Tigers look for hangover cure
After collapse, MU continues tough stretch.
After a 27-12 loss to Nebraska, Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said: “You can’t dwell on your sorrows.”
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With Missouri a third of the way though a brutal stretch that most figured would define the Tigers’ season, linebacker Sean Weatherspoon put his team on notice as Thursday night turned into Friday morning: A Husker hangover could cripple the Tigers.
“I’ve been down this road before,” he said after Missouri’s fourth-quarter collapse helped deliver Nebraska a 27-12 victory on Faurot Field. “You’ve got to let it go. You can’t dwell on your sorrows. Because if you do that, the rest of your season could reflect on how your attitude is.”
As it digests its first loss of the season — and its plummeting position in the Big 12 North Division race — Missouri (4-1, 0-1 Big 12) doesn’t have time for moping, not with Saturday’s trip to Oklahoma State (4-1, 1-0) next on the schedule. OSU, once a top-five team, has recovered from its Sept. 12 loss to Houston with three straight wins, including yesterday’s 36-31 victory at Texas A&M.
Mike Gundy’s Cowboys played yesterday without their pair of all-conference playmakers, tailback Kendall Hunter (sprained ankle) and wide receiver Dez Bryant (ineligible), both of whom could also miss Saturday’s game in Stillwater, Okla.
Asked about Bryant’s absence — the wideout was ruled ineligible after lying to NCAA investigators about his relationship with Deion Sanders — Weatherspoon was quick to point out Bryant’s minimal production in last year’s meeting with OSU in Columbia. Bryant caught seven passes for a season-low 47 yards in the Cowboys’ 28-23 win on Faurot Field.
“I know Dez personally, so I feel sad for the guy,” Weatherspoon said. “But Dez wasn’t the guy who killed us last year. I can’t remember the guy’s name — no disrespect to him. But they had another receiver who stepped up big. And their quarterback stepped up big here.”
That receiver was sophomore Damien Davis, who caught three passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns against the Tigers. He was kicked off the team in February, leaving quarterback Zac Robinson with a mix of unheralded options as receivers.
But Missouri has its own problems to tackle this week, starting with a plodding offense that struggled to overcome its own self-inflicted setbacks against Nebraska. Yes, the monsoon-like conditions created their share of problems. And yes, quarterback Blaine Gabbert was gimpy with a sprained right ankle most of the game. But against a Cornhuskers defense they shredded for 1,068 yards the last two years, Missouri mustered only two scores on 16 possessions. The Tigers’ 225 yards of offense marked their fewest since a 13-3 loss at Kansas in 2005, when Brad Smith’s offense generated just 180 yards.
Stagnant running, inaccurate passing and a rash of penalties, including four holds by offensive linemen, repeatedly put the offense in unmanageable scenarios. On 15 of the Tigers’ 78 offensive snaps, they needed to pick up 12 yards or more for the first down. Twelve of those plays started at least 20 yards away from the first-down marker, including eight in the first quarter alone.
“Going into this game, I thought we were pretty disciplined,” Pinkel said. “We were the least-penalized team in the league. Obviously, we didn’t do a very good job today.”
Missouri simply imploded in the fourth quarter, starting with a 56-yard Nebraska touchdown pass after the Tigers just completed three quarters of shutout defense. From there, back-to-back Gabbert interceptions in MU territory led directly to a pair of Husker touchdown throws. Nebraska’s 27-0 fourth quarter marked the most points the Tigers have surrendered in the fourth quarter since a loss to Wisconsin in 1984, when the Badgers scored 28 in a 35-34 win.
On its final series, Nebraska melted the game away with a renewed running game, picking up 68 of its 105 rushing yards.
His team’s fourth-quarter breakdowns seemed to bother Pinkel more than anything. Now, with their running game in tatters and their quarterback limping, the Tigers must regroup as their rugged three-game stretch continues, first at OSU then a homecoming date with Texas on Oct. 24.
“Everyone around here, we’ll be together throughout this thing,” center Tim Barnes said. “We know what we need to do to get better. We’re not going to leave anybody out to dry. I know Blaine’s going to want to come back and do really good. We all want to come back and do well because, well, losing sucks.”
Reach Dave Matter at 573-815-1781 or e-mail dmatter@columbiatribune.com.
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