An Alamo that was impossible to forget E-mail
Written by Matt   
Tuesday, 14 July 2009 15:20

While I was watching the Alamo Bowl on Monday night I couldn’t get over how bizarre the entire scene was. I couldn’t figure out how I was supposed to feel as I watched the Tigers somehow defeat Northwestern 30-23 after playing over four quarters of mostly uninspired football.

And as I watched the ESPN cameras continually flash to Chase Daniel’s family sitting in the stands with looks of agony on their faces I couldn’t stop thinking about how cruel college football can be.

Only a year after Chase Daniel was deemed the savior of Tiger football we learned time and time again that he is a player that constantly struggles to keep his composure in pressure situations. To say he struggled on Monday night would be a massive understatement.

This was the worst game I’ve seen Chase play as Mizzou’s starting quarterback. Northwestern wasn’t mustering a tremendous pass rush and the Tigers wideouts weren’t really struggling to get open. Yet Daniel repeatedly overthrew open receivers and forced interceptions. So much so that a large contingent of Mizzou fans started booing him after he missed a wide-open Tommy Saunders late in the fourth quarter.

But somehow this team was able to grit its teeth and found a way to end this season of perpetual disappointment on a high note despite Daniel’s miscues, numerous penalties and a missed would-be-game-winning field goal by the most accurate kicker in school history.

I’ll admit I was muttering some colorful four-letter words about Chase myself as he misfired on pass after pass. But those fans that thought it would be appropriate to boo the greatest quarterback in the program’s history during his final game should be ashamed of themselves.

During Daniel’s postgame interview you could see tears in the 22-year-old’s eyes and you could hear his voice start to crack as he talked about how proud he was of his teammates for being able to overcome his mistakes. You could tell the reality that he was never going to play another game in a Tigers uniform was just beginning to set in.

How are you going to boo a kid like that? He’s given everything he has to the program, has been an excellent representative of the university on and off the field and, oh yeah by the way, just happened to play an enormous role in erasing nearly half a century of pathetic Missouri Tiger football. Heckle away.

I can’t say I’m elated with this victory. Like I said, for most of the night the Tigers looked like they were attending a funeral rather than playing in a bowl game. But all I really wanted was for this group of players to have one more night where they could exit the stadium with smiles on their faces. And that’s what I got.

For one final night we got to see Jeremy Maclin sprint at full speed, Chase Coffman make clutch catch after clutch catch and William Moore, Ziggy Hood and Stryker Sulak wreak havoc on an opposing offense.

When all was said and done the Tigers ended the night with their tenth victory of the season, which pushed their average number of wins over the last three years to 10. And for one final night, Mizzou fans were able to watch No. 10 walk off the field with a victory in-hand.


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