The Missouri Tigers closed out the 2008 season in heart-stopping fashion, with a 30-23 win over the Northwestern Wildcats in the Alamo Bowl. Like most of you (judging by the shots of the stands), InsideSTL.com watched the game from the couch. Nevertheless, here are our ten thoughts on the game:

*If this was indeed the curtain call for Jeremy Maclin in a Missouri uniform, let us be the first to say thanks. When you get a talent like Maclin, you're happy to have him for as long as he'll stick around. If someone somehow convinces him to come back for a third season, he might make Missouri the favorite to win the Big 12 North. But we don't expect that. Good luck on Sundays, Mr. Maclin. He was the best all-around football player ever to wear a Tiger uniform.

*Speaking of guys that could go pro, Sean Weatherspoon turned in the best defensive game from a Tiger at least since William Moore in last year's Cotton Bowl, and maybe longer than that. Spoon was literally everywhere. He says he's coming back. It doesn't mean a whole lot until the draft declaration deadline passes, but it has a lot of Tiger fans happy this morning. If Spoon and Maclin return, Missouri has the best player in the Big 12 North on both sides of the ball.

*I don't know what happened to Chase Daniel in that Oklahoma State game. Was he hurt? Did he simply lose the confidence that made him such an overachiever for the last seven years? I don't know. May never know. He was a different quarterback, though, after that loss. Still, as bad as he was for three-and-a-half quarters—and it was as bad as I've ever seen him—when Missouri had to have him, Daniel did what he'd never done before. In nine previous tries as a starter, Daniel was 0-and-9 when Missouri was trailing at the start of the fourth quarter. The one came in his final game and, hopefully, leaves a lasting impression on a career that did more for Missouri football than any individual in its history.

*Did anyone else find the second half and overtime incredibly ironic? The Missouri defense, bashed to a bloody pulp by fans, media and opposing offenses all year, came up huge. Northwestern totalled less than 40 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime. And on the third-down sack that basically decided this game, the Tigers won by what most had screamed for them not to do all year: They blitzed, and it worked.

*Let me stand on my soapbox for a minute here. If you were in the stands, kudos to you. If you were in the stands booing, you should have stayed home. College athletes don't get booed. Period. These kids have full time jobs, are full time students, and have dedicated themselves to playing for the University you love. What gives a grown man the right, or frankly, makes a grown man think it is acceptable, to boo any college kid? Much less the one that has brought more positive exposure to the program than any that came before him.

*Pat Fitzgerald is going to be a star. The man could get his team to run into enemy gunfire for him. The passion and emotion with which he coaches is the same passion and emotion with which he played. Here's hoping the pull of Northwestern being his alma mater overrides the many chances he will have to move on to more prestigious programs.

*I think there is far less pressure on Blaine Gabbert than there was two months ago. I mean, at that point, we assumed replacing Chase Daniel was going to be impossible. Do you feel that way now? I think Jeff Wolfert, Chase Coffman, Ziggy Hood and Jeremy Maclin may all be tougher to replace on next year's team than Gabbert.

*The ultimate epilogue to this season did not change last night. In fact, it was not going to be effected by the outcome at all. The season was a disappointment on some level. Whether it was mild or major is a personal opinion. But in 20 years, you're going to look back and remember Daniel, Brock Christopher, Tommy Saunders, Moore, Coffman, etc, etc as the group that took Missouri football to heights it had never seen in your lifetime. It was good to see those kids go out with a win, no matter whether the performance would have won any beauty contests.

*The only disappointment I had in that game was that Jeff Wolfert did not win it in regulation. He is the most accurate kicker in NCAA history. He came to Missouri as a diver. Seriously, a freaking diver. It would have been an absolute storybook ending for the game to end with Wolfert drilling a field goal down the pipes, like he's done so many times. If he'd been kicking from 41 yards, which he would have if Missouri had not inexplicably voluntarily surrendered three yards on two plays before the kick, that ending might have come true. As it is, Wolfert is a feel-good story and maybe the toughest individual to replace off this team. The next time a PAT misses its mark will be the first time in four years. The next time a game comes down to a kick, remember the peaceful, sure-thing feeling you had every time #99 trotted on to the field.

*Where does Missouri football go from here? The next 12 months may be the most interesting since I started following this program about 25 years ago. I don't know what to think. I expect a step back, but I don't expect it to be major. If Missouri can win eight games and find a way to at least be in contention for the Big 12 North title in the last two weeks of next season, I'll deem it a raging success. If not, it doesn't mean I'll write them off. For the first time since Brad Smith's redshirt freshman year, we go into spring football with a legitimate question as to who will start at quarterback (though I'll be shocked if it's not Gabbert). Missouri has to replace ¾ of its defensive line, ¾ of its secondary, the best receiver in school history, the best tight end in college football history and a quarterback that ran it all to near perfection for most of his career. I don't know what to expect. But it's going to be a lot of fun to see what happens.

Gabe DeArmond is the publisher of PowerMizzou.com. You can read his daily coverage of the Tigers online at http://missouri.rivals.com.