“M-I-Z Z-O-U,” chants fill the air at Mizzou’s weekly football game. Tigers fans come out in droves to see their team every weekend rain or shine. The excitement is buzzing even more this year because the university, along with prior conference opponent with Texas A&M, is new to the South Eastern Conference for NCAA sports. The SEC is said by many to be the toughest football conference in the country, with member teams taking home the last six BCS National Championships. Those who exceed in the SEC, grow to football prowess.
The Tigers started their season off with the yearly match-up versus a small-conference team. Mizzou beat Southeastern Louisiana 62-10, in what looked like a promising win with the team’s stars Kendial Lawrence (RB) and James Franklin (QB) having standout performances. Sophomore Marcus Murphy (RB) returned two punts for touchdowns. Die hard Mizzou fan and junior Matt Stern liked the way Mizzou looked after the first game.
“Marcus Murphy looked good because he scored a lot of touchdowns and [Defensive tackle] Sheldon Richardson was dominant on defense,” Stern said.
After beating Southeastern Louisiana, the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season against SEC East foe Georgia. Missouri had been up by four points going into the fourth quarter and final quarter, ended up losing by 21 points, 41-20.
“They were overwhelmed and over-hyped,” Stern said. Obviously the [SEC] teams are way better than Mizzou” Stern said.
Since the Georgia game, the Tigers have gone 2-3 (editable), including close wins over Arizona State and Central Florida and lopsided losses to South Carolina and Alabama. The Tigers also fell short in a close game against Vanderbilt.
“They scored 10 points [against Alabama] and I didn’t think they would score any,” Stern said.
So far, injuries are a key part of Mizzou’s struggles. From the season’s start, the Tiger’s knew that their star running back from the 2011 season, Henry Josey, would be out for the 2012 season due to a torn ACL. According to ESPN, Josey rushed for 1,168 rushing yards in only 10 games in 2011, leading college football with 8.1 yards per carry.
James Franklin has also been hampered by injuries, missing the Arizona State game and exiting the Vanderbilt game with a knee injury, causing him to the miss the Alabama game as well. This leaves quarterback position to freshman Corbin Berkstresser who is just getting adapted to the college game. Mizzou fan, sophomore Matthew Gibbs believes that Berkstresser has filled the gap nicely.
“I think Berkstresser has been a good replacement for Franklin so far, although I wish we could have a healthy Franklin back there at quarterback,” Gibbs said.
Along with these two key injuries, the Tigers have jumbled their offensive line according to injuries and sufferred from the suspension of wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, the nation’s top recruit.
Despite the rough start, the Tigers look to finish strong. Two of their last five games are against ranked opponents on the road though, which will make it tough to become eligible for a bowl game at the end of the season. After a week off, the Tigers host their homecoming game against Kentucky.
“The upcoming game against Kentucky is a must win,” Gibbs said.
