Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III made it clear how high the expectations are in Columbia this season for the 11th-ranked Tigers.
“What I’m trying to do this year that I haven’t done,” he said, “is win the big national championship.”
This is a big change from last year when the Tigers were focused on making sure Eli Drinkwitz kept his job.
But after Burden, quarterback Brady Cook, and a strong defense helped the team win 11 games, beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, and finish eighth in the final AP Top 25, the program’s outlook has changed.
Drinkwitz and offensive coordinator Kirby Moore now have new contracts, many starters are returning this season—including Burden, who is a Heisman Trophy candidate and a potential first-round NFL draft pick—and the goal is now to compete for an SEC championship.
Or even more, to make a run in the playoffs.
“Last year our motto formed into ‘something to prove.’ I’m sure you guys have heard it. We lived by it,” Cook said. “And we still do. Although we had a good year last year and accomplished a few things, we still have to go out and prove it this year.
“For the guys that came back, for the team we have now, 2024 is all that matters,” he continued. “That’s the record that’s going to be talked about.
These are the games that are going to be talked about. No one is going to talk about the Cotton Bowl versus Ohio State moving forward. It’s in the past. It’s in the history books.” In other words, it’s time for the Tigers to make some more history.
They haven’t played for a conference championship in a decade, when then-coach Gary Pinkel’s team lost to Alabama for the SEC title. They haven’t won a league championship since 1969, when Dan Devine was the coach.
Those are the kinds of goals Missouri has for this season.
