By: Andy Humphrey
Man, it’s so good to have this matchup back.
I don’t know if that’s something that folks were saying after halftime of the first Mizzou-Oklahoma football game since 2011. But afterward… the roller coaster that was the final four minutes proved every bit of why it mattered so much to have it back on the schedule. What appeared to be a crushing loss for the Tigers with two minutes left, turned into hope for an overtime standoff and then suddenly a euphoric 30-23 win. There were 28 points scored in the final 3:18 of the game. If that doesn’t tell you to never trust a college football under, I don’t know what will.
All in all, it felt like a game that Mizzou almost never wins, because of something weird at the end that crushes all hope. Everyone seemed ready to add this game to the Kick-Six, 5th Down, etc. category of games after Oklahoma’s scoop-and-score. But this group convinced everyone in the crowd that they’re above those moments now. Things are different. And this team, backs against the wall, is as poised and calm as a college football team can be.
With that, let’s get to the Knee-Jerk Reactions:
The defense won the night
In what was expected to be a rock fight, Mizzou’s defense brought plenty of rocks. I mean, clearly, they closed the game out with one of the craziest late-game scoop-and-scores you’ll ever see. But beyond that, they forced three more takeaways (one on special teams), kept Jackson Arnold out of rhythm (15-of-24, 74 yards) and stood up on third down, allowing 5-of-15 conversions. Daylan Carnell, Zion Young, Corey Flagg, Triston Newson and others played their tails off all night.
Of course, I was also ready to acknowledge how the defense let up the game-tying touchdown following a 75-yard drive by the Sooners right after Mizzou had extended the lead with their second touchdown. It’s not like they played perfect football. But it seemed the only time that Oklahoma could score was when they had favorable field position, or perfectly executed a fake punt. Any other time, Mizzou was likely to force a punt. That’s what matters. And above all, a major key to victory here was winning the turnover battle. And boy, did Mizzou’s defense accomplish that task.
Drew Pyne deserves major props
Mizzou’s offensive game plan looked very conservative in the first half. It lent to the belief that the staff wasn’t ready to let the backup quarterback take many chances downfield. Maybe it was a ploy to get Oklahoma’s defense settled on the run before letting Pyne take shots in the second half. Whatever it was, it worked. And Pyne was even to the task.
After just 23 passing yards in the first half, Pyne finished with 143 through the air and three touchdown passes. He also brought the quarterback run game into play in the second half, converting two crucial third downs in the fourth quarter on scrambles. He had impressive pocket presence all night. And when he needed to make a play downfield, he found Theo Wease or Luther Burden and gave Mizzou fans the belief that he can be more than just a game manager.
Above all, Pyne’s ability to bounce back after a rough outing at Alabama is what impressed me the most. Games like that can make players question whether they’ve still got the chops to compete at this level, especially quarterbacks. But Pyne is such a mature guy, has played a bunch of major college football, and knew exactly how to put a game like that in the rearview. For a game like this, he didn’t need to light up the scoreboard. Just keep the team on schedule, don’t turn it over, and every once in a while step up and make an energizing play. He accomplished all of it. Awesome job.
Theo Wease. Take a damn bow.
We’ll just leave this right here.
I mean, we’ve heard about players stepping up against their former teams before. But to make the plays like THAT? Unreal.
It wasn’t just that play. Wease seemed to be the main guy Pyne turned to when the offense needed a spark. Before that touchdown, the deep slant he caught to put Mizzou in Oklahoma territory on the first play of their last possession gave all the hope Mizzou fans needed for a comeback attempt. His contributions helped turn Mizzou’s offense into something much greater, something we hadn’t seen much of even with Brady Cook on the field. Wease finally had that game where he could shine.
And on top of that, you could clearly see what it meant to the former Sooner afterward. That’s gotta feel really good.
The run game did just enough
With Brady Cook out, and even with Pyne’s heroics, Mizzou’s running backs had to take a larger load in a game like this. It wasn’t gaudy numbers by any means, as Nate Noel, Marcus Carroll and Jamal Roberts combined for 36 carries and 120 yards, an average of 3.3 per carry. But early in the game, I thought they did enough to keep Mizzou out of unmanageable third down situations. That was going to be tough to do against a stout OU defense, a hobbled Noel, and two offensive lineman coming out due to injury in the game.
In particular, I was most impressed with Roberts. Yes, he had a rough moment with the fumble to let the Sooners take the lead. But up to that point, he was putting together some tough runs and converted several third downs to keep the offense afloat. I’ll be interested to see how they split up the carries next time. Noel will gradually get healthier and command more of the workload, but I think Roberts has stated a strong case for being the second-string guy, or at least being even with Carroll.
That meant a whole lot more than just one win
The atmosphere said it all. You could feel it in the building. Even after not playing for 13 years, these two schools don’t particularly like each other. It didn’t matter that Oklahoma’s schedule had limited their win total to this point or that Mizzou had taken itself out of the playoff conversation with two blowout losses. The date was still circled way back when the SEC schedule was released, and for good reason. It just means a little extra to have this head-to-head rivalry back. Add in the fact that Mizzou avoided another “same ol’ Mizzou” loss by turning the game completely on its head in the last minute, and you get a victory that felt like two.
What it means for the final three games? Who the heck knows? I’m not too worried about that at the moment. South Carolina is probably a better team than both Mizzou and Oklahoma at this point and it might be a tough ask for the Tigers to replicate this performance on the road in a hard environment. Maybe Brady Cook is healthy by then, maybe not. I think Pyne showed that he’s up to the task if Cook can’t go.
But in a season that was starting to lose legs, this was a major boost.
