Columnist: Missouri has a chance to defeat Oklahoma, but it is a slim one

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By Bryan Burwell - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Published: December 2, 2008

OK, let's just put it out there on the table because I know we're all thinking it.

Missouri is going to get crushed.

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Perhaps it's a bit impolite to say it like that, so unvarnished and raw, without a ton of emotional qualifiers to soften the blow. But you know it, I know it and the Tigers do, too: That is what's on everyone's mind as we look toward this Saturday night's Big 12 championship showdown between the 19th-ranked North Division champion Tigers and the fourth-ranked South Division bad boys from Oklahoma. We're all thinking that there are only three logical outcomes to this championship game at Arrowhead Stadium.

Option 1: The Sooners will gangster slap the Tigers.

Option 2: The Sooners will prison slap the Tigers.

Option 3: The Sooners will gangster slap, then prison slap the Tigers.

This is the reality as the 9-3 Tigers prepare for the difficult (did someone say "impossible"?) task of

upsetting highly favored 11-1 Oklahoma. With good reason, no one gives Mizzou a chance, and between now and Saturday night the Tigers are going to hear this, read this and watch this a million times.

Now we get to sit back and watch how they handle the role of the overwhelming underdog. What happens to the Tigers as they prepare to face a team that absolutely no one thinks they can beat? Will they let these insults eat at their competitive psyches or will they instead feed off them, turning the slights into the emotional fuel for an improbable upset?

On two national telephone conference calls Monday, Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel fielded questions about those odds against his football team as they face an OU squad that dominated them twice last year and has been destroying everyone in their path for the past month.

Most of the questions were phrased politely, if awkwardly, with the essence being, "So Chase, how are you guys not going to get your skulls bashed in this time?"

Almost without emotion, Daniel provided variations on a seemingly well-rehearsed theme:

"I don't think many people are giving us any shot. "

"It's a tough task, but we think we can play with them. "

"If you think you can (win), you can, particularly when no one gives us a chance in hell of doing this."

Why? Over the past two seasons, Mizzou has faced big, fast, physical and athletic teams such as Oklahoma and Texas three times and lost by an average of nearly 19 points. Last year, OU beat them by 10 in the regular season (41-31); in the 2007 Big 12 championship game, the Sooners blasted Mizzou 38-17. This year, when the Tigers traveled to Austin to face Texas, the Longhorns dominated the Tigers 56-31.

And as impressive as the Sooners were offensively last year, they're probably even better this year. "I wouldn't have said that at the beginning of the year," said Bob Stoops, OU's coach. "But we just scored 60 points in our last four straight games and in one of those we had 55 at half against K-State."

So how can the Tigers pull off the improbable upset?

History. The Sooners are an imposing force when they get to the Big 12 championship game, having won two in a row and five of the last seven conference title games. But the last time the Sooners arrived in Kansas City as heavy favorites for the Big 12 title game in Arrowhead Stadium, they were upset 35-7 by Kansas State.

When someone brought up the K-State upset, Daniel tried to give it little credence. "That was five years ago," he said. "Half a decade. That's quite awhile ago, and a totally different team."

But Daniel and the Tigers should remember K-State. They should remember Boise State (OU was a 43-42 loser in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl). They need to remember West Virginia (OU lost 48-28 in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl). They need to remember how the Sooners were blown out 55-19 by Southern California in the 2005 Orange Bowl.

As the late Jim Valvano once said before pulling off one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history, "We must have a chance because we're the only other team here." On Saturday night, this is the same mission for Missouri. Believe it is an improbable, but not an impossible mission. Strange things can always happen in a stadium that is clearly not going to be a neutral field.

Saturday night is shaping up to be a defining moment for Missouri football. Now I'm eager to discover if these highly motivated Tigers will let these bad expectations eat them alive or feed their competitive hearts and souls.


 


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1. Luck is for losers. Texas isn’t in the game because they think they make the rules and they decided the season ended October 11. The rest of the Big 12 and OU decided differently. OU decided to open a can of whoop as* after the whorns game and continue to the end of the regular season, which is not to say I wouldn’t be screeching if the tables were turned against OU. We just happen to know a year has 12 not 10 months.
2. Stoops doesn’t have poor bowl prep habits. It’s the players that play and the coaches that coach. You can line up a defense anywhere but if their heart and head aren’t in it they can be beat.
3. Mizzou can win because they’re playing and no game ends in a tie any longer in college ball. Pretty much the Jimmy V. theory.
4. Thomas of Lawton is a yo-yo. Yeah the National Title was a while back but we prepare just as we did in 2000 for a game in 2008. I may lie in the floor feeling sick when we are beaten by the margin of 55-19 but the TV plays. If you graduated from OU you need a course in “How not to think like an Aggie”.
5. “Pimp punch” Chase and the Tigers. You put a roll of quarters in your hand make a fist and bring up into their jaw. Chase has a pretty and big mouth. Maybe he even squeals like a pig? Easy target!!!!
Roger, Keller - Dec 3, 2008 at 10:16 am
Thomas of Lawton - you said OU was terrible in their last FOUR big games. What do you consider a "big" game - only when OU loses? Was last year's Big 12 championship game when the Sooners dismantled NUMBER ONE RATED Missouri, 38-17, not a "big" game. Was this year's slaughter of NUMBER TWO RANKED Texas Tech not a "big" game? Was last week's 61-41 win over NUMBER TEN RANKED Oklahoma State AT STILLWATER not a "big" game? Gee, Thomas, I think you have selective memory.
Gary, Oklahoma City - Dec 3, 2008 at 9:18 am
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Never say never
Mark, Overland Park - Dec 3, 2008 at 8:00 am
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Watch out. Missouri just gave you those two games last year ;)
Rich, Cheyenne - Dec 3, 2008 at 4:48 am
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Gabngster slap, Prison slap.....lmao.....anyway u look at it, it is one big slap happy game. BOOMER SOONER.
barton, idabel - Dec 3, 2008 at 1:01 am
i love this reporter....GOD bless him.
barton, idabel - Dec 3, 2008 at 12:59 am
Oh, and Bradford has never show a sign of choking, and he's the trigger man.
Shepard, Stonewall - Dec 2, 2008 at 11:32 pm
If the Sooners don't choke it's gonna be a blowout.
Shepard, Stonewall - Dec 2, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Jo in Edmond, last weekend was a bowl to OSU and it didn't make much difference. 61-41 at their place against the team that beat Mizzou in Columbia earlier in the season. And frankly, I think Saturday's OSU team was much better than the one that went to Columbia. I think most people don't give Mizzou much of a chance because Chase Daniels has not lived up to the Heisman hype and the team has not lived up to the pre-season hype.
Tim, Yukon - Dec 2, 2008 at 11:14 pm
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Mizzou needs to remember this: Out of all the teams mentioned, the 2003 K-State team was the only team not ranked in the top 10. West Virginia was one win away from playing for a national championship. Boise St. finished the season 12-0 and ranked #8 in the BCS. USC finished at the top of the heap. In other words, most of the history this columnist chooses to reference is irrelavent because only one of these teams comes close to being comparable to a #19 ranked 9-3 Mizzou team.
Tim, Yukon - Dec 2, 2008 at 11:05 pm
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Missouri has no chance to win this game. Sorry but if OU does not win their last 2 games, heads will roll in the College Football World. OU has gotten extremely lucky to be in the Big 12 Championship, there is no way they will lose to Mizzou. Go ahead and give it whatever hype you need to Bryan Burwell. Of course you are from Missouri and of course you wrote another piece the other day bashing OU. Its not OUs fault that the are on track to play in the Title game. How does Mizzou have OU right where they want them??? OU has scored 60 + points the last 4 games. This isn't a bowl game. OUs team is much better than when they lost to K-state 35-7 in the Big 12 championship. Sam Bradford is alot better quarterback than Jason White. For those who don't believe that are stupid. MISSOURI HAS NO CHANCE SATURDAY NIGHT.
greg, Oklahoma City - Dec 2, 2008 at 10:45 pm
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The more people say Missouri has no chance, the closer the game gets.
Ryan - Dec 2, 2008 at 7:12 pm
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Mizzou has OU right where they are most vulnerable. Go back to their last BCS games where the
Sooner were favored by 8-13 pts. and more in some circles. What happened, Bingo, they lost.
Stoops has poor bowl preparation habits, and this is a Bowl to Mizzou
jo, edmond - Dec 2, 2008 at 6:23 pm
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Thomas, I happen to agree with that. I was at the WV game and it sucked. I think the reluctance to accept OU in this game is because of the last few bowl games. They figure OU is going to beat Mizzou, then get blasted by the SEC champion. Hard to make a case against that argument considering the past bowls. I do think this year is different. Even though OU doesn't have a great defense, they have a great offense to fill in. If they give up 40, they can score 50. Anyway, go OU and look for quite of bit of shotgun with the hurt thumb.
J.T.(I), Norman - Dec 2, 2008 at 5:24 pm
No need in OU fans getting peaved by these comments because they are on target (I am an OU grad). OU has been horrible in the last FOUR big games. I still remember turning off the TV at halftime during the 55-19 USC beat down. WV also smacked OU real good so Let's see if OU can beat Missouri and then IF they survive that, not totally embasses themselves again on National TV against either FLA or ALA. If they lose again, I am afraid OU reputation will be one of a paper tiger and deservedly so.
Thomas, lawton - Dec 2, 2008 at 3:16 pm
The St.Louis Post-Dispatch writer is an idiot.l I sent him an email regarding his article about OU should not be in the game and that Texas should and he answer was something else. I would not want to print it here. The St.Louis Post-Dispatch needs to get rid of that boy and hire a man to do the job.
Carl, Norman - Dec 2, 2008 at 2:34 pm
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In 2004 OU was a heavy favorite in KC and beat Colorado 41-3. Either Bryan Burwell is totally ignorant of the Big 12, an idiot, lazy or dishonest. Amazing how some columnists will ignore the facts when its convenient. For those so quick to point out the foibles of the Oklahoman be glad that its better than most sports sections.
Bruce, League City - Dec 2, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Man I dislike Daniels more than ever. I really hope an OU player smakcks him (in the course of fair play) down hard. Balogun, Beal, McCoy.........you need to drive this punks you-know-what into the dirt. Daniels gets smacked around, the wheel of their offensive wagon come off.
Richard, Visalia - Dec 2, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I guess the St.Louis Post-Dispatch did not get the memo that OU is no longer "fourth-ranked".
keith, jacksonville - Dec 2, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I can't wait to see how many tantrums Chase Daniels throws on the sidelines. It was rather entertaining last year.
cindy, edmond - Dec 2, 2008 at 1:58 pm
An answer roiled in the gut of Chase Daniel. When it poured forth across his lips, it wasn’t in response to the question he had just been asked about Oklahoma’s defense.

“You want to talk about their guys?” asked Daniel, the Missouri quarterback, a flicker of fire showing in his eyes. “How about our guys?”

Then, not waiting for a response to his rhetorical challenge, Daniel started reading from a piece of paper he had brought with him to the podium at Monday’s pre-Big 12 championship game news conference.

“Chase Coffman has the most catches in NCAA Division I-A history,” Daniel said. “In the history of tight ends, he has the most catches.

“Derrick Washington, ranked third in Big 12 rushing, eighth in the NCAA in scoring.

“Jeremy Maclin leads the NCAA in all-purpose yards. I don’t think really anyone’s really close to him. He’s third in the Big 12 in receiving yards.

“You look at their weapons? Well I want to look at ours, and what we have to bring to the table. I feel good about our guys.”


Let's go Sooners bring your A game please don't overlook Mizzou
Brandon, edmond - Dec 2, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Maclin will score on a return, either ko or punt, and that may be about it for MU. Look how OU totally stopped Tech, which has a more potent offense than the Tigers. They had trouble with OSU because of their balance, and Robinson's running ability. Daniel only runs to avoid a sack, on a broken play.
Bob, Signal Hill - Dec 2, 2008 at 1:49 pm
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The chip is on the OU players' shoulders. They have something to prove, much like they did the this same time last year. The OU defense struggled against a good offensive team (OSU) that had two weeks to prepare for them. This could be another shootout, but look for OU's defense to see this as another challenge and rise up. So many players could have played better in the OSU game, Lendy Holmes and Travis Lewis in particular. I say all this with a realization that Mizzou could beat OU. But I sense a team that has a lot to prove to itself and its critics. Go OU !!!
Richard, Visalia - Dec 2, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I really hope the players are not reading about how they cannot lose the game. That is when they will. No matter what anyone is saying, how big a favorite OU is, etc, you still have to play the game. Missouri is a good team and can beat the Sooners. If the Sooners come out flat as they have in the last two Fiesta Bowls Missouri will not only win but win big. Stay focused Sooners. The National Championship is within sight but you must take a big step in KC.
William, Fairfield - Dec 2, 2008 at 1:29 pm
OU seems to play its poorest when 1) they are favored heavily (check) 2) No one thinks they can be beaten by the opponent (check) and 3) The opponent respects them and gives them no emotional firepower (check). This is a trap game if there ever was one. I would give Missouri more than a slight chance of an upset. It's in Missouri. Missouri is still a good team. Jeremy Maclin. OU's horrid special teams. OU and Bob Stoops' history in big games (away from Norman). OSU and Texas beat Mizzou b/c they knew they were really good and had to bring their "A" game. I'm not sure OU feels this way...
james, Norman - Dec 2, 2008 at 1:26 pm

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