Column: Football's success creates stress this year

By Mark Levitt
Aug. 28, 2008

For the majority of the past 20 years, Missouri football has been known for bad breaks (see Colorado's fifth down in 1990 or Nebraska's kick in the end zone in 1997), a half-empty Faurot Field and playing mediocre football. Until last season, there have been no Heisman hopefuls, no Big 12 championship dreams and no expectations.

Life as a Missouri Tiger football fan used to be so much less stressful.

On Saturday night the Tigers will kick off the most anticipated season in their history. With most of a 12-2 team returning, MU has an opportunity to do something special.

Campus is buzzing with excitement. Fans know how close their team came to playing for a national championship last year. With two Heisman candidates in senior quarterback Chase Daniel and sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Maclin to go along with the No. 6 ranking in the Associated Press poll, this team wants to finish off what it could not last winter.

There is only one way to summarize how all of the excitement, expectations and anticipation make me feel.

Terrified.

The hours leading up to Saturday night feel like the hours before a first date with the person you think is "the one." My hands are sweaty, my heart is racing and I can't decide which gold T-shirt to wear. There is just so much that can go wrong with this much at stake.

I'm terrified that in a college football world where one or two losses can ruin a season, the Tigers will lose to a team they are expected to beat. Last year, for the first time in recent memory, Missouri won every game it was favored to win. The difference now is that they will have an "X" marked squarely on their backs for every game they play, starting Saturday against Illinois.

I'm terrified of an offensive line that has been constantly shifted and changed since spring practice began. If Daniel does not get time in the pocket, Maclin and senior wide receiver Tommy Saunders will not have the opportunity to develop their deeper routes. More importantly, the Tigers' hopes rest on the right shoulder of Daniel. The fewer hits he takes, the better.

I'm terrified that a road-heavy schedule will take a toll on Missouri. Of the four toughest games on the calendar, two will be held at a neutral site (Illinois in St. Louis and Kansas in Kansas City) and two will be played on the road (at Texas and Nebraska).

I'm terrified of repeating the nightmarish season of the last Missouri team to start a season ranked sixth in the country. The 2003-2004 basketball team entered the season with high expectations, including winning the Big 12. That team eventually reached No. 2 in the polls before falling apart, finishing the regular season 15-12 and being left out of the NCAA tournament. The basketball program is just now starting to recover.

I'm terrified of an opening game against an underrated Illinois football team. Losing Rashard Mendenhall to the NFL hurts them, but they return explosive quarterback Juice Williams.

The Illini will come into the Edward Jones Dome with more confidence than last year thanks to their upset over national champion runner-up Ohio State in November. It is clear they will not back away from their border-state rival.

As the hours continue to tick toward 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the anxiety, the terror and the nervousness are building. So dry your hands and take a deep breath because come January we might look back and remember this first date as the beginning of a season that we'll never forget.

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Column: Football's success creates stress this year

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