ARLINGTON, Texas — There was color floating, flying, crashing, splashing everywhere.
An orange tub of blue Gatorade upended onto the head coach’s bright white shirt, arcing into the air as he pumped his fist. Ice cubes nestled into the bright green turf, melting slowly and glistening under stadium lights. Confetti — purple and red and teal and pink and orange and green and yellow rectangles, an inch long and ever so slightly translucent — fluttering lazily downward. Silver flashing from the trophies held aloft on the stage, and gold — so much gold — ringing the edges of the stands.
All that to say: A kaleidoscope of celebration rained down Friday night inside AT&T Stadium after No. 9 Missouri’s 14-3 win over No. 7 Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
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Some players beelined to the crowd, offering high fives, autographs, pieces of equipment and hugs. Those embraces were everywhere, too, awkwardly managed with two sets of shoulder pads, or from the field to the stands, or from a football-sized person to someone who doesn’t spend quite so much time smashing into other human beings.
One Mizzou fan asked cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine — who played through a shoulder separation in the win — to sign a jersey that had someone else’s name on the back. Somebody handed coach Eli Drinkwitz a shoe, which he duly signed. Another fan gave Javon Foster a sign.
Most of the Buckeyes’ fans had left several minutes earlier, forming a red sea as they made their exodus into the Texas night. This stage belonged to the Tigers.
The win was the culmination of a sensational season. Eleven wins, two losses. A coach with a losing record entering the season flipping that around to win the Southeastern Conference coach of the year honor. A ºüÀêÊÓƵ-spawned trio of Cody Schrader, Brady Cook and Luther Burden III that will go down as one of the Lou’s best gifts to the Zou. A 61-yard walk-off field goal, a “standing on business†blowout and a fourth-and-17 conversion.
But Friday night’s statement? It’s bigger than all that.
In the words of Schrader, the former Division II player and walk-on who became a consensus All-American, finished eighth in Heisman Trophy balloting and now holds MU’s single-season rushing record, with 1,627 yards: “It’s time to put a little respect on Mizzou.â€
Through the eyes of a confident Burden, who draws eyes, breaths and defenders every time he touches the ball after breaking out for almost 1,200 receiving yards this season: “We the best team in Mizzou history. That’s the statement.â€
For safety Jaylon Carlies, who led Missouri in tackles during his fourth and likely final season with the Tigers after joining as part of Drinkwitz’s first recruiting class: “We’re here and we’re staying here for a long time.â€
And finally, pass the microphone to Cook — whose doubters reared their heads once again during a slow start to the Cotton Bowl, only for the quarterback to finish with a 61% completion percentage, an eye-popping passing touchdown and 66 critical rushing yards: “We’re back. We’re not leaving.â€
If business was booming, in the words of Drinkwitz earlier in the season, now, the future is shimmering for Missouri.
As analysts and university administrators alike have pointed out, if college football’s incoming 12-team postseason had kicked in this season, the Tigers would have been part of it. High-end playmakers such as Cook and Burden will be back for another season, plus a significant chunk of other starters. Mizzou already has turned to the transfer portal for replacements.
So take it away, coach — take the 2023 season on home.
“When we took this job four years ago, there was a belief in doing something that had never been done before,†Drinkwitz said after the Cotton Bowl . “And it started with recruiting locally, developing our players and then putting it all together. We’re still in the infancy stage of doing that, but I think the future is extremely bright because of the plans that we have and the vision that we’re carrying out.
“It’s not just me: It’s our administration, the support they have and what they’ve done, building the indoor and renovation of Memorial Stadium, investing in our staff. It’s what our players have done, investing in each other. It’s what our recruiting is doing, in continuing to get the right players to come play for us.
“With the new 12-team playoff system, this would be a game where we’re obviously continuing to move on and gonna have a chance to play at a higher level. Everything’s coming together now, but we do understand that the wind’s twice as hard at the top of the mountain — so whatever we did to achieve this year, it’s going to be twice as hard. We’re going to have to battle a whole new set of problems.
“We’re gonna have to go in there and rebuild the culture. I’m gonna enjoy this ride home because I’m not gonna get a chance to do it with Cody Schrader again. We’re gonna have to find new players to step up and lead. We’re gonna have to find new ways to connect. It’ll be challenging, but that’s what the fun is. The fun is rebuilding it and putting it all together and being able to say, ‘This is what we did in the past. Now this is what our vision is for the future.’â€