Penalties teach Tigers lessons

By Ryan Huber

Published Nov. 27, 2007

KANSAS CITY, MO. — The image of No. 2 Kansas sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing pulling mud spattered with gold paint from his facemask after being sacked in the end zone will forever be a staple of what transpired Saturday evening.

Reesing was met in the end zone by three Tiger defensive linemen with seconds remaining on the clock. With Reesing's face planted in the "Missouri" painted on the field, MU coach Gary Pinkel's goal of winning the Big 12 North, seven years in the making, became a reality.

But before that climactic ending, the then No. 3 Tigers dealt with penalty after penalty, putting both junior quarterback Chase Daniel and the Missouri offense in several long third-down situations, and keeping the MU defense on the field.

Coming into the game, Missouri averaged 32.82 yards penalized a game, ranking second in the nation behind Army. But the Tigers committed 14 penalties for 141 yards on Saturday night, a mistake Pinkel said cannot happen against No. 9 Oklahoma.

"I think we had more penalties today than we had the entire season," he said. "What I think we are going to have to do is look at that and evaluate it. There is process to do that."

Pinkel said it is important for him to assess the nature behind the penalties.

"Was it because we weren't focused enough or was it being over-focused and just trying too hard?" he said. "It's real important that we learn from this in preparation for the championship game next weekend."

In the midst of mistakes on both sides of the ball, several Missouri players made up for the penalties called against them.

"That's what we do now," senior defensive tackle Lorenzo Williams said. "If you make a mistake, most guys would come to the sideline saying, 'Oh, that was my fault,' but we have got 10 other guys jumping on them right away saying, 'We did it together, whether its good or bad, we do it as a team.' So we just put our arms around the guy and say, 'Come on man, it's over. Come on to the next play.'"

Sophomore linebacker Stryker Sulak had a holding call that prolonged a dangerous Kansas drive early in the second quarter. Three plays later, he sacked Reesing on third down to force a 45-yard field goal.

Kansas senior kicker Scott Webb, who had already missed a 33-yard attempt off the right goalpost on the previous possession, overcompensated and put the kick wide left.

Early in the second half, junior cornerback Castine Bridges was called for a costly 15-yard facemask penalty. Two plays later, he intercepted Reesing, which kept the Jayhawks scoreless.

"Everyone was making up for their mistakes today," sophomore wide receiver Danario Alexander said. "We were on the same page with each other, and that helped a lot."

Pinkel also said the team made up for those mistakes.

"We took a lot of penalties out there whether it was our defense or our offense," Pinkel said. "But there is no question about it, we overcame a lot of them. Good football teams do that."