The Win...The Disappointment...And Reviewing The Tape of The Arch Rivalry

 I was exchanging text messages with insideSTL.com's STL Missouri Tigers' writer Gabe De Armond throughout Saturday's game...and after Saturday's game...and the theme was pretty consistent: I was surprised by how terrible the Missouri secondary looked. 

If you read Friday's column and listened to Friday's ITD Morning After, my reasoning for thinking Missouri would beat Illinois handily and have the potential for a National Championship-caliber season was that the defense returned 10 starters from the 2007 team...that, by the end of the year, had one of the most smothering defenses in the Big 12.

So, walking out of the Dome after the 52-42 victory, I told the "Colonel' Gabe De Armond and some of my friends how concerned I was after watching that game. Personally, I expected them to win Saturday night, so the "relief" of getting past Illinois wasn't really there. However, I also expected them to keep the Illini offense in check with relative ease, and while they did in fact do that in the first half, they looked really rough in the second half. 

I made two mistakes in evaluating this game: overestimating the Missouri defense and underestimating the Illinois offense. 

In between midway through the first quarter and midway through the fourth quarter, Juice Williams was putting on a clinic. He started slow...missing open receivers...and finished slow by throwing a terrible interception to Sean Weatherspoon. But, in between, he was incredible.  

And, I didn't have full appreciation of the kind of game Williams played until going back and watching the game on TV. The first two offensive touchdowns were perfectly thrown footballs. Therefore, as boring as it is to do, sometimes you have to tip your cap to the opposition.

 However, Williams was able to take advantage of blown coverage by the Missouri secondary on 3 separate massive pass plays. And, on one occasion, Williams flat-out missed a wide open receiver in the first quarter on a third down play.

I'm nearly as confused as the Missouri secondary as to what caused so many blown coverages, but I know this: if you want to go up to Lincoln and win, go to Austin and win, and go to Kansas City and win...much less deal with Zac Robinson of Oklahoma State and Josh Freeman of Kansas State in Columbia...that mess in the secondary best be addressed.

I do enjoy the fact that Gary Pinkel talked about how disappointed many of his players were in the locker room following the game. That shows how far the program has come.

The offense stubbed its toe a number of times with dropped passes and missed opportunities, and the defense has to be furious with itself for giving up 35 offensive points.

I also think that the play-calling has to be addressed in the 4th quarter. It can't keep being labeled as "just part of the way Missouri plays" or a coincidence when, once again...much like last year against Illinois, last year against Kansas, and now Saturday night against Illinois...the Tigers had a monster lead cut down and had to hold on for dear life in the fourth quarter after dominating for the first 45 minutes.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Tigers get the ball back after Illinois cut the lead to 10, and they run pass play after pass play...before picking up one first down and having to punt the ball back to Illinois. Another questionable decision is, much like against KU last year, Daniel doesn't whittle the play clock all the way down to 1 or 2 seconds before taking the snap.

Some may call this criticism nitpicking, considering the offense really could've put up 60 plus points on a damn good team, which I would understand. But, I don't want the Missouri offense to fall into the same trap as Mike Martz and the Rams did with an arrogance that it doesn't matter what or who the other side throws at you.

Bottom line?

Missouri played a flawed football game against a team that could win 8 games this year, and they still won by 10 points. The offense looks like it may have more weapons than last year, and keep in mind, wide receiver Danario Alexander and his 4.5 speed will be returning from injury in two weeks. The defense, despite the flaws of the secondary, shut the run down in the first half to a tune of -12 Illinois rushing yards, and the line and linebackers made plays in the second half sacking Williams 3 times and getting 2 turnovers.

Once again, Missouri football is going to have the attention of the St. Louis area this fall...except this time, the community is on board starting in August...not November.

Stuff From Around The Dome Saturday Night

-As was the case last year, there was a fight in our section. I don't know who started it, but right after Weatherspoon's first interception, some hoosiers---one side sporting orange, the other side gold---began to throw beer and scream at each other.

 
I want Missouri to win big time, and I'm sure many Illinois fans had the same passion for their team. However, I really have a tough time grasping grown men fighting over 18 to 22 year-olds playing football.

-What an impressive atmosphere at the Dome. It was like being at a bowl game...except the outcome of this game actually mattered. If both Missouri and Illinois decide to continue to take a chance at an early-season loss and play each other each August/September, I hope they keep the series in St. Louis. It's a hell of a weekend for area sports fans...as well as those traveling from all over both states. I think moving it to a home-and-home in Columbia and Champaign takes away from the game...and really, I don't see much of a point for either school to risk that early-season loss.

 
-The Dome is a different animal when you have people passionate about the action on the field occupying it. We stood for nearly all of the game in our section, and not once did some old bat or power-tripping usher come over and ask us to stand.

That's a football atmosphere.

Yeah...the Dome, relative to most other football facilities, is weak...especially considering it's 13 years-old. But, a building leaving something to be desired (for example, Busch Stadium II) can be a great sports facility if passionate fans occupy it.

What A Shame

When you look back at the most critical moment of the 2008 Cardinals' season, I'm sure many would pick one of the three blown games against the Brewers in July. And, it'd be difficult to argue that point.

But, I wonder how different things would've been had Kyle Lohse gotten some random journeyman out on Friday night late in the game. Soon-to-be 35 year-old David Newhan...who had 22 career Major League home runs in his career...crushed a 2-out pitch from Lohse, who up to that point was breezing along in a dominating performance. The Cardinals appeared to be poised to carry the momentum from Wednesday night's win over Milwaukee into a victory against the Astros. Instead, Newhan homers, and then Berkman hits a pop fly that becomes a home run in that travesty that is the left field at Minute Maid Park.

What if...what if.

Instead, for the  first time this decade, barring a 2007 Colorado Rockies-like miracle, the Cardinals will have a final month devoid of any pennant drama.

I anxiously await this offseason to see how ownership and management respond to the team collapsing after receiving no assistance late in the year at the trade deadline. More than 30 million dollars will be coming off the payroll...and there will be absolutely no excuse to not go out and improve this club via free agency.

Goodbye Cougars Next Door...We Hardly Knew You

Who would've thought that 20-something area ladies would be much more reliable than 30-something and 40-something area ladies? But, that's exactly what has caused the demise of the insideSTL.com Cougars Next Door section.

Back when we started this thing in July, I predicted a two-month run...mainly because I didn't think we'd have enough ladies willing to participate.

But, in the end, that wasn't necessarily the reason for the end of the CND. It was, actually, a number of Cougars scheduled for photo shoots who would just either not show up or cancel over and over again...and enough was enough.

So, this week's Girl Next Door and Cougar Next Door Party at Flannery's Friday night...in which we'll crown our August winners, will be the last one featuring Cougars...unless suddenly we have a rush of reliable cougars flooding my inbox to keep this thing alive.

So it goes...

It was fun while it lasted.

To place your final CND vote, click here. And, to vote for your favorite August GND, click here.

 

Log-in and post your comments, or you can email me at tmckernan@insidestl.com.