DISASTER CITY OR COLLEGE STATION? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

♫ You know I stay fresh to death ♫

I wrote the uniform post this week, so it should be obvious how I feel about the all-whites. I don’t have much else to add other than the fact that I think it’s a great look for the first road trip of the season. Maybe there’s a branding argument that being the only ranked matchup of the weekend will put more eyeballs on this game, so maybe there should be more consideration given to a black and gold combination. But I think standing out is more important, and the primary colors really pop off of Mizzou’s iced out look. And most of you agree: 76 percent of voters in the uniform poll say that these are either “gorgeous” or “a nice contrast for the first road game.”

• Bevo, the famous longhorn mascot of Texas, is treated at Texas A&M’s veterinary school. I also have it on sketchy authority that Bevo has been kidnapped by A&M students multiple times.
• Maybe there are people more familiar with this than I was, but did you know there’s an entire city within College Station that’s used to simulate disaster scenarios by first responders? It’s called, “Disaster City,” and, no, that’s not a tribute to Jimbo Fisher’s tenure.
• This week in “Notable Alumni from…” we’re highlighting one of America’s funniest character actors, the incomparable Rip Torn, who graduated from A&M in 1952. Hope you’re enjoying the urine in heaven, Patches.

Rock M-ixology

After two weeks of stomach ailments, I’m happy to report that I’m operating with a fully-functioning gastrointestinal system once more. Let the mixology commence!

Getting inspiration from Texas almost certainly means whiskey is going to be in the mix, but I wasn’t exactly sure which route to go. I’ve personally been enjoying rye lately, and I have never been the biggest bourbon fan in the world. Hell, I’d sooner have a nice glass of Irish whiskey if I’m looking for something straight up. But this cocktail sounded like a nice, boozy re-entry into the world of mixed drinks after two straight weeks of hydrating liquids, so I had to try it.

The recipe, as it turns out, comes courtesy of gamedaycocktail.com, which provides cocktail inspiration for all the various programs of the college football world. The Letterman is supposedly a signature drink of a Bryan, Texas, speakeasy which “pays tribute to Hershel Burgess who was a football standout at A&M in the 1920s and owned the land where the hotel now stands.”

2 oz bourbon, 0.5 oz Maraschino Liqueur, 0.5 oz sweet vermouth, 0.5 oz Amaro, 2 dashes angostura bitters, lemon peel for garnish

Shake ingredients until well-chilled. Strain over ice. Garnish with lemon peel.

I haven’t had a good cocktail in a few weeks, and it only took one of these to really feel it. It’s huge and boozy, but the original recipe calls for Angel’s Envy bourbon, which means this goes down a lot sweeter and smoother than a bolder whiskey would. The original recipe calls for one dash of bitters, so obviously I added another. I think a higher quality sweet vermouth would play nicely here as well, but you make do with what you have (and I have Martini & Rossi.)

Long story short, this is probably the best cocktail I’ve made this season. It’s highly palatable and dangerously strong for how easy it is to drink. The lemon peel and Amaro really brighten the whole drink up, making it an ideal fall sipper. I could honestly have two or three of these if I wanted to really lose myself on a night watching college football. Highly recommend giving this a shot.

Whew. After a majorly successful game against Vanderbilt, it was nice to get a bye week nap in. Did you enjoy the college football while Mizzou was away?

Josh Matejka, Deputy Site Manager: College football is among our silliest national pastimes, an obvious labor-exploitation scam masquerading as tribalist gladiator sport. But we all love it, me included, so it’s always more fun to watch it when you’re not emotionally involved. Georgia v. Alabama was good enough to make the whole weekend worth it, but watching Ole Miss go down to a down year Kentucky was a bonus.

Quentin Corpuel, Football Beat Writer: This was one of the more enjoyable weekends of college football I can remember. Miami won a controversial thriller on Friday night. Georgia and Alabama delivered cinema on the gridiron. Kentucky beat Ole Miss in Oxford. Army and Navy both might be awesome. Ashton Jeanty put on another show. The best part about it? We got to sit on our rear ends and watch all of the day’s action in our direct line of vision (not just our periphery) for the first time this season.

Chad Moller, Writing Dude: Heck yeah, it was a weekend of great games, especially some of the lower-key ones that weren’t top of mind. The Big 12 race got very interesting with Colorado notching a big road win, and Utah stubbing their toes at home with their always-injured QB out. Obviously the crazy game in Tuscaloosa was amazing, and it was just nice to watch all of the other fan bases freaking out for a weekend and we were relaxing at home without a care in the world.

Sammy Stava, Staff Writer: Absolutely. It was a stress-free weekend of watching College Football with Mizzou on their bye week — and the Tigers got a little help with Ole Miss losing to Kentucky and Utah losing to Arizona. Plus, the Georgia-Alabama game certainly lived up to the hype.

The hope of moving to a 12-team College Football Playoff model is that more teams would have a shot. Five weeks into this new “era,” how do you feel like things are shaping up for the CFP committee?

Josh Matejka: Complicated, which is good! If the goal of the new format was to get fans from more programs invested in the end-game of the season, mission accomplished.

Quentin Corpuel: This is about as good as a 12-team optimist could’ve hoped for. Per Bill Connelly, 44 teams currently have at least a 3% chance at a playoff bid according to SP+. Better yet, it feels like every team is beatable; Alabama’s early dominance against Georgia, subsequent collapse and late-game revival was a perfect example. I’m not ready to proclaim that the era of a Death Star college football team is over, but the sport feels a lot closer to it right now than arguably ever before in the modern era.

Chad Moller: I wasn’t over the moon to see the 12-team playoff come about, my concern was that it would diminish the importance of regular season games, much like in hoops, where all you have to do is get into the tournament and then get hot. But I do like the concept now and agree that it does give more fan bases hope longer into the season. If we had the old four-team system this year, would Mizzou’s chances of getting in be very likely? Probably not, and you’d be looking at this Saturday’s game at A&M as a pseudo-elimination game. The CFP committee will be under such scrutiny this first time around, they’ll have to be buttoned up. I know that Coach Pinkel has been hard at work watching as many games as possible to be fully informed on all of the teams in contention for at-large bids.

Sammy Stava: A lot of teams entering Week 6 of the season still have a shot at the College Football Playoff, and I think that’s great for the sport. This game at Texas A&M on Saturday has massive CFP implications for Mizzou. The best thing is — a loss in College Station wouldn’t eliminate the Tigers at all. Though, a win would go a long way in making them a near-lock, I’d say.

Eli Drinkwitz said the team had a lot to work on during their week off from game day. If Mizzou is able to clean up one thing from their first four performances, it should be _______.

Josh Matejka: Brady Cook’s confidence. This is more of a subjective thing, but Cook hasn’t looked comfortable behind center since Mizzou’s 38-0 win over Buffalo. He’s missing easy dump-offs, doesn’t look comfortable throwing to the center of the field and is even a little less decisive in the run game. Whether he’s carrying an injury or doesn’t quite trust his new line yet, getting Cook back to normal should have been priority numero uno this past week.

Quentin Corpuel: Explosive passing plays. Efficiency is super cool and awesome…to an extent. The best teams are able to take the lid off of defenses; that hasn’t quite happened yet for the Tigers.

Chad Moller: I’ll echo Quentin and go one step further: explosive plays on BOTH sides of the ball. The lack of explosives on offense are well-documented, but so has been the defense’s predisposition to allowing big plays. The Tigers have to find a way to take pressure off the offense by getting chunk yardage, and the defense has to stop with the mental errors that allow free runners behind the secondary. It hasn’t been enough to cost Mizzou a game. Yet.

Sammy Stava: Missouri just needs to be “crisper” and “cleaner” on offense. Once their able to hit that big passing play I think the offense will open up a bit. While they need to be more explosive on offense, more importantly they will need to cut the penalties down and be more discipline — especially heading into their first road game of the season.

Texas A&M is often thought of as the more high status program between itself and Mizzou, but the Tigers have arguably been the better team since moving to the SEC. Where do you think A&M stands in this new look SEC that just added two more old Big XII rivals?

Josh Matejka: Maybe I’m an A&M pessimist — and that’s no personal slight against a program that I don’t have strong feelings toward one way or another — but I still struggle to see how they’re going to break into the top tier of the conference long-term. They have the facilities, the resources and the fan support… but for some reason they still haven’t put it together. Adding Texas, whose shadow A&M worked to get out of 12 years ago, to a conference that already includes blue bloods like Alabama, Georgia and LSU doesn’t make it any easier. Programs like Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee are elevating, while Auburn and Florida still feeling like sleeping giants. That’s a lot to climb over for a program that’s starting over for a third time in its SEC history.

Quentin Corpuel: I think Texas A&M will remain in the upper half for a long time. The Aggies have certainly disappointed in several seasons since joining the SEC in 2012, but I’d like to think Mike Elko will have even better teams than this season’s.

Chad Moller: A&M is still trying to raise their level of play to match that of their fan base’s entitlement. They’ve had a couple moments since joining the SEC, but overall I’m sure in an honest moment, most Aggie fans would admit they’ve underachieved overall. I know they weren’t a huge fan of adding Oklahoma and Texas, because they were really pleased to be free and clear of the Longhorns – similar to how a lot of Mizzou fans felt about leaving the Big 12 and getting away from that “school” to the West with the ridiculous imaginary mascot. The overall narrative in College Station is positive right now, but I think they’ll have to give Elko some time to build back better.

Sammy Stava: Texas A&M always has high expectations — but they never met those under Jimbo Fisher. Oklahoma and Texas joining the league only makes it tougher for the Aggies to consistently compete at a high level in this conference. However, this program is heading in the right direction under Mike Elko.

PICK ‘EM! Mizzou is a ‘dog for the first time in the 2024 season, though the close line shows that Vegas sees this as a true toss up. Does Mizzou stay unblemished? If so, who comes up big in College Station?

Josh Matejka: I wrote earlier this week that the trip to College Station is a ‘Something to Prove’ game for the Tigers, even if its just to themselves. The Tigers are a better team than the Aggies; the numbers bear that out, even if Mizzou hasn’t looked particularly strong as of late. But the only numbers that matter at the end of the game are the ones on either side of the scoreboard.

I personally don’t feel comfortable picking the Tigers in this one. I think they’ll come out of the gates looking stronger than they did against Boston College and Vanderbilt, but Kyle Field is a hell of a test for a team that has yet to cohere in four home games. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Missouri walk away from A&M with a win, but I think the Tigers need to face another level of adversity before they can get to their very best. I say the Aggies win a close one, 27-24.

Quentin Corpuel: I tabbed this game as a loss before the season, and I’ll stick with it here after four games. Texas A&M’s front four is unlike anything Mizzou has seen so far, and there’s certainly a universe where Marcel Reed tears it up on the ground. If Mizzou can’t sustain drives over the air and the run game can’t supplement missed opportunities over the air, it’s likely that the loss column is filled for the first time this season.

Chad Moller: I think the Tigers will rise to the level they need this Saturday. Going on the road for the first time and having it be at Kyle Field isn’t ideal certainly, but this is the circumstance where the veteran nature of the offense needs to filter through the noise. I have faith that Drink and the coaching staff will have some fresh looks dialed up and that the team will rally around the underdog mentality. This game is crucial for the Tigers and their hopes for the playoff, so my hope is we’ll see them playing with their hair on fire.

Sammy Stava: I feel confident going into this game, but yet again I predicted before the season that Mizzou would go 10-2 with losses to Texas A&M and Alabama. I won’t change that now.

Different story if this game was in Columbia. I’ll say Texas A&M wins 24-20 in a highly competitive game. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.