In recent weeks I’ve made several cracks about how great teams are at kicking field goals against the Tigers.  It seems like they never miss.  Thing is, I assumed I was wrong.  I figured I only remembered the good FGs.   Oddly enough, it’s true.  As good as Grant Ressel is at kicking FGs, Mizzou’s opponents are just as good. 

I started getting this feeling of advanced kicking abilities during the Okie State game.  The OSU kicker lined up for what would have been his career long, the snap, the place, the kick – he missed by a mile.  Yea Mizzou!  Hold it, there was a flag for false start.  Can’t decline that one, so the refs dutifully move the ball back five yards so this guy could go after an even longer career best.  The kick sailed easily through the uprights.  Boo!  And such were our breaks.

We all know Grant Ressel is money.  On the year he’s 18-19, good for third best in the nation.   And the two ahead of him have attempted a total of 20 FGs.  The Tiger opponents have connected on 16 of 17 attempts and are a perfect 13 for 13 in conference play.  The only team to miss a kick against the Tigers was Furman.

Are the Tiger opponents just awesome field goal kickers, or is this a big dose of bad luck?  Below are the Tigers’ opponents that have kicked FGs, their rate against the Tigers, and their FG% on the year minus the Tiger game.

Illinois:  1-1, 36%
BGSU:  2-2, 53%
OSU:  4-4, 66%
UT:  2-2, 83%
CU:  1-1, 64%
BU:  2-2, 50%
KSU: 4-4, 57%

It’s not like Jim Bakken is lining up to kick these field goals.  More like Neil O’Donahue.  Well, not that bad.  I mean, come on.

What can we take from this, aside from being really unlucky?  The Tigers don’t block field goals.  That’s pretty clear.  The Tigers are tied for last in the nation in that category – they’ve got lots of company.  One would think that we’d line Aldon Smith in the middle with his harpy eagle wing-span and he’d knock down most everything including crows and Cessnas.   But, for what ever reason, the Tigers don’t block kicks much.

Still, Tiger ineptitude aside, this is college football, so you can count on some shanks, some push too fars, some way shorts, some kick into the center’s ass.  The football gods must be saving these up for the last two games, which is okay by me.   Iowa State and Kansas both have FG%s in the sixties, which gives us hope, but if this year’s mojo keeps up, we’re looking at more opponent perfection.