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PrintLUBBOCK, Texas — This was the kind of win programs point to as a stepping stone on the way to achieving something great.
Although no one on the No. 19 Tigers is making plans for a BCS bowl, one fact is clear: Missouri left Lubbock as the only team in the Big 12 Conference undefeated and bowl-eligible.
But after Saturday night’s 38-21 victory against Texas Tech, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said he knew there were a lot of fans wondering if his team was good.
“I don’t think our players or our staff ever questioned it,” Pinkel said. “Are we a great team? No, we’re not a great team. We’ve won six games and feel very good about that, but we have a half of a season left.”
With the win, the Tigers took a big step in answering critics who said the Tigers’ competition wasn’t strong enough, or that the team’s numbers were inflated because of inferior opponents.
But taking a look at the list of undefeated bowl-eligible teams reveals No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Florida, No. 4 Michigan, the Tigers and No. 20 Boise State.
“It’s not the defining point of our season, but it’s pretty close,” Chase Daniel said. “We know we can play with the big boys and we just have to keep doing what got us here. We’re just a force to be reckoned with.”
Despite earning a road victory against a tough Red Raiders team and getting off to the first 6-0 start since 1973, the team stuck to its established routine of celebrating for a short amount of time, then moving on to the next opponent. Daniel said the team couldn’t afford to get ahead of itself. Tony Temple went on about the team’s mistakes on offense.
Pinkel said he was an upperclassman in college the last time Missouri started 6-0, but he also stuck with the one-game-at-a-time attitude that has begun to define this team. Pinkel clung to that philosophy even tighter when this year’s team started to draw comparisons to the 1960 and 1969 Orange Bowl teams.
“Those are great bowl teams,” Pinkel said. “Those are Orange Bowl teams. Holy cow, we’ve just won six games. Are you kidding me? I’m glad we won this one, but let’s wake up and go to Texas A&M ... Let’s just take a breath here.”
But Pinkel and the rest of the team acknowledged the significance a win like Saturday’s can mean for a program.
“As you build a program, and I said this after our bowl game, you’ve got to win some big games to advance your program,” Pinkel said. “This is one of those games.”
Players who have been in the program for a few years, like junior Will Franklin and senior Brad Ekwerekwu, said recent Missouri teams might not have responded in the manner Missouri did after seemingly coming unglued at the start of the second half.
Instead of having their heads down, trying to explain why Missouri let another one get away, the upperclassmen on the team held their heads high, smiled and proudly said how much they believed in this team.
“It’s just phenomenal,” Ekwerekwu said. “Night and day. We’re a brand new team with a brand new attitude and we’re rolling with it.”
Franklin agreed with his fellow wide receiver, and said the win spoke volumes about the athletes Missouri has acquired and developed in the past few seasons.
“Other coaches and other teams always say that Missouri is a gold mine,” Franklin said. “This year we’re putting it together. We were counted out, but there’s something inside of us that we just don’t quit anymore. We’re going to play for four quarters.”
RARE TERRITORY: Finally, in the sixth game of the season, Missouri’s leading rusher, Tony Temple, scored a touchdown.
It came on a one-yard run in the first quarter, and Temple appeared like he didn’t want to give the ball back to the referee.
“I went to the referee and I was like ‘OK, let me see the flag. Where’s the flag at?’” Temple said. “I was just happy to get one.”
Temple hasn’t made a big deal about not scoring a touchdown all year, and said he has embraced his role in the offense.
“It feels good, I’m glad my players have my back and they wanted to get me one,” Temple said. “But you have to know your role on this team. And if I have to carry the ball all the way down there and somebody else gets in, I don’t care as long as we’re getting touchdowns.”
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