Missouri Finds Place Among Traditional Powers

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Missouri Finds Place Among Traditional Powers

By MICHAEL MARTINEZ

Tradition is where you find it. But Missouri? Amid the lush trees and nearby lakes and far, far away from bastions of football tradion like South Bend, Ind., and Ann Arbor, Mi?

Perhaps.

Given its success last season -- and built on the seasons that preceded it -- it might be that the University of Missouri has finally found a place among college football's traditional powers.

Nine months after winning The Cotton Bowl -- and a ranking of 4th in the final AP Poll -- the Tigers are at it again regarded by many as a top five team by virtually every preseason ranking. Most put them fifth to Georgia, USC, Oklahoma and Florida. The latest unofficial BCS rankings have them third.

But tradition is something else. Notre Dame had the Four Horsemen, Penn State has Joe Paterno, and even Southern California has Tommy Trojan standing tall in the center of its Los Angeles campus. Missouri has, well, a lot of humidity. Alabama, Texas . . . Mizzou?

"One great year doesn't make a tradition," said Gary Pinkel, the Don James of the Big 12. "People think of Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame. It would be nice to think we're included in that.

"But I think we've got to prove we can stay up there."

Missouri begins the season returning 18 starters from their 12-2 team last season and with hope of becoming the first Missouri team to win the Big 12. It also has the venerable Pinkel, who has taken his teams to four top-25 finishes in the Associated Press poll and was the coach of the year last season by some services.

"Where do you look for tradition?" asked William Moore, the Tiger's all-America safety. "It's obvious, USC, Ohio State, Texas and Oklahoma. We earned the right for people to turn on the television and expect to see us every Saturday. It's going to take some time. Last year we got going, but we have to keep winning."

Banquets and Rings

The glow of the Tigers victory over Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl last January was still bright when players began returning to the weight room a month later. They went on the banquet circuit and received their Big 12 North championship rings during a spring game attended by some 30,000 fans in April. But there has been little to distract them from their next task.

They have even tried to ignore the preseason hype of the magazines.

"I don't read them," said linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, an all-American LB and a key component in a defense that gave up 12 touchdowns in 8 regular-season games last season.

"The only time rankings mean anything is in January. Everybody's got their favorites. I'd rather get on with business."

There is nothing to suggest the Tigers won't be just as formidable, even though they lost defensive tackle Lorenzo Williams, arguably the best player on the defense last season.

The job of replacing Williams will fall to junior Jaron Baston, who told a reporter recently, "I kind of feel like Lo made a parking place for a Cadillac, and I'm pulling up in a Hyundai."

Baston says: "Lo was a great asset to this team, but he wasn't the whole team. When people came up to do the Tigers story, it was always Chase, T-Ruck and Williams. Lo was a great player, and he did a lot of things to make people look foolish on the field, but I think this team has a lot of superstars on it and now the publicity is spread out."

There are a few other significant losses.

Pinkel is without his All-American TE Martin Rucker, drafted by the Cleveland Browns, from last season, plus three starters on the offensive line along with running back Tony Temple, who set an all-time bowl record for rushing in the Cotton Bowl in January. Do they miss Temple? That's debatable because of returning running back, Derrick Washington, who almost single-handily beat Nebraska on Saturday. Pinkel has also stated this is the best offensive line he has ever coached too.

One Quarterback

Chase Daniel. Future Heisman Trophy winner. Enough said.

But it is Pinkel who is the soul of Missouri football.

"I remember the first year I came in," said senior Chase Coffman, a preseason All-American TE. "We were had just lost the Independence Bowl the season before and Coach Pinkel had a preseason meeting and told us that we were going to make some changes. He told us that what was behind us was behind us, that we were going to be winners. It carried over to the players.

"What's interesting about him is that he doesn't have to yell in your face to get you fired up. He doesn't have to scream or get frantic. When you really respect somebody, all he has to do is say something and the message gets through."

July 12, 2005


Left unspoken - but seared in the memories of returning players and coaches - are events of that day, when 19-year-old Aaron O'Neal, a redshirt freshman and reserve linebacker, collapsed on Faurot Field during a voluntary summer workout. He died less than two hours later.

Missouri dedicated its 2005 season to the player known by his initials A.O., honoring their fallen teammate, No. 25, with helmet decals, celebrations on the 25-yard-line and a vacant locker that will carry his name through what would be his senior season of 2008.

O'Neal's death may no longer serve as the rallying cry for a stunned, and later determined Tiger team that won the Independence Bowl. But for those who experienced the events of July 12, 2005 and their aftermath, memories of O'Neal will always endure.
"He only still goes on," said Coach Gary Pinkel. "I don't think that the healing process will ever stop."

Each week a different senior will wear the number 25 to honor A.O. He will not be forgotten by his teammates or fans.

Tough to Stay Unbeaten

To stay on top -- the Tigers will have to survive a schedule that includes Oklahoma State, Texas and Kansas along with the Big 12 Championship game. Talk about an unbeaten season here is dropped around campus, but losses are inevitable.

"We have a huge target on our chest," said Coffman. "I don't think we'll have anything that resembles an easy game."

But it's their tradition, not their reputation, that makes the Tigers proud at the start of a new season.

"The victories we had last season will always be ours," Pinkel said. "No one can take them away, and 20 years from now I can see them having a reunion of the 2007 team. People will talk about it for years to come as the start of something big at Ole Mizzou."