Missouri Picks up the Pieces After Losing to Texas

I’ve been thinking about following hockey. It’s a sport I always thought was kind of cool but never put in the necessary effort to learn all its intricacies. I’m sure I’d enjoy it. I’ve heard it’s by far the coolest sport to see in person.

I say this because I have to find something to numb the pain that the last two weeks have inflicted on me. Oklahoma State was shocking, because it’s a game everyone knows we should have won. But at least we thought we had an instant date with redemption the following Saturday.

Well, redemption didn’t leave us at the altar. Redemption didn’t even make it into the chapel. If the OSU game was a disaster, then what happened Saturday night against No. 1 ranked Texas was a bloody massacre.

I honestly haven’t seen a Missouri Tiger football team that overmatched since I’ve been in college.

Texas sent a three-man pass rush most of the night and was somehow able to put constant pressure on Chase Daniel. Unacceptable.

Texas averaged over eight yards per play on offense and Colt McCoy completed all but three of his passes. Pathetic.

This season is dangerously close to falling apart and our memories of the Chase Daniel era being tarnished.

Next week, the Tigers play Colorado—a game they should not lose under any circumstances. Unfortunately, it’s a game they absolutely can lose and a loss would be beyond devastating to the program.

Most MU students arrived on campus after this football revival occurred. Their idea of a bad season is winning eight games and going to the Sun Bowl.

They weren’t here in 2005, when it took us until the last home game of the year just to secure bowl eligibility.

They weren’t here when only 46,000 people made it out to see Brad Smith’s last game on Faurot Field and pay respects to a player who, at that time, was considered to be the best quarterback in the program’s history.

They weren’t here when that was actually considered a good season. The thought of returning to those days is utterly horrifying.

But I don’t really think we’re going back to that. What I think will happen is Daniel and Gary Pinkel will rally the troops this week and come back with a strong effort against Colorado on Saturday.

I’ve learned quite a bit about Chase Daniel after watching him for 3½ years. Maybe he’s not capable of winning against some of college football’s elite teams like Texas and Oklahoma, but he would rather die than let himself or his teammates quit on this season.

One thing this team has been able to do with remarkable consistency is beat the teams it's supposed to. If the Tigers do that, then they’ll win the rest of their regular season games and end up back in the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City where they figure to have a strong home field advantage.

They’ll have a shot to accomplish their goals of winning a conference championship and going to a BCS bowl game.

Unfortunately, they’ll likely be playing Texas again—a team I’m completely convinced is going undefeated and winning a National Championship.

Does anyone know how much St. Louis Blues tickets are going for these days?