The press conference following Missouri’s 52-17 victory over Iowa State on Saturday had a noticeably different feel than those of the past. Coach Gary Pinkel paced his interview with jokes. Smiles brightened the faces of players reveling in discussing their play. An underlying buzz of laughter kept all from forgetting the final outcome.
For Missouri on Saturday, winning really did cure all.
“It certainly felt good to win for everybody,” Pinkel said. “It’s been a couple of tough weeks around here.”
The jovial post-game scene stood in stark contrast to the difficult weeks of recent past. At 3-3, Missouri’s victory Saturday was its first since a 69-0 win over Western Illinois on Sept. 17, the last time the Tigers played at Faurot Field.
In weeks since, the Tigers have suffered road defeats against ranked Big 12 Conference opponents Oklahoma and Kansas State. In both games, the Tigers attempted fourth quarter comebacks but fell short, doomed by critical mistakes.
Coming into the contest, Missouri players viewed Saturday’s centennial Homecoming contest as a must-win game.
“We were 2-3 at the time, (an) our-backs-against-the-wall kind of thing,” senior tackle Dan Hoch said. “We knew we had to come out and perform.”
Accordingly, the week’s preparation peaked at an unforeseen level.
“Practice was pretty crazy this week,” junior defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson said. “We turned it up a notch. Everybody did, the coaches did, they really took no type of bullshit. It was pretty crazy this week.”
The change in focus was evident from the start Saturday. Missouri ran right down the field on the opening drive to grab a 7-0 lead and never looked back. The Tigers were soon up 28-3 in the second quarter before cruising to a 52-17 final.
The Tigers amassed 583 yards of offense, split almost evenly between rushing and passing. They surrendered 10 points to the Iowa State offense.
It was the performance Missouri was looking for in a return home for both the team and the entire Missouri alumni base. Saturday marked the 100th anniversary of the Homecoming tradition started at MU by coach Chester Brewer in 1911 and now celebrated at colleges across the country on an annual basis.
A sold-out crowd of better than 71,000 fans enjoyed a game in which, for once, everything went the way of the Tigers.
“It’s nice to be on this side of the ball, feeling good,” Hoch said. “There (are) obviously things we can do to get better, but it’s a way different mindset.”