ESPN Season Report Card: Missouri

by Staff Reporter

February 4, 20142 Comments

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN is releasing 2013 Season Report Cards for all SEC teams. Here is how they graded Missouri:

OFFENSE: A
DEFENSE: B-
SPECIAL TEAMS: C+

OVERALL: A

Here is some of what they said:

quote:
If not for what Gus Malzahn did at Auburn, Gary Pinkel would have been an easy choice for SEC Coach of the Year honors. He did a marvelous job in bringing Missouri back from an injury-plagued, disappointing first season in the SEC, and the Tigers overcame another injury to Franklin this season to win the East title. Giving up so many points to Auburn in the SEC championship game was disappointing, but Missouri showed its resolve by bouncing back in the postseason to beat Oklahoma State in the AT&T Cotton Bowl. This was a senior-laden team with strong leadership and plenty of motivation after going 5-7 in 2012, its first season in the SEC. It's also a team that that made its own breaks, as evidenced by a plus-16 turnover ratio, which led the conference. Auburn's turnaround will be what most people talk about when they think back to the 2013 season, but Mizzou proved emphatically that it belonged in the SEC.