Bowl games can be split into two groups.
There are ones that mean something, and there are ones that don’t.
Some already have sorted Wednesday’s Armed Forces Bowl between Mizzou and Army into the irrelevant pile, assigning it to that too-long list of games that fail to make the interest needle quiver.
I could be tempted to agree.
But the more you really look at this year’s overweight, watered-down slate, I think the Tigers actually are playing one of the more compelling non-premier bowl games.
It’s become easy for even diehard college football followers to keep from rolling their eyes at bowl season. It’s not bloated. It’s morbidly obese.
Check out the EasyPost Hawaii Bowl, for example. That’s the one where 6-6 Memphis will play 6-7 Hawaii. Yes, Hawaii is a losing team. In a bowl game. And it gets worse.
Hawaii’s starting quarterback and lead running back have transferred. Memphis lost six of its last nine games. Bowl games traditionally give players and coaches fancy gift bags for their participation. People who watch this Christmas Eve game should get the prize instead. Something like a slightly used pair of socks. Not to be dramatic, but participating in a bowl game after losing more regular-season games than you won should be a federal crime.
This bowl season offers games with interim coaches because the head man left early. There are games without offensive and defensive coordinators because they left to become head coaches. There are bowl games without future NFL draft picks because they opted out to dodge injuries before turning pro. There are 20 — yes, 20 — teams in bowl games that have a .500 record, like Mizzou’s.
So all things considered, the Armed Forces Bowl isn’t so bad once you forget the SEC thinks so little of Mizzou these days it assigned the Tigers a day and time that directly collides with the men’s basketball team’s Braggin’ Rights game. Whoops.
Let’s consider the positives.
Mizzou’s coach has not left for another job. Eli Drinkwitz will be very motivated. A win against Army adds one year to his contract and grows his salary by $100,000 for each year left on his deal. That’s not chump change, even to a guy making $4 million annually.
Mizzou’s roster has been dented with transfers and opt-outs but not riddled, at least not yet. There is real intrigue at the quarterback position. Drinkwitz kept bowl practices closed to the media and is not tipping his hand toward either Connor Bazelak or Brady Cook. The answer could point toward next season’s starter. I bet incoming four-star quarterback Sam Horn will be watching.
Mizzou’s opponent will be more than motivated. Army is determined to end on a better note than losing America’s Game to Navy. Black Knights don’t opt out.
Army coach Jeff Monken, remember, was on former Tigers athletics director Jim Sterk’s short list of candidates before power players shifted the search to Drinkwitz. Some extra motivation there. And here: Mizzou has not played in a bowl game since 2018. And the Tigers have not experienced the fun of winning a bowl game since the 2014 season ended with a celebration of a victorious Citrus Bowl. A winning season secured via bowl win would help Drinkwitz continue his red-hot recruiting. He’s stuck at .500 in black and gold at the moment, same as Mizzou (17-17) since the start of the 2019 season.
All of these ingredients should stir interest, but perhaps none matter as much as this one. This game could and perhaps should be viewed as a swing game for defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. He appeared to be in over his head for the first part of the season as he adjusted to the college game after years in the NFL.
The Tigers got gashed on the ground so bad in the beginning it had to be asked if Drinkwitz was considering a change. He did make one, firing defensive line coach Jethro Franklin, whose departure immediately paid dividends as his replacement, Al Davis, got a lot more out of the same players.
Mizzou’s defense improved gradually, starting with a lopsided loss to Georgia until the Tigers’ loss to Arkansas, where some familiar problems, such as missed tackles, returned. Army presents a pass-or-fail test. The Black Knights rush for nearly 287 yards per game and have attempted the second-fewest pass attempts in the nation. Only six teams surrendered more rushing yards per game than Mizzou (nearly 230) this season.
Wilks has had more than three weeks between the bowl announcement and the game to prepare for an Army option attack that comes down to creating and taking advantage of mental mistakes its trickery invites.
Pass, and Drinkwitz should feel pretty good about heading into another season with Wilks. Fail, and Drinkwitz will have to answer how a defense that started bad and got better lost its grip late.
Look close enough, and any bowl game is worth watching.
Well, except for that Hawaii Bowl.
