So here they are once again, those resilient Missouri Tigers, playing in Georgia’s backyard.
The Tigers (10-2) will face No. 1-ranked Alabama (11-1) in the SEC Championship game Saturday (4 p.m., CBS). They’re huge underdogs, as everyone might expect, 14 1/2 points, to be exact. But if the past two years have taught us anything, it’s to not tell this bunch they don’t belong.
Missouri has been hearing that line since it signed up for this SEC gig three years ago. And who could blame the detractors? Coming off a 5-4 Big 12 season, the Tigers promptly face-planted on their leap into the new league with a 2-6 debut.
All they’ve done since is go 14-2. Now they’ll play in the Georgia Dome as SEC Eastern Division champions for a second consecutive year.
“Awesome feeling,” senior receiver Bud Sasser said. “We worked really hard to get here. We knew it was going to be harder the second year, but we knew we had a shot at it.”
Nobody gave the Tigers a shot two months ago when they inexplicably lost at home to what ended up being a 4-8 Indiana team.
“There’s many days in the week I wish we could have that game back,” senior left tackle Mitch Morse said. “It’s the game of football, I suppose. If you don’t bring you’re ‘A’ game, any team can beat you.”
That loss could’ve been written off as a distracted fluke, then Missouri was blanked by Georgia 34-0 on Oct. 11 in Columbia. That’s the one that really empowered the naysayers.
How could the Tigers possibly win the East when it couldn’t even be competitive at home with one of division’s primary contenders?
“Well, I think first of all we turned the ball over five times,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “Anytime you have that many turnovers, it’s going to be very difficult to win any games. And Georgia played very well. I think it’s important to understand that. I think what we did afterwards is (play with) a sense of urgency and take it one game at a time.”
The Tigers made some tangible and intangible adjustments.
One thing they did was slow the offensive tempo for quarterback Maty Mauk. Known for its hurry-up, no-huddle under coach Gary Pinkel, Missouri began to pace itself and lean more on its straight-ahead running game. Russell Hansbrough and Marcus Murphy divide carries almost exactly between them and have combined for 1,696 yards on an average of 5 yards per carry.
And while Mauk has continued to struggle at times, he has been at his best with the game on the line in the fourth quarter. His quarterback rating during the final quarter as the Tigers clinched wins the past two weeks was 375.38 (7-of-9, 201 yards, 3 TDs).
“What we did was continue to improve each week,” Sasser said. “We didn’t worry about what was being said outside our program. We just tried to make sure we stayed together and worked hard each week to make improvements.”
Meanwhile, there was never anything wrong with the Tigers’ defense. Directed by Frank Broyles Award candidate Dave Steckel, they’re giving up just 330 yards and 19 points per game. A year after Michael Sam and Kony Ealy moved on to the NFL, Missouri somehow got even better at defensive end. Shane Ray leads the SEC with 13.5 sacks, and Markus Golden, has 8.5.
As they prepare to face Amari Cooper and Alabama’s high-flying attack, the Tigers have allowed only two 100-yard receivers, and their yards per passing attempt — 5.8 — is the sixth-best in America.
“They’re one of the best teams in our league, no doubt,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “Certainly they’re very deserving of what they’ve accomplished. They’ve overcome a lot of adversity this year to do it.”
About the Author
