I learned two very important things this weekend, which is one more than normal.

1. Erin Andrews gets totally pissy when you finish in her hair. Like seriously unamused. Less amused than she appears in the only unflattering picture of her in existence. Seriously.
2. If Mizzou is to be a legitimate national championship contender, they should seriously consider handing off to their running backs more than 11 times per game. Seriously.

 

Unlike Phenomenal, I’m willing to give Pinkel a pass on the seemingly gutless decision to kick a field goal from the 1-yard line. He took the easy 3 points and an early lead. Whatever. That is not where the Oklahoma State game was lost.

Even if you’re not a Tiger fan, you’d be misguided not to concede that Chase Coffman and Jeremy Maclin rank in the top 5 nationally at their respective offensive positions. Whether you believe Chase Daniel is a “system QB” or not, it makes a lot of sense for this offense to operate with a pass-first mentality. Even more sense if this team had no viable running backs. But Derrick Washington is already proving to be every bit Tony Temple’s equal, and it was apparent early on that Daniel was going to be hurried and pressured last Saturday night more often than he’s been thus far this season.

To counter, it seemed as if Christiansen was channeling his Super Tecmo Bowl playing days and asking Daniel to impersonate a will-I-pass-or-will-I-run Randall Cunningham. Or as Simon Pegg would call it, the Run Fatboy Run offense.

Even so, there were too many sequences where the Tigers completely abandoned the ground game and too many times the Cowboys were given absurd field position.

More specifically, first drive of the 2nd quarter, after a missed Okie State field goal – good guys are down 7-3…

Pass Incomplete
Pass Complete (11 yards)
Run D-Wash (3 yards)
Pass Incomplete
Pass Incomplete
Pass Incomplete
F!!! (i.e. Punt)

The Cowboys didn’t end up scoring on their next drive, but it sets the stage for things to follow.

Late 2nd quarter (4:54), good guys up 10-7…

Pass Complete (4 yards)
Pass Complete (24 yards)
Pass Complete (7 yards)
Pass Incomplete
Pass Incomplete
Pass Incomplete
F!!! (i.e. blocked field goal)

2:54 remains in the half, and fortunately Zac Robinson is sacked and Jaron Baston recovers the fumble. Wolfert misses the long field goal attempt and the Tigers take their 3 point lead in to halftime. Pinkel thinks to self, good thing I took that early field goal. And man does Erin Andrews hair smell nice (Not for long, Coach. Not for long).

Oklahoma State scores on their first possession of the second half, and now the Tigers are playing catch-up down 14-10. Fast-forward, Chase continues to pass and is picked off three times (one of which wasn’t entirely his fault).

The last INT however, was definitely his fault and not very Heisman-like. 2:00 minutes to play and driving in Cowboy territory, he forces the ball to Maclin in double-coverage. Game over.

Here’s why the nit-picking matters. Hours earlier, the Longhorns held Oklahoma to 48 yards rushing. Sam Bradford threw 39 times and was intercepted twice. Missouri has the personnel to rush for more than 64 yards, IF given the opportunity. But, if the coaching staff learned less than I did this weekend and Chase is allowed to throw 50+ times in Austin – he can expect to receive late Saturday night texts from his QB buddies Sanchez and Tebow saying, “sux2beU.”

Here’s the lessons for next weekend:
1. Throw the ball less than 50 times and/or run the ball more than 20 times to remain competitive and avoid consecutive conference losses.
2. Never trust a big butt and a smile. Once more with feeling for JR’s benefit, NEVER trust a big butt and a smile.