Official Mizzou/uga Thread

[Justin Spencer]

It sad we're even talking about a bowl game, guess it's good for the kids, but bowls are for everyone that plays a few cupcakes anymore.

[ozark trout fisher]

I agree that a bowl game will be a real challenge, but we were in essentially this same position last year at 4-4 with tough opponents left on the schedule. Of course the switch to the SEC makes it more difficult this time to finish strong. Syracuse is .500 Big East team, and at home Missouri should in theory win with little difficulty. Not to say it will be that easy in reality. They have a good quarterback that is capable of giving us trouble. Tennessee is the other game we'd probably have to win. Tennessee only 3-5 and 0-5 in the SEC. They are pretty much the exact opposite of us-they've got a great offense, and a defense that regularly gives up 30-50 points to teams ranging from Akron to Georgia. Essentially a Big 12 style team playing in the SEC. And the end result for them has been a season about identical to what we've gone through. It's on the road, but it should still be a winnable game if our own defense can step up a little. I still don't know if our own offense will be improved enough to take advantage of their defense. James Franklin will have to get near 100%, and the line will have to play better for us to have chance of matching points with a team like that. I don't have supreme confidence in either, but anything's possible. That game will decide whether we reach bowl eligibility, in my mind. Lose and the chances of doing so are very slight. Texas A&M and Florida aren't likely to be too kind to us.

[Al Agnew]

Mizzou missed a huge opportunity to change the season by beating Florida. If Franklin's passes had been on target they would have won by two touchdowns. The defense has played well enough this year that, had the offense played up to the potential most people thought they had before the slew of injuries, they'd be 7-2 at this point. I think that game, and the first half of the Georgia game, should show everybody that Mizzou can play with the big boys if they're healthy.

[cnr]

Franklin's passing was way, way off. They should of had more points on the board. They played a tough team and showed they can hang with these schools.

[Justin Spencer]

Mizzou missed a huge opportunity to change the season by beating Florida. If Franklin's passes had been on target they would have won by two touchdowns. The defense has played well enough this year that, had the offense played up to the potential most people thought they had before the slew of injuries, they'd be 7-2 at this point. I think that game, and the first half of the Georgia game, should show everybody that Mizzou can play with the big boys if they're healthy.

And the Chiefs should have beat the Ravens also

[stlfisher]

Mizzou missed a huge opportunity to change the season by beating Florida. If Franklin's passes had been on target they would have won by two touchdowns. The defense has played well enough this year that, had the offense played up to the potential most people thought they had before the slew of injuries, they'd be 7-2 at this point. I think that game, and the first half of the Georgia game, should show everybody that Mizzou can play with the big boys if they're healthy.

Yeah, they blew it again. Really really dissappointing. Franklin was air-mailing them all day. Those throws were brutal.

On the bright side they only messed up one snap and had one field goal blocked.

[Al Agnew]

The real bright side was that there were at least times when Franklin had time to throw and time to wait for the deep routes to open up. That hasn't happened much this year. Too bad Franklin was unable to hit the broad side of a barn. Of course, they lost another offensive lineman, so that bright side might not show up next Saturday.

[joeD]

James Franklin is not a good quarterback. Neither is Berkstrasser. Also, and importantly, those two are not Chase Daniel. Or Blaine Gabbert. And they don't have Jeremy Maclin. Or Will Weatherspoon. Or Danario Alexander. Or Will Egnew. Or Dave Christianson. Or..or..or..

Mizzou, unfortunately, has not replaced the talent that has left the program, with equally capable players (which teams like Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, and others do).

Which, naturally, brings up the Pinkel question. Can he win in the SEC?

Also, and I think it's important, and relevant, what about Bill Snyder at K-State? Look at what he has done and what he is doing. At K-State.

Also, of note. Kentucky fired their football coach because he lost to Vandy, albeit in a big way. We lost to Vandy. Had a hard time with Kentucky too.

Face it, although Gary Pinkel is a fine coach and a decent human being, who has elevated the Mizzou football program to prominence, I think he is overmatched in the SEC and will have little success in the future. If being a middle of the road SEC team and getting into non-impactful bowl games is OK with you, then Pinkel is your man. Otherwise..

[Al Agnew]

James Franklin is not a good quarterback. Neither is Berkstrasser. Also, and importantly, those two are not Chase Daniel. Or Blaine Gabbert. And they don't have Jeremy Maclin. Or Will Weatherspoon. Or Danario Alexander. Or Will Egnew. Or Dave Christianson. Or..or..or..

Mizzou, unfortunately, has not replaced the talent that has left the program, with equally capable players (which teams like Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, and others do).

Which, naturally, brings up the Pinkel question. Can he win in the SEC?

Also, and I think it's important, and relevant, what about Bill Snyder at K-State? Look at what he has done and what he is doing. At K-State.

Also, of note. Kentucky fired their football coach because he lost to Vandy, albeit in a big way. We lost to Vandy. Had a hard time with Kentucky too.

Face it, although Gary Pinkel is a fine coach and a decent human being, who has elevated the Mizzou football program to prominence, I think he is overmatched in the SEC and will have little success in the future. If being a middle of the road SEC team and getting into non-impactful bowl games is OK with you, then Pinkel is your man. Otherwise..

About Snyder and K-State...sometimes you hit a run of luck. You recruit some good players that were mostly under the radar of the big programs, and they turn out better than you expected, the key players remain uninjured, and you have success. Then success feeds upon itself and you build up several years of a resume of winning. At some point, if you're not one of the very top programs, it'll end, or at least go downhill. Heck, even the Texases and Oklahomas of college football have down years (like this one). And even the middle tier programs have good runs and an occasional great year (like Mizzou). The real question is, how DO you elevate a program to where it's one of the top ones, like the Bamas and LSUs and Oklahomas? That doesn't happen in a year or two, and it doesn't happen to many schools. I don't care to look it up, but I'd bet that there aren't many programs that have been in the top ten, or even the top 25, every year for the last decade or two.

Point is, we'd all love to have Mizzou competing for the national championship just once, and being a top ten team every year. But every year there are only ten teams in the top ten and at most three or four with a legitimate chance at the NC. If it was easy to elevate your program to that extent, every coaching staff would be doing it. What you can realistically HOPE for (not expect) is for a program like Mizzou to play in a bowl nearly every year and occasionally, when the stars all align, be in the top ten and in the hunt for the national championship. Maybe this year was the aberration and they'll get back to more winning ways next year, and maybe at some point in the next few years they'll be back in the top ten.

[ozark trout fisher]

Gary Pinkel needs time to succeed in the SEC before we make a decision. This season has been a disappointment, but certainly it hasn't been disaster. This team has been as injury plagued as any Missouri team in recent memory...and yet with three games to go a bowl looks very realistic. Some other teams that have been similarly injury plagued include Kentucky, Colorado, and Illinois...and none of those teams are above 2 wins right now.

We aren't Alabama or Florida and won't be anytime soon. So you have to ask, is 7-8 wins a year, with an occasional really good season (and an occasional 5 or 6 win setback like this year) good enough? Maybe not, but I don't think anyone has a better chance to get us above that mark than Pinkel. We don't have the facilities or the athletics budget of the SEC titans, and we don't have the built in recruiting advantages.

Anyway, who could we bring in? It seems like half the SEC will be looking for a new coach this year...Kentucky and Arkansas (for sure), and most likely Auburn and Tennessee. So we get in line behind Auburn, Tennessee, and probably Arkansas, and we don't land any of the really great gets like Charlie Strong or Dana Holgorsen...We end up with some coach of a hot mid-major program that may or may not work out. I'd rather have Pinkel..