On Saturday at 2:30, the Tigers would have the opportunity to knock off #3 A&M at home, led by its true freshman QB in Matt Zollers. College Gameday went 5/5 with its picks going in the direction of the Aggies, giving Missouri no shot to pull it off? Would they be correct? It truly is do or die for Missouri, with a loss killing its hopes at the college football playoff.

So, how would the Tigers do? Less than optimal, to put it briefly. The Tigers fall 38-17 and slip to 6-3, and it’s college football playoffs have been shipped off to a faraway land. Missouri cannot get access to that faraway land. Matt Zollers had his first start and struggled mightily, going 7/22 for 77 yards. Yikes. However, I don’t think that was all Zollers’s fault, and he also played with a mangled hand.

The offense struggled, despite the run game getting going. Hardy and Roberts both had over 100 yards, with numerous chunk plays, yet failed to get going on a consistent basis. The playcalling wasn’t horrible, but questionable at times.

Missouri faced a backbreaker in the middle of the 3rd quarter that arguably sealed the game. A&M faced a 4th and 3 at their own 34, bringing out their punt unit to give Missouri a shot to cut the lead. “We lined up in max punt return.” Drinkwitz said in his press conference. That proved to be costly, as A&M would fake the punt, going 48 yards down the field to set up a field goal. That’s when the stadium went silent and fans left in a mass exodus.

Missouri got some consolation touchdowns, courtesy of Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts, but that’s about all she wrote. So, coming off of a bye week, how did Mizzou come out looking so dead, in a game that it absolutely needed to win? Here are my three takeaways.

1. A true freshman that hasn’t started a game since junior year played against a terrific defense: A long takeaway title, but a simple one. I’ll be the first one to admit that I was flat out wrong about how I thought Zollers would play tonight. Sure, I picked A&M to win and rightfully so, but boy, when I said “I think this offense will perform better under Zollers.” Man, I look really dumb. Unfortunately, I was wrong and Zollers struggled. It felt as if Zollers was trying to force the ball, as he threw bombs continuously in one-on-one coverage

Zollers did not necessarily have the most help, but he just did not look prepared. As the title relays, you have to remember that Matt Zollers got injured in his senior year of high school and he hasn’t started a football game since his junior year. You could tell that was the case today.

Zollers missed an open 4th and 5 conversion to Olugbode, which would have put the Tigers near the red zone. Zollers forced several deep balls and struggled to hit quick hitters, do to knowing one speed: fastballs. We got duped after a p[pretty good outing against Vanderbilt with zero expectations and now that Zollers faced some expectations, it didn’t exactly pan out the way that you may have thought it would. It was clear that he hadn’t played in a while, enough said.

I don’t think that playcalling helped Zollers. Cayden Green had a very interesting quote in tonight’s press conference, where he stated that A&M was calling out plays while on the line. When Green was asked to clarify what he meant, he simply meant that A&M knew what Mizzou was running before they ran it. That is very alarming.

2. Fans got duped in the early season and so did a lot of the media: When Missouri beat South Carolina to go 5-0, I clamored that this could very well be a playoff team. I was excited to see where this team could go, despite my questions. Fans were excited, mad at the media that Mizzou wasn’t ranked higher. The national media turned out to be correct, we turned out to be wrong.

Looking at the Tigers schedule now, Missouri does not have a win against a ranked opponent, nor an opponent with a winning record. When Missouri beat Kansas, fans were convinced this team was special. We were wrong. By the Auburn game, most knew this team was not a playoff team. Tonight further proved that sentiment.

Let’s be cutthroat here. This is likely an 8-4, or a 7-5 team. I think this team finishes 7-5. The offense can’t keep up. Oklahoma will be a loss, and Arkansas will give Missouri fits. It’s ok to get your hopes up, it’s ok to dream. But unfortunately, the time for that is over.

3. Roberts needs more time on the field: Fans have been clamoring for quite some time that Jamal Roberts needs to see more time on the field. They got that wish tonight, as Roberts had 17 carries for 110 yards for a TD. Going to just give you my observation: he was the best back on the field tonight. He’s a little more speedy than Hardy, and he hits the holes just a tad quicker. Am I saying that Jamal Roberts is a better running back than Ahmad Hardy? Absolutely not. Tonight however, he was.

It almost makes you wonder, why in the world was he not getting more time previously? Head scratcher.

In conclusion, just not a great game from the Tigers tonight; they fall to 6-3 with just pride to play for. The Tigers have a chance to bounce back against Mississippi State next Saturday at 6:45 CT.