Missouri football experiences ups and downs in 2009

The Tigers lost three straight in October but bounced back to finish 4-4 in conference.

By Evan Glantz

Published Dec. 22, 2009

For the 2009 Tigers, the season has been filled with convincing wins and head-scratching losses.

But this is what fans and experts anticipated during a so-called transitional season. As coach Gary Pinkel and the Tigers re-established a winning tradition in Columbia, it came to the point where fans consider eight wins and an appearance in the Texas Bowl somewhat of a disappointment. Pinkel and his team see things another way.

“I think your team matures over the season, and you apply it to the next game,” Pinkel said. “As you know, we have a really young team. I never said that during the season, but I’ll say it now. Numbers-wise, we have a young team when you look at our depth and some of the players coming up.”

That youth was on display throughout the season. After dismantling Illinois in the season opener, the Tigers knocked off their next three non-conference opponents to start the season 4-0. But then conference play began.

Missouri did not get any help from the schedulers. The team started Big 12 play against three ranked teams: Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas. It was a bit of a wake up call to the Tigers.

“We didn’t play those first three conference games quite like we wanted to,” Pinkel said. “A red flag should have been waving a little bit that we’re kind of an immature team. I didn’t get that right away. We certainly did not play well.”

The most shocking loss was probably the dud against Baylor on Nov. 7. Traditionally a Big 12 doormat, the Bears marched into Columbia and came from behind in the second half to embarrass Missouri at home. Sitting at 5-4 overall and 1-4 in the conference, the Tigers saw that game as the turning point of the season.

“On any given day, anybody can win in this league,” sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert said. “You’ve go to come out and prepare as hard as you can for every team. After the Baylor game, we were kind of like, ‘That can’t be happening here at Missouri.’ So we took things into our own hands, prepared as hard as we possibly could for the rest of the games and ended the year on a strong note.”

Gabbert was a key cog in Missouri’s turnaround. After injuring his ankle in the loss to Nebraska on Oct. 8, Gabbert’s production fell off, drastically affecting the Tigers’ offense. Starting with the loss to the Cornhuskers, Missouri went 1-3 in October. It averaged only 18 points per game, as a leaky defense was surrendering 29.5 points a game.

“When Blaine got hurt that hindered the offense a little bit,” senior wide receiver Danario Alexander said. “But once we got him going, we finished the season strong.”

That streak started against Kansas State on Nov. 14. In a game Pinkel claimed “saved Missouri football,” the Tigers rebounded from their Baylor embarrassment to knock off the Big 12 North-leading Wildcats.

“We just had to make up our minds and determine what type of team we were going to be,” Alexander said. “We had to come out and finish the year out strong and that’s what we did.”