MIZZOU
After a strong close to the regular season (four wins in conference play), Missouri’s 2018 campaign ends on a low note, a 38-33 loss to Oklahoma State in the Liberty Bowl. It was the first loss for MU since the Kentucky game and leaves a similar “what might have been” sting for the Mizzou faithful.
Meeting with the media afterwards in Memphis, Odom reflected on departing QB Drew Lock’s career, the 2018 senior class, the back-and-forth nature of the bowl game and what went into that controversial final play call from offensive coordinator Derek Dooley.
Here’s a sampling of what Odom told reporters:
Odom on the final play: “I wouldn’t want the ball in anyone’s hands for the Mizzou Tigers more than No. 3.”
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) January 1, 2019
Barry Odom on Drew Lock:
“He’s as Mizzou of a guy as you can be.”
— Tyler Murry (@TylerMurryABC17) January 1, 2019
Terez Hall and Emanuel Hall didn’t appear much down the stretch. Barry Odom says both were due to injuries.
— Tyler Murry (@TylerMurryABC17) January 1, 2019
Barry Odom said he felt like there was plenty of time still left in the game when he chose to go for 1 instead of 2 down 10 in the 4th quarter. Added he didn’t like the look OSU was giving had Mizzou gone for two.
— Tyler Murry (@TylerMurryABC17) January 1, 2019
Barry Odom: “I’m lucky that we have the 19 seniors that we have at Mizzou.”
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) January 1, 2019
Barry Odom on Drew Lock: “He’s changed Mizzou football in a lot of ways — all positive.”
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) January 1, 2019
Note to Barry. Lock is known as a passer, not a runner. You have a pretty good RB if you want to run the ball needing to pick up a yard.
The Mizzou O line couldn’t get the push needed to get yardage. Running Lock was almost a good idea.
No. Running Lock wide was a terrible idea. Give it to your star RB or throw it.
even an old jet sweep to a much faster RB(than Lock) would have been smarter but why would anyone expect ‘smart coaching’ at Mizzou? MU hasn’t had a smart HC in 4 decades.
Nobody stopped the option for a loss all year… and Odom/Dooley just blew it off
The defense didn’t show up. It isn’t any more complex than that. Don’t blame other areas of the game. Mizzou produced 630+ yards — but OkSt produced 500+. Other than the one fumble, the offensive play was largely sound, no INTs, perhaps a few drops and the o-line got gassed at times run blocking, but largely okay.
Yet the defense played like they drank beer all night: slow to react, out of position, lethargic and lacking energy. The D-line put the QB on his back a few times, but those were the only highlights.
I say all this because I grow tired of people blaming a loss on a couple of calls (that would have been genius if they’d worked). See ya’ll next year.
You can’t just discount the end of game calls. They were terrible. The defense did enough at the end to give your offense a chance to win it. They failed.
It’s true that all 4 quarters matter, but every game boils down to a few critical game changing plays. The fact that we came back from that deficit was impressive but will sadly be overlooked because of how it ended. And rightfully so! It’s unforgivable that drew lock wasn’t given a shot to win the game with his arm. Those are storybook moments that don’t come very often, and Dooley dialed up a dud.
Odom and Dooley are still both very green at their jobs, in spite of the years of “coaching” they have on the resume.
Odom learned from Pinkel how to “play not to lose”.
Odom has decided that like Pinkel did, he will take his own counsel on hiring assistants and not go “outside” to hire someone who actually has a resume of doing the job.
Pinkel never learned his lesson blaming everyone but himself for not having a competent OC on his staff.
Odoms problem is he never was that good of a DC, even though he believes all the headlines that claim he was, and he never bothered to hire a competent DC, believing he didn’t need to.