BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Barry Odom was surrounded by over 100,000 empty seats as he stood on the 15-yard line of Tiger Stadium. Powder blue sky stretched out before him, and the Louisiana sun shone on his black collar shirt. Kickoff was nearly two hours away.

For a brief moment, Death Valley was calm.

Odom stared across the field. The first-year head coach seemed to be pondering the upcoming game, soaking in one of college football’s most historic venues.

Five and a half hours and 42 points later, a battle-worn Odom took the podium to talk to the media.

“I feel like I got my tail kicked tonight, and we did as a program,” he said.

In his first Southeastern Conference road game as head coach, Odom and his team were dismantled by Louisiana State, 42-7.

After the game, the coach took responsibility. Though Odom said he did not prepare the team well enough to win, his players felt differently.

“He’s not the one out there playing,” senior linebacker Michael Scherer said. “He’s not the one practicing everyday getting ready for this. He brings it in practice. I appreciate him for that, trying to take it off of us, but he does all he can for us. He’s not the one playing the game.”

Odom has an analogy he uses with the team: circle the wagons. In a group of traveling wagons, there are always a few stragglers.

“The leaders in the front come around, they get the guys in the back, and they bring them up,” Punter Corey Fatony said. “Kind of what we need to do with the team.”

Despite his clear disappointment, Odom exalted hope for his players.

“I have great belief with all of my soul that we’re a much better football team than that,” he said.

Odom’s players said he talked about Missouri’s 2014 loss to Georgia in his post-game speech. The Tigers fell to the Bulldogs 34-0 in the team’s second SEC contest of the year, then proceeded to win their next six conference games.

Before the pain of losing, before he stood on the 15-yard line and took in Death Valley, Odom talked to a group of Missouri supporters in the stands. He leaned on the fence and pointed at them, a smile on his face.

The sun was out, and the southern sky was powder blue.

By the time Odom’s press conference ended, night had fallen in Baton Rouge. The warm rays of sun and the Missouri confidence had both been absent for hours.

Odom walked out of his press conference with his stat sheet in his hand. He was somber and quiet, ready for a late night plane to take him home to Columbia.

Like countless coaches before him, Death Valley proved too much to handle.

_Edited by George Roberson | groberson@themaneater.com_