For Mizzou, An offseason saturated in excitement and hype came crashing down in one fell swoop on Saturday night in Laramie, Wyoming. The Tigers, a 17.5 point favorite, couldn’t overcome a plethora of turnovers and mistakes and fell 37-31 to Wyoming.
A career passing game for Kelly Bryant was not enough as Missouri’s horrific run defense gave up over 300 yards to the one-dimensional offensive attack of the Cowboys. Adding kindling to the fire, the Mizzou offense turned the ball over four times, including two crucial trips to the red zone.
5 Takeaways
- The season likely can no longer be special. It an still be good and the possibility for nine wins still exists, but this loss kills most of the momentum that the end of last year created.
- The average Missouri fan is likely out…again. Thoughts of a capacity crowd next week against West Virginia with SEC Nation coming to town is out the window. Missouri fans have been casually dipping their toes back into the water over the past few seasons and losing to Wyoming will be the perfect excuse to do yard work or repaint the deck.
- The defense is still bad. The Cowboys completed six passes all game long and still managed to gash Mizzou for almost 400 yards. For the Tigers, it all starts up front and the edge rush was non-existent all game long and the linebacking group struggled mightily as well. Missouri gave a fat raise to defensive coordinator Ryan Walters and these results are subpar to say the least.
- Kelly Brant was amazing and terrible. Bryant made many questionable decisions, turned the ball over twice (including a crippling endzone interception) and was still the best player on the field. He threw for a career high 423 yards with two touchdowns and showed more poise and short-range accuracy than many expected.
- The schedule will allow for another “turnaround.” Despite this disaster, Missouri can still feast on a schedule that is as manageable as any you will ever see in the SEC. Tennessee, South Carolina and Ole Miss were horrendous during losses and Arkansas, Florida, West Virginia and Kentucky were shoddy at best while winning. Does another “turnaround” and 8-4 finish satisfy Missouri fans that had hopes of a 10-win season?
