Week 7: Going vs. the Tide
Mizzou went up against the number one team in the nation Oct. 13. For the past two seasons Alabama has been a team that had always found themselves in the top five rankings for a majority of the season. This game was going to be the most difficult so far this season.
The Tiger’s defense looked unprepared in the beginning of the game, allowing Alabama’s running back Eddie Lacy to go 73 yards on the second play of the game and score putting the Tigers down 7-0. Mizzou took the field with Corbin Berkstresser starting for quarterback James Franklin, who was out with a left knee injury. In last week’s game versus Vanderbilt Berkstresser struggled through most of the game so this week I was expecting him to prove himself as the Tiger’s future quarterback and leader, but, unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Berkstresser did not lead the Tigers to any points,and by the end of the quarter the Tigers were down 21-0. I understood they were playing the most well-equipped team in the nation, but I at least thought that they would manage a field goal.
In the second quarter, Mizzou finally played some defense and held the Tide to only one touchdown. There is a saying in football that good defense will be rewarded with good offense, and that was the case for Mizzou’s special teams. After the Bama touchdown, Marcus Murphy took the kick 98 yards for a touchdown giving Mizzou their first points of the game. The score was now 28-7 Bama heading into halftime.
I thought Mizzou played well for not having their starting quarterback. They showed heart and the will not to give up even against the number one team. In the third quarter Mizzou completely shut down the Tide’s offense by holding them to zero points. In return for the good defense the Tigers scored a field goal, making the score 28-10 in favor of Bama. Going into the fourth quarter I thought Mizzou would just pull off the upset, but I was wrong.
The Tigers fell apart once again on defense and allowed the Tide to score two touchdowns to enhance their lead and lose 42-10 moving Mizzou’s record to 3-4. Despite their poor performance, there is no doubt in my mind that Mizzou will come back from the loss and prove themselves as a team to fear in next week’s game versus Kentucky. Until then MIZ-ZOU.
