The 2013 season has come to an end for the Missouri Tigers, and it was incredible. The Tigers went from one of the worst teams in the SEC to playing in the SEC Championship game as the East Division champs. Nobody expected Mizzou to have the year that they had this year. There might have been some fans that truly thought Missouri had a chance to have a 12 win season, but I think there were very few of them. Personally, I thought they would be lucky to have 6 wins in the season, but they were far from lucky. Missouri proved to their fans, and to the rest of the country, that last year was a fluke season riddled with unexpected injuries. Missouri made their presence felt in their new conference, and throughout the country. Missouri got ranked up the the 5th team in the country. I don't think there are too many fans that are disappointed with the season, I don't see how they could be. Yes, they lost a close game at home to South Carolina, and their defense got embarrassed against Auburn in Atlanta, but nobody thought Missouri would be making a trip to Atlanta anytime soon.
There were other parts of this season that made it spectacular, like the return of star running back Henry Josey. Josey ran for over 1,000 yards before tearing his ACL and MCL in the game against Texas. He sat out the entire 2012 season, and every Mizzou fan waited excitedly for his return in 2013. Josey wasn't the only player that Mizzou fans were eager to see return to the field. James Franklin was coming back from a very disappointing 2012 season that saw him injured throughout the better part of the season. Like Josey, Franklin had a great 2011 season, and if he could return fully healthy, he could be a big piece of the Mizzou's success, and he was. Dorial Green-Beckham, the former #1 recruit in the nation, emerged as a powerful weapon. Maty Mauk emerged from the backup position to start four straight games while Franklin was recovering from an injury. He led Missouri to three wins, with the one loss coming against South Carolina in overtime. One of the biggest keys to Missouri's success this year was the offensive line. Last season saw the offensive line injured and having to sub in backups though the season. This year saw all of their starting offensive linemen healthy, and not having to deal with injuries. They did a great job at protecting Franklin and Mauk and opening lanes for the three headed beast (Josey, Hansbrough, and Murphy) to gain yards on their opponents. The season was definitely a team effort, but the story lines of these players were hot topics throughout the season.
Missouri rolled through the first four non-conference opponents by beating them by an average of 24.5 points per game. Although the Tigers were dominating their opponents, many fans were still skeptical of Missouri being back to the same form that they were in 2011. The first conference foe that Missouri saw was the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. The Tigers came out of that game with a 51-28 victory. Even though Missouri took control of the game and scored 20 points in the first quarter, many fans were still skeptical and felt that the real test to see how Missouri will fare would be the following game at Georgia. The game against Georgia opened up everyone's eyes. Georgia was Missouri's toughest test of the year so far, and Missouri was up to the task. Missouri went in to Georgia and shocked the country by beating the Bulldogs 41-26 at Georgia. That was Missouri's signature win of the season, or at least at the time it was. Although Missouri came away with the big win, it came at a price. Missouri lost starting quarterback James Franklin, and was expected to be out for the remainder of the season. The Tigers came home to take on the Florida Gators. This was the first start for Maty Mauk, and it was highly anticipated by Mizzou fans. I was actually at this game and the Tigers did not disappoint. Mauk threw for 295 yards with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. The hype around Mauk was starting to build up even more after this game. The next home game saw the Tigers lose control of the game in the fourth quarter against South Carolina. Missouri had a 17-0 lead going into the fourth quarter, until Connor Shaw came into the game and scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. The game went to two overtimes and Missouri lost the game when Andrew Baggett hit the left goal post to miss the tying field goal to send the game into a third overtime. This loss was not the fault of the kicker Andrew Baggett, this was bad coaching on Missouri's part by playing it safe in the fourth quarter, and South Carolina took advantage of it. The loss to South Carolina was a devastating blow to Mizzou, but they kept their heads up and moved on to the Volunteers of Tennessee. If anybody thought that Mizzou would not be able to bounce back from a loss, they were proven wrong. Mizzou came out and made a statement with a 31-3 win against Tennessee.
Missouri won their next two games at Kentucky and at Ole Miss. Their destiny was in their hands now. If they beat Texas A&M in Columbia then they would win the SEC East Division and head to Atlanta. This was probably THE signature win for Missouri. Texas A&M had quarterback superstar Johnny Manziel, and looked to be unstoppable at times. But Missouri was hungry, and ready to show everyone that this season had not been a fluke, and that they were for real. In one of the most exciting games of the season, the Tigers and Aggies fought back and forth throughout the game. A fourth quarter run from Henry Josey had all but sealed the deal fro the Tigers. Missouri won the game 28-21, and won the SEC East, letting the country know that Missouri deserves to be in the Top 5 of the rankings.
Missouri would travel to Atlanta to take on SEC West champion Auburn, who just came off an amazing victory against #1 ranked Alabama. Missouri was not on top of their game that night. The defense was pretty much to blame for this loss. Mizzou went to a three man front against a team that has a killer run game. This wasn't something that Mizzou used throughout the season, they usually used a four man front, and that was what dominated other teams. This time Mizzou went to a different scheme, and I'm not sure why they did. Something else that puzzled me was how Mizzou was unable to come out in the second half and fix their defensive problems. Missouri has been great at coming out the second half of games and fixing what needed to be fixed, but not his game. Auburn would run the ball down Mizzou's throat, and stop Missouri from winning a conference championship. Auburn won the game 59-42.
Missouri could still end the season on a high note. They were to play former Big 12 foe Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma State was very similar to Missouri in their offensive styles. Missouri was out to prove that they can bounce back from a loss, and they did. This was arguably the most exciting game Missouri has played this season, and arguably one of the most exciting bowl games of the season. James Franklin did not look his best, but Henry Josey helped pick up the slack by rushing for 92 yards with 3 touchdowns. Maty Mauk also came into the game and scored a touchdown pass to Marcus Lucas. The defense was a big help in this game as well. Shane Ray recovered a fumble that was caused by Michael Sam and returned it for a touchdown. Kony Ealy had 2 sacks, and E.J. Gaines had an interception. The fumble return from ray would seal the deal for Missouri, and they came away with a 31-21 victory, ending the season on a much more positive note than it started with. With Gaines' interception, Missouri now has 44 consecutive games with a forced turnover, which is the longest active streak in the FBS.
This was one of, if not the biggest season in Missouri history. Many of the players on this team will be graduating and going on to other careers. Some of them will even be forgoing their senior year and entering the NFL draft. This was definitely a year that many Mizzou fans will remember for a long time. I think the entire country will remember the 2013 Missouri Tiger team for a long time too. The Tigers demanded respect, and they went out and got it. Expect high expectations from fans in 2014, and with Maty Mauk behind center, Dorial Green-Beckham at wide receiver, the three headed beast running back monster, and hopefully another great defense, Missouri will be playing in the SEC Championship game in 2014.
