It is the Tiger Tale as old as time: Failing to take the next step.
Mizzou Football has a very long history of being given the opportunity to take their program to the next level, but failing to deliver.
Since the Gary Pinkel era, we have seen the Tigers reach sustained success that is more prominent than ever and continues to trend upward. But with each winning cycle, the mountain top can never be reached. This trend has carried over from Pinklel, to Barry Odom, and now Eli Drinkwitz. Arguably the most painful experience took place at Vanderbilt this season.
In the Pinkel era, 2007 reigns supreme for elite Mizzou football.
In what was a roller coaster season for all of NCAA, Mizzou positioned themselves to capitalize on the unstable environment and catapult themselves into the BCS rankings to potentially reach the National Championship. The only roadblock from stopping them was rivals Oklahoma Sooners. Mizzou has been dominated by the Sooners over their long history, and this was finally their chance to seize the moment and take glory away from the historic program and start to create their own magic.
With a small lead of 24-23 late in the 3rd quarter, Mizzou ran out of gas to shut the door. Oklahoma stormed ahead 41-24 and eventually won 41-31. It was the only loss for Mizzou in the regular season, but it stings enough to realize the big game was just too much for Mizzou. Luckily for the Tigers, they won a massive game vs rivals Kansas shortly after and positioned themselves for a highly anticipated rematch with the Sooners in the Big 12 championship game.
This was the moment for the Tigers to get redemption, reach the top, and play for the long coveted National Championship. Instead Oklahoma dominated on the neutral field 31-17 and ruined the Tigers chance at reaching glory.
That was the gut punch Tigers fans got, that has never healed itself.
2013 was also a crucial year for the Pinkel era.
The Tigers in their 2nd SEC season reached the SEC Championship game vs Auburn that also gave the winner of this game the keys to the BCS National Championship. By the end of the 3rd quarter, Mizzou was down 45-42 with a legit chance to overcome their past failures to push the university into the next level. Instead, Auburn dominated the 4th quarter and won the game 59-42.
Auburn would advance on to play Florida St in the final BCS title game while Mizzou had to settle with another Cotton Bowl appearance. A very similar wall was put in place from the 07 season that Mizzou had the chance to finally knock down. Mizzou chose to run into the wall head first and knock themselves back down yet again.
The following season Mizzou reached the SEC title game with a chance to beat the greatest of all time Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide, but they fell short. Mizzou has yet to beat Alabama since joining the SEC.
The cycles of winning stopped with Barry Odom, as the school struggled to post .500 seasons over his tenure. The chance to take the next step never presented itself for Odom, even though he did win some games vs ranked teams that says something with how the 2025 season is transpiring. But once Eli Drinkwitz took the head coaching job, the same magic from the Pinkel era returned to Columbia. With that also came the same wall put in place.
In 2022, Mizzou had number 1 ranked Georgia on the ropes in Columbia. Mizzou had control of the game for 3 quarters (see the trend here?) and looked to not let go. This would be the biggest upset at Faurot field and was preparing the moment for a truly historic moment. Instead, Mizzou let Georgia score 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter to seal the win 26-22 in what is still a heartbreak amongst Mizzou fans. Georgia would get in the way yet again the following year.
A one loss ranked 14 Mizzou would head to Athens to face the undefeated number 1 ranked Bulldogs in what should have been a crucial turning point for the season. The game was tied 10-10 at halftime, which shows Mizzou was in this fight and was well positioned to fight to the finish. But Georgia separated themselves in the second half to win 30-21.
With how the rest of the season played out, winning this game would've put the Tigers in the SEC Championship and very well could've put them in the College Football playoff.
Instead Mizzou played for yet again the Cotton Bowl, which they won, but they should've been featured in a better game.
2024 resulted in 3 losses that all were platform games for Drinkwitz to take Mizzou to the next level. They were ranked 9th heading into College Station before getting the brakes blown off against Texas A&M.
Their next battle to reestablish themselves as a powerhouse was vs Alabama who also beat the Tigers to a pulp. On the ropes to be considered for the playoffs, Mizzou had one final challenge by going into South Carolina to get the needed statement win.
The Tigers lost on heartbreak late in the game yet again and spoiled the opportunity to push the team into any playoff consideration. Mizzou only had one ranked win out of 4 match ups.
2025 is showcasing the same results.
Mizzou so far has only played 2 ranked teams being Alabama and Vanderbilt. Mizzou had every chance to beat Alabama at home, for the first time since joining the conference. But poor play calling and inexperience decisions making led to a late game interception that ruined the hopes and dreams to finally beat the big bad Tide.
The last rendition was last week vs Vanderbilt. This was a coin toss outcome from the start and it came down to execution to win this game. After a long dogfight between the two mirroring teams, Vanderbilt took advantage of the Tigers failing to execute in the red zone and pulled away with a very close 17-10 win.
The Commodores took a historic and much needed step forward, and are now true playoff contenders heading into November.