Character matters: Surging Tigers

​roll over Gators, win third straight

Loeffler's Link

The Missouri Tigers celebrate with fans after throttling the Florida Gators for their third straight win Saturday at Faurot Field.

Nov. 4, 2017

COLUMBIA, Mo. --- You could say these teams are from different states and different schools.

But really, Missouri and Florida are from the same school.

It could be the School of Hard Knocks, but it goes beyond that. You can call this particular institution Jerry Springer University, or Dysfunctional U, because these are dysfunctional football families.

There's one big difference between the two, however. Missouri has happily graduated from DU, moving their tassels to the left side of their helmets and moving on.

These Tigers are getting better all the time, something that seemed unlikely, if not impossible, a few short weeks ago.

Florida is still in full-blown dysfunction with no end in sight. Even worse, the Gators have lost all interest ... we saw a better effort from our local political hero, Leonard Steinman, in his attempt to become Missouri's next governor. As you probably know, Leonard's campaign consisted of a painted van, great hats and a beard.

Did you know Steinman actually won 3.7 perecent of the vote in the 2016 Democratic primary? Amazing. Well played, Leonard.

But that was a 3.7 percent better chance than Florida had Saturday, as the Tigers (4-5, 1-4SEC) dismantled the once-proud Gators (3-5, 3-4)  45-16 before 49,154 at Faurot Field to win their third straight and produce their fifth straight noteworthy effort.

Hold on, Michael Porter, it's not basketball season just yet.

Missouri had opened the season with a silly 72-43 win over Missouri State, a game that revealed plenty of warts, especially on the Tigers' defense.

That was bad, then it got worse --- a lot worse. As in, the Tigers couldn't play defense or offense the next three weeks.

Game 2 had a nice start, however, when Missouri took an early 10-0 lead on South Carolina. But who in the name of Truman the Tiger could have possibly known what was coming next?

The Tigers were outscored 31-3 the rest of the way, then were a complete no-show the following week in a distasteful 35-3 home loss to Purdue. This was uncomfortably bad, reminding fans of those woeful days of Woody's Wagon in the 1980's.

It was more of the same the next week as Mizzou was routed, at home, 51-14 by Auburn --- meaning, the Tigers had been outscored 117-20 since that 10-0 lead vs. South Carolina.

When things are going this bad, they usually get worse. And Barry Odom and the Tigers had hit new rock-bottoms three straight weeks.

After a bye week, most Mizzou fans had said good-bye to football and were concentrating on basketball. Especially when Kentucky jumped out to a 13-0 lead on Mizzou in Game 5.

That rolled the total 130-20, a stretch of more than 12 quarters, spanning four weeks, from about 6:40 pm. on Sept. 9 to about 8:40 p.m. on Oct. 7.

But then, something happened. Perhaps Barry Odom's heart --- and his football knowledge --- grew 10 sizes that day.

Sure, the Tigers still lost, 40-34  but they were competitive for the first time in a long time. They lost the next week, too, but they were not going to beat Georgia, which is regarded as the best team in college football. Yes, even better than the Gods of Tuscaloosa.

The Tigers were tied with the Bulldogs midway through the second quarter. And while they were in no danger of actually winning the game, they scored 28 points against a defense that had allowed less than 10 ppg. in its other seven entering Saturday.

Unlike Florida, Missouri had not quit.

Next up were blowout wins over Idaho and Connecticut --- the latter is better known for women's basketball, the former better known for potatoes. The game with Idaho was homecoming --- a day that's all about football. But the buzz was much more about a basketball scrimmage at Mizzou Arena than it was football.

Then came Saturday, when Mizzou manhandled a disinterested Florida team, a team still dealing with the firing of head coach Jim McElwain earlier this week.

The improving Mizzou defense was good and Drew Lock and the offense were very good, once again: Lock was an efficient 15-of-20 for 228 yards and three touchdowns, and the Tigers have now scored 165 points in their last three games.

The Gators still have plenty of SEC talent, albeit dysfunctional SEC talent, but they were no match for these red-hot Tigers.

Red-hot Tigers? Did you think this was possible? After 130-20? Show of hands? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Now, the Tigers are just two wins away from being bowl eligible. The best team remaining on their schedule isn't very good (Vanderbilt) and the other two (Tennessee and Arkansas) are currently as dysfunctional as Florida.

And as dysfunctional as Missouri was a few short weeks ago.

Believe it or not, the Tigers could easily win all three, finish 7-5, and go to a bowl game we've actually heard of. Do you believe in miracles. Yes!

We were quick to criticize Odom and the Tigers for what they were, and justifiably so. They weren't just bad, they were embarrassing. They went through a month-long stretch of playing 7-on-7 --- except the other teams were playing with 11. And even though they haven't exactly been beating Alabama or Georgia in recent weeks, it's quite amazing what they've done.

It would have been easy for Odom to lose this team and for the Tigers to be playing like the Gators. Very easy.  But it didn't happen. For the love of Leonard Steinman, it didn't happen.

It's been a football renaissance much more about character than X's and O's. Quitting is easy, perseverance is not.

Character matters. And it's the one thing truly dysfunctional teams don't have.