Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin
Coming into the season, Missouri was a fashionable pick to challenge for the national championship.
Such high expectations weren't surprising, considering the Tigers' strong race to their first Big 12 North Division championship last season in a record 11-2 campaign. The return of 10 defensive starters and most of their offensive core made most think that a North Division title would be a mere formality.
Clearly, the Tigers had a higher calling than the 9-3 record they have finished with.
They are now where they hoped at the start of the season with a berth in the Big 12 championship game Saturday night against Oklahoma. But other than that, it would be fair to characterize their season as one of as many disappointments as achievements.
Missouri has beaten only one bowl-eligible team from a BCS-affiliated conference. Losses to Oklahoma State and Texas showed some cracks in Gary Pinkel's program.
And a 40-37 loss to Kansas robbed them of much of the momentum they had been able to generate with a four-game winning streak after that mid-season swoon. That loss dropped them to No. 19 in the Associated Press poll -- lowest since the fourth week of last season.
"We just haven't played as well as we wanted to in games that we should've," Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel said. "In the Oklahoma State game, we threw the ball game away with three turnovers. Texas beat us fair and squre. They're a really great team.
"But did we want three losses on the year? No, we didn't."
Pinkel said the outside perception about the 2008 season is indicative of the growth of his program over the past several seasons.
"When you're 9-3 and disappointed, that suggests you made a lot of progress," Pinkel said. "I've talked to other coaches in this league, and if you place all your hopes on going to the national championship, then except for about four teams, you're tremendously disappointed."
But remember, this was the team that Sports Illustrated picked as its preseason choice for No. 1. Those hopes were derailed after the back-to-back losses to Oklahoma State and Texas.
Daniel threw three second-half interceptions in the loss to the Cowboys. But the loss to Texas was especially telling. His Heisman Trophy hopes -- buoyed by an innovative campaign that sent View-Masters to balloters at an estimated cost of $25,000 -- were snuffed out after the Tigers fell into an early 35-3 halftime hole in what turned out to be a 56-31 loss.
Although he hasn't been able to find his way back into the Heisman race, Daniel's statistics are comparable to what he did last season.
The biggest change for the Tigers has been a big downturn in defensive production. Their lack of pass defense has been especially telling in the Big 12 where the aerial game has been so predominant.
Missouri has dropped from 45th to 80th in pass efficiency defense. 59th to 91st in total defense 37th to 58th in scoring defense and 96th to 116th in pass defense. The Tigers have been blistered for an average of 277.1 passing yards per game -- fourth worst in the nation.
There have been some extenuating circumstances. Senior safety William Moore, who produced eight interceptions during an All-American season last year, has been hampered with injuries and produced only one theft this season.
And while Jeremy Maclin's numbers as a receiver are up slightly from last season, he hasn't had the same knack for making big plays on special teams as last season when he returned two punts and a kickoff for another touchdown. This year, his punt returns are down to 9.9 yards per return with no touchdowns and he's averaging 25.1 yards per return. His lone kickoff return for a touchdown came in the season opener against Illinois.
"It's been a little frustrating and we haven't done everything we set out to do this season," said Maclin, who has been hampered by an assortment of aggravating injuries this season. "But we can change things by winning on Saturday. They (critics) can say what they want about us, but we can do something that we've never done before by winning. We still have a great opportunity."
And that's the rub. The Tigers have underachieved this season, but an upset victory over the Sooners would take them to their first BCS berth in school history.
"I don't think a lot of people are giving us much of a shot, but every one of our goals are still out there," Daniel said. "We lost games along the way, but we played well enough to deserve to play the best team from the South Division."
Maclin was even more forceful.
"If we can go out and win, we can prove we can take the next step," Maclin said. "It's all about what we can do from this point forward in the season rather than what happened before now."
Tim Griffin joined ESPN.com in February 2008. He has covered the Big 12 since its inception, among a variety of beats during a 24-year career at the San Antonio Express-News. Griffin, a Memphis State University graduate, lives in San Antonio with his wife and son.
