeding Gary Pinkel in Columbia.
Over the summer, Mizzou appealed the NCAA’s January ruling that penalized the Tigers’ football, baseball and softball teams for the actions of former tutor Yolanda Kumar, including her admission that she completed coursework for 12 MU student-athletes.
The NCAA’s punishment of Mizzou, upheld when the school’s appeal was turned down Tuesday, includes a postseason ban, loss of scholarships and monetary fines.
What comes next remains to be seen. But on Friday, the Tigers could feel good about the effort they put forth.
“Just a great team effort,” Odom said. “It wasn’t pretty, we all know that. But it was a win, and I’ll take as many of those as we can get.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 8:19 PM.