Fifth straight loss makes Mizzou’s season hard to salvage for Odom, Sterk and company
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, this actually happened: A surging Missouri team beat Ole Miss for its fifth straight victory to stand 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play and one measly win from bowl eligibility.
Never mind that the latter point was, and remains, subject to the deliberation and/or whims of the NCAA’s Infractions Appeal Committee, in whose molasses-slathered hands MU’s appeal of a bowl ban and other penalties remains months after such a matter typically would have been resolved.
Meanwhile, in another mystery of the universe, MU has faded like a shooting star and extended the trend in a 24-20 loss to Tennessee on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in a game that had loomed as a pivotal moment.
For starters, there was this: From that pinnacle on Oct. 12 entering the Tennessee game, a Tiger team that had scored 31 points or more in every game had scored a total of 27 in four straight losses in which it never led and that featured more Tiger punts (32) and penalties (31) than points.
Nothing could erase all that, but a win could ease it some.
Between that and the fact that it will be hard for Mizzou to capture the imagination, or even attention, with a reasonably assumed win in the regular-season finale on Friday at Arkansas (2-9), Saturday night essentially represented MU’s last stand to salvage something presentable with this season.
More broadly, it also was a chance for fourth-year coach Barry Odom to coax out a meaningful state of the union message with consumer confidence ebbing.
That discontent is evident both in terms of vocal local fans on social media and those making a statement simply by staying away: The crowd was generously announced as 49,348, but the east side of the stadium was at best half full.
But the chance to redeem, or at least re-energize, the season was squandered. With a loss that was deflating in its own distinct way in an exasperating season — one that has made Odom seem vulnerable with his trend of winning more games each season after going from 4-8 to 7-6 to 8-5 to 5-6 now.
Emotions of the moment notwithstanding, try to pause to remember that he brings to this job so much that we should want in coaches and sports, that the program that has lost five in a row had won nine of its previous 11 (further maddening in a sense but also indicative of a notable baseline) and that athletic director Jim Sterk isn’t likely to make an impulsive change.
What’s happened this season is a shame, not a sham. And you can bet those in the middle of this feel the pain more than you do — all the more so after the last home game for seniors.
In the locker room afterward, Odom said he spoke with the team “more about life. And there’s a lot of things not going to go your way. And it’s unfortunate, but, you know, it’s the hand of cards you were dealt and let’s go do something with what we have left.”
Odom reiterated how particularly hard it is for the senior class, adding, “because the finality … is here. And you can talk about it all you want, but when it’s real, they can touch it. Feel it. It’s a hard thing to (understand) until you really sit on those shoes and in the locker (room).”
All that said, it’s hard to dismiss the combination of anger and apathy among some fans. It’s certainly legitimate to wonder why there isn’t more discipline (seven penalties for 70 yards this time around and that doesn’t include two declined on the same Tennessee touchdown play) and depth by now.
And to just want more and better.
And the frustration can only be rising after a fifth straight loss that was highly winnable, for a change.
Because the downward trajectory was amplified against a Vols team that began the season 1-4, including a loss to Georgia State in the opener. As MU inexplicably receded, though, Tennessee rallied and improved and now has proceeded to win five of six under second-year coach Jeremy Pruitt.
And that speaks to another gathering challenge for Mizzou suggested by this game: With its resources and tradition, Tennessee simply wasn’t going to stay dormant like it basically has been the last two seasons (9-15) or underachieving like it has overall of late with just four winning seasons since 2007.
And what happened Saturday represented a notable shift in the dynamics between the teams ... and thus has implications in the SEC East itself.
MU, after all, had beaten Tennessee 50-17 each of the last two seasons and had averaged 627.7 yards in its last three games with the Vols.
On Saturday, Mizzou mustered just 280 yards.
And MU’s defense, its strength so much of the season, was scorched for 526 yards by Tennessee — which entered the game 109th in the nation in total offense with an average of 343.5 yards a game.
That’s all symptomatic of something that’s suddenly seized the program out of the ether: A program that had demonstrated it was learning how to win is finding ways to lose.
In this case, the Tigers entered the game 14th in the nation in third-down defense (30.9 percent conversion rate) … and allowed Tennessee to convert 9 of 16, including two on its final drive to put the game away.
So now here we are, with only one more game assured in this season. You’ve got to keep punching, Odom said late Saturday night, to break down the wall.
Even if it’s a hollow one to some after what might have been, a win over Arkansas would yet have meaning — both in itself and in terms of potential bowl implications.
It’s just that it’s not what anyone would have wanted or hoped for, especially after the 5-1 start that feels long ago and far away.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 12:49 AM.