Pourover: The thin margins in the SEC

I decided to celebrate last night.

Celebrate the conclusion of a successful season. Celebrate a team predicted to finish 12th in the league and finished tied for 8th. Celebrate a team most forgot about, who despite a potential starting quarterback being injured on his first play from scrimmage, and the starting kicker being hurt in the first game, they fought through the whole season and found a way to end up with 8 total wins, and four wins in the SEC. It’s the 8th time in 14 years Mizzou has finished .500 or better within the SEC.

That’s not nothing, and should be celebrated.

The margins in this conference are so thin. It’s hard to win. In Mizzou’s four wins, three were within a single possession in the 4th quarter. In Mizzou’s four losses, three were within a single possession in the 4th quarter. The same was true last year when Mizzou won five games, and lost three. In the five wins, only one was not within a single possession, and one of their losses was a single possession loss.

Each week we watch the other scores, and watch SEC teams fight for their lives. Texas might miss the College Football playoff, after starting the season as AP #1 overall, with three losses. Two of those losses were single possession losses, and the other was 14-10 going into the 4th quarter. Vanderbilt may be headed to the playoff and they’ve got three one possession wins in the SEC this year. Oklahoma has scraped through by the skin of their teeth nearly every week.

None of that was more true than for Arkansas. In week three they had the ball down 6 with the ball inside of Ole Miss’s 35 yard line with two minutes to go and they fumbled the ball. The Rebels have gone on to win 11 games and are a lock to make the playoff. The next week they fumbled again inside the 10 yard line down just one point. Two weeks later they lost to Tennessee by 3. The next game they lost to Texas A&M by 3. They were leading Auburn at the start of the fourth quarter, and Mississippi State they led by 14 in the 4th quarter. They lost to LSU by a point despite a 4th quarter lead, and then you watched the game yesterday.

Missouri wasn’t playing their best. They were down at halftime. They couldn’t pass the ball, they had given up a free touchdown when the ball slipped out of Beau Pribula’s hand when he was going to pass, they had multiple bad snaps, and some questionable penalties. Plus, the weather wasn’t cooperative.

But the defense stepped up, and the run game held its own. And Missouri won, thanks in big part to a Kevin Coleman punt return for a touchdown that gave them the separation they needed with 8 minutes and change to play in the game.

That’s the difference between firing your coach and extending him.

Sam Pittman was fired after losing three straight games, and two of those losses came on fumbles with a chance to take the lead in the 4th quarter. Eli Drinkwitz was extended, and paid handsomely, just days after losing 17-6 on the road at Oklahoma. Drinkwitz has earned the leeway Pittman never really gained.

I think that’s my biggest takeaway from this season. Missouri was a few plays against Alabama and Vanderbilt from winning 10 games again. Maybe something goes the wrong way against Auburn, or even South Carolina or Arkansas and we are feeling a lot different about this season.

The Missouri administration is banking that Drinkwitz can keep this train rolling. He’s shown a predilection for building the right kind of culture, a belief that Missouri can win those close games. The roster itself is close to being there, too. There will be transfer decisions, and draft decisions to be made, of course. And while the 9 game conference slate will change a lot of dynamics in the coming seasons, Mizzou seems ready and willing to embrace the challenge with their newly extended head football coach.

Other SEC Scores:

• 16. Texas 27, 3. Texas A&M 17

• 4. Georgia 16, Georgia Tech 9

• 7. Ole Miss 38, Mississippi State 19

• 8. Oklahoma 17, LSU 13

• 10. Alabama 27, Auburn 20

• 14. Vanderbilt 45, 19. Tennessee 24

• Florida 40, Florida State 21

• Louisville 41, Kentucky 0

• Clemson 28, South Carolina 14