Mizzou's season has been anything but the calm assurance Gary Pinkel has built in Columbia. The Tigers still haven't strung together consecutive wins, and they're fighting for bowl eligibility among a landslide of realignment speculation sending their program to the Southeastern Conference.
But unpredictable Missouri benefitted from another realignment team's constant - Texas A&M's post-halftime implosions - and mounted a 38-31 comeback that could possibly swing the Tigers' entire season headed into Baylor this Saturday (6pm CT, FSN). The Bears have been one of the Big 12's upstarts, but have lost three of their last four games in the meat of Big 12 play.
Part of this stranger than usual season for the Tigers is that attention isn't focused solely on a quarterback executing massive numbers in the spread offense, but a sophomore tailback in the running game. Henry Josey rolled up 162 yards against A&M, proving to be just as much as threat as quarterback James Franklin in the running game. Said Pinkel:
"He's pretty fast. He can get five yards pretty fast; he can accelerate. Some people, it takes them awhile to get going, his burst right off the bat is why you see him get to the secondary so fast or you see him get six or seven yards when it looks like there is nothing in there. He's also a north-south player. Very rarely do you see him go sideways. He's a vertical runner. He'll pick his moments to all of a sudden make a decision and he'll get three of four more yards like that. I think his running style will define itself as he goes. He's a young player. I think he is getting better and that's the most important thing."