Last week in this column I extolled the virtues of toughness – how Missouri would need to dig deep after a hard-fought loss in a winnable home game to an SEC power. Turns out, they were plenty tough, they just waited 15 minutes to show it.
Eli Drinkwitz’s Missouri teams have always been tough. There is plenty of evidence of that: workhorse individual performers like Tyler Badie, Luther Burden, or Brady Cook. All three campaigns had mid-season losses where a weaker locker room would have swooned; all three teams rallied for bowl eligibility. His teams always battle until the final whistle.