Final nonconference foe looms

It hasn’t happened yet. Saturday is the last test.

The slip-ups. The bungled plays. The missed opportunities of past seasons. The nonconference loss that has put a blemish on Missouri’s record in four out of Gary Pinkel’s five seasons as coach hasn’t happened yet in year six.

Part of that is because, other than a two-quarter lull against New Mexico, the Tigers haven’t played like a team that will fall against weaker opponents.

It’s already happened to a few Big 12 Conference teams this season, most recently with Kansas’ double-overtime loss Friday against Toledo from the Mid-American Conference. That game serves as only one reason why Missouri isn’t looking past its last nonconference game on the schedule against Ohio, another MAC opponent, on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

“They (Ohio) look at the opportunity as a moment to prove themselves, that `We’re pretty darn good too.’” Pinkel said. “We saw it happen last Friday night, and we saw it happen to us in 2001 and 2002 (Both losses were to Bowling Green, another MAC team). We will get their best performance, but it still boils down to us focusing on Missouri getting better and respecting who we’re playing.”

The one-game-at-a-time approach has worked thus far for Missouri. The team has yet to trail at any point in its first three games, and defeating Ohio would mark the first 4-0 start for Missouri since 2003.

“I think in order for us to achieve our goals as a team, we’re going to have to continue to improve,” Pinkel said. “We have to do a lot better this week than we did in Week 1. Good teams can do that, and good teams do that. They get a lot better, and that’s something I think is real important.”

For cornerback Domonique Johnson, approaching the last nonconference game on the schedule is a lot like approaching a class in school.

“Everybody has been like ‘You haven’t been tested.’” Johnson said. “Well, you’ve got to pass the test when the test comes, like class. You study and then the test comes, and you’ve got to pass it.”

In order to pass that test, Missouri’s defense will face an offense similar to its own. Ohio runs a version of the spread offense in addition to its Power-I formation. Bobcats’ coach Frank Solich didn’t run the spread offense while at Nebraska, where he most recently coached three years ago, but he has instituted it at Ohio.

After Tuesday’s practice, Pinkel was asked if he ever thought he would hear Solich’s name and spread offense in the same sentence three years ago. His response was quick.

“No, and I don’t think you’d hear Gary Pinkel and spread offense three years ago either,” Pinkel joked. “But things change, times change.”

Despite not coaching in the Big 12 for the past three years, Solich offered his thoughts on defending Missouri’s spread offense, and he addressed the Tigers’ chances of winning the Big 12 North.

“You are going to have to spread out and cover the entire field against these guys ...what is going to make them difficult in that they have a quarterback that is like a running back, and so it’s difficult to get it all taken care of,” Solich said. “I think they are a threat to win the Big 12 North. I think probably Nebraska is favored by most people, but I think Missouri will be right there challenging.”