KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ninety-four times in his University of Missouri career, Harrison Mevis had attempted either a point after touchdown (82) or field goal inside the 30-yard line (12); 94 times before, he had made the kick.
One hundred eighty-six times previously in his collegiate career at Stanford and Mizzou, Nathaniel Peat had either run the football (163) or caught a pass (23); 185 of those times he did not fumble it away.
Those are what might be called substantial sample sizes.
Enough so that you could say with conviction that neither tendency was likely to go awry for MU (2-2) in the crucible last Saturday at Auburn — where Mevis missed a 26-yard field goal at the end of regulation and Peat’s fumble trying to extend into the end zone in overtime made for the exclamation points on Mizzou’s 17-14 overtime loss.
Afterward, coach Eli Drinkwitz succinctly but deftly summed up the devastation as he pondered losing that way “really, twice.”
Indeed, the odds of each of those happening within a matter of moments to sabotage a victory in the grasp seemed incalculable.
Not to mention preposterous.
Then again, the hapless happenstance sure suits a long-lingering narrative about jinxes or curses hovering over the program.
Just when you might think that’s been purged or faded away or something has turned, wham, some soul-crushing twist can make a Mizzou fan think it’s never gone away and never will.
For the record, we still choose to believe it’s all rotten coincidence. All of it: the Fifth Down and the Fleakicker and Tyus Edney and the instant injury to would-be hoops savior Michael Porter and any number of other bizarre candidates for a list that now includes the seemingly unfathomable 17-14 overtime loss to Auburn.
Brutal and miserable and each inexplicable in its own way, yes.
But only randomly related … no matter how much that cumulative effect might pierce the spirit of an MU fan.
Or even in some strange way may offer the bittersweet consolation of commiseration over things that, well, just couldn’t be helped because of the whims of fate.
Here’s the thing, though:
Anything resembling that mindset is precisely what Drinkwitz has to fend off within a program that is struggling to get its footing and identity early in his third season as coach.
Especially with top-ranked Georgia up next on Saturday at Faurot Field — where the fact that former Tigers coach Gary Pinkel will be recognized for his upcoming enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame should serve as a reminder of the reality of the material world.
It would be unhealthy and damaging enough in itself for a team to perceive itself as unlucky and take the field bearing the self-pitying sense that is sure to perpetuate itself as it waits for the inevitable trap-door to spring open. Succumbing to that is a waste of time and energy that erodes the vital inner voice of belief that must drive everything for an athlete.
But that outlook also is self-defeating in another way.
It’s not just a distraction, but a mirage.
Because it sidesteps the deeper and broader reasons (like the slow pace of quarterback development, drab and flat offense overall and yet another flurry of penalties, including a costly offsides penalty in overtime) MU lost to Auburn in favor of conveniently embracing the idea of bad luck.
Or, alas for some, by scapegoating two young men who could have won the game for the Tigers but were mere parts of a team defeat.
To err is human, Drinkwitz made a point of telling reporters at his weekly news conference Tuesday, and to forgive divine.
Speaking specifically of Peat, but in ways that ought to resonate with any of us, he said, “I don’t think there’s anybody in here that doesn’t have something in their past that they wish they could do differently. You can’t. All you have to do is learn from it, and those things don’t have to define you. They can help shape you and mold you into the person that you want to become.”
His point was well-stated, entirely true and at the heart of the matter in every way as MU football stands at a crossroads.
Those haunting snapshots of the past have nothing to do with today.
And excruciating as that loss might have been last week, it needn’t define this season or the trajectory of the program under Drinkwitz ... unless MU lets it.
While it’s hard to imagine the scenario that creates an upset against No. 1 Georgia (4-0) on Saturday, it’s still an opportunity for MU to move past the Auburn loss and get better against the best.
It’s still a chance for Drinkwitz to infuse more imagination into the offense and for his teams to play with more discipline.
Losing to Auburn that way was excruciating, to be sure. And with the thorny schedule ahead, it reduces the margin for error if MU hopes to demonstrably improve this season or return to a bowl game.
But the ghosts of the past are irrelevant in what’s ahead for a program whose future has seemed bright because of Drinkwitz’s recruiting.
That story remains to be written.
As long as the story of Auburn is framed in the right perspective by MU’s coaches and players … even if it’s understandably just about impossible for Mizzou fans to compartmentalize it that way.
