Mizzou Nike Uniform Combination: October 10, 2015

Mizzou Football breaks out the classic black on gold combination for the 104th Homecoming game in The ZOU!

Mizzou Honoring Aaron O’Neal

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Mizzou set to honor former LB who passed away 10 years ago

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football and Mizzou Athletics are set to celebrate the life of former Mizzou linebacker Aaron O’Neal on Saturday, October 10, 2015 during the Homecoming Game vs. Florida at 6:30 p.m. While pursuing his dream of playing college football, Aaron’s dream died tragically on the afternoon of July 12, 2005, when he passed away following a voluntary workout with his teammates. While the pain of Aaron’s loss will dwell indefinitely, his memory and spirit will live on forever at Mizzou. Aaron’s engaging smile, his selfless nature and his warm friendship will never be forgotten, and it is all of those things that will be celebrated with his entire family and the Mizzou family during Saturday’s game.

Aaron was a redshirt freshman linebacker heading into the 2005 season, with much promise to his future. He redshirted in 2004 after coming to Mizzou from Parkway North High School in St. Louis, Mo., where he was a four-sport standout student-athlete. He earned Class 5 all-state honors as a running back as a senior, when he rushed for 1,562 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also earned all-metro, all-conference and all-district honors, as well as his team’s offensive MVP honor as a junior, when he ran for 1,207 yards and 14 TDs. Aaron had 800 yards and 9 rushing TDs in just four games as a sophomore, including a school-record 254-yard outing against Webster Groves, and he left his school owning virtually all of Parkway North’s career rushing and scoring records. An outstanding all-around athlete, Aaron also excelled in basketball, track and baseball at Parkway North, and was part of the team which finished 4th in the 2003 state baseball championships. His high school football coach was Bob Bunton. He was the son of Lonnie and Deborah O’Neal.

O’Neal may be gone, but he has not been forgotten by anyone in the Mizzou community and his memory lives on with Gary Pinkel and the program 10 years later.

Gary Pinkel has done his best to help the program remember O’Neal, the man with the ‘million-dollar smile’ as he was renowned. Every year, a linebacker will wear O’Neal’s #25. Currently, that bestowment belongs to sophomore LB Donavin Newsom; he will wear it for the remainder of his career and pass along to another St. Louis LB. Newsom, just like O’Neal, graduated from Parkway North High School in St. Louis, Mo.

For all the latest on Mizzou Football, follow the team on Twitter and like us on Instagram and Facebook.

Mizzou Tiger Talk

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Head Coach Gary Pinkel sat down with the voice of Mizzou Tigers, Mike Kelly, at Buffalo Wild Wings on Monday, October 5 in Columbia, Missouri for Tiger Talk. This week’s segment featured Mizzou Football Senior Cornerback Kenya Dennis and Sophomore Wide Receiver Nate Brown.

 

The Law of the Price Tag

The Team Fails to Reach Its Potential When It Fails to Pay the Price

If a team fails to reach its full potential, rarely is it a matter of resources or an issue of ability. It is almost always a payment issue. A team does not reach its full potential unless it is willing to pay the price of giving 100 percent.

The Law of the Price Tag is a complex idea that is misunderstood by many. Here are the four elements of this law of sacrifice:

1. The price must be paid by everyone

In order to be a member of a team, you have to make sacrifice. The team doesn’t reject individual accomplishment; rather, it empowers personal contributions. People who have not been a part of a winning team often fail to realize that every team member must pay a price.

The “price” that must be paid is not the hard work of the team leaders. I believe that some people on a team think that if others put in the effort, they can coast along with their group victories—this mindset is never true. If everyone does not pay the price to win, then everyone will pay the price by losing.

2. The price must be paid all the time 

There is a condition called “destination disease,” and many people show the symptoms. Some individuals mistakenly believe that if they accomplish a particular goal, they no longer have to grow or improve. This mindset can apply to everything, not just athletics: earning a degree, reaching a desired position at work, or receiving a particular award. However, the day they meet their destination is the day they stop growing and forfeit their potential—and the potential of their peers. It convinces us that we can stop working, stop striving, and stop paying the price yet still reach our potential.

Destination disease is as dangerous for a team as it is for any individual. It is crucial to remember that there is no other price for success than hard work itself. President Dwight D. Eisenhower knew this truth, which is why he said, “There are no victories at bargain prices.” If you want to reach your potential, you can never let up, no matter what happens.

3. The price increases if the team wants to improve, change, or keep winning

Becoming a champion has a high price, but remaining on top requires even more sacrifice. How many companies stay at the top of Forbes magazine’s lists for a decade? How many back-to-back Super Bowl champions are there? There are very few because the higher you are, the more you have to pay to make improvements, no matter how small.

If you want to improve and run your race at a faster pace, you must pay by training harder and smarter. You may not think working harder than you are in the present moment is possible, but if you want to remain at the top, it is the recipe for success. This same principle applies to teams. To improve, change, or keep winning, as a group the team must pay a price, and so must the individuals.

4. The price never decreases

When most people quit during a challenge, they don’t give up at the beginning, but stop halfway. Nobody sets out on a mission with the purpose of losing; the bigger problem is the mindset they foster during the challenge. There is a mistaken belief that a time will come when success will miraculously get easier. The truth is that life rarely works that way. There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.

There are two kinds of teams who violate the Law of the Price Tag: those who don’t realize the price of success, and those who know the price but are not willing to pay it.

Living up to the Law of the Price Tag requires the following “costs”:

  • Sacrifice: This word is used a good deal in regards to the Law of the Price Tag because it is such a crucial element for success. When you become part of a team, you may be aware of the things you will have to give up. But you should know that, at some point, you will be required to give more—that is the nature of teamwork. A team only gets to the top by the blood, sweat, and sacrifice of its team members.
  • Time Commitment: Teamwork does not come with the jersey. It costs time. It takes time to get to know your team and learn how to work together with mutual trust and respect.
  • Personal Development: Your team will reach its potential if you reach your full potential. That desire to keep striving, to keep getting better, is a key to your own ability and character, but it is also crucial for the progress of your team.
  • Unselfishness: Mankind naturally looks out for his own self-interests. The question “What’s in it for me?” is never far from anyone’s thoughts. But if a team is to reach its full potential, its players must put the team’s needs ahead of their own.

The rewards of teamwork can be great, but there is always a cost. Only by embracing the Law of the Price Tag can a team reach its full potential.

Mizzou 24, South Carolina 10

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – Drew Lock threw two touchdown passes in his first career start, and Russell Hansbrough became the sixth 2,000-yard rusher of the Gary Pinkel era as Mizzou coasted to a 24-10 win over South Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. The win was the sixth straight game, going back to the Citrus Bowl win over Minnesota, that the Tigers have held their opponents to 21 or fewer points. That’s the longest such streak for the Tigers dating back to the 2006 season.

The defense pitched a shutout in the second half with the help of three interceptions and four first-half sacks. Walter Brady matched his career-best output with two of those sacks, along with one of the picks. Kentrell Brothers, the nation’s leading tackler, continued his stellar season with another seven tackles (1.5 TFL, including an assisted sack).

In the first-ever matchup of true-freshman quarterbacks in SEC history, the Tigers (4-1, 1-1 SEC) got on board first when Lock drove Mizzou down 51 yards on 11 plays, capped off with an 8-yard pass to Nate Brown.

After the two teams traded field goals midway through the first half, the Gamecocks tied the game at 10 on a bit of a fluky play. With 9:20 left in the first half, Aarion Penton was in position to intercept Lorenzo Nuñez at the goal line, but it appeared that Pharoah Cooper knocked the ball out of Penton’s hands. As the ball fell toward the turf near the 2, Shon Carson scooped in and snatched the ball out of the air for the score.

On its next drive, Mizzou pulled away to stay when Lock found Brown in the right corner of the South end zone. Brown finished the game with 33 yards on a team-high-tying six catches to go with the pair of scores.

The last of the three takeaways set the Tigers up with a short field thanks to Brady’s inteception return. Lock led the Tigers down for another scoring drive, resulting in a one-yard Ish Witter rushing TD.

The Gamecocks (2-3, 0-3 SEC) only had the ball twice the rest of the way, and Mizzou killed the last 6:42 of the game for its sixth consecutive win in The ZOU.

Watch #MizzouMade Tigers in the NFL: Week Four

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Sunday, Oct. 4- 8:30 a.m.

Sunday, Oct. 4- 12:00 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 4- 3:25 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 4- 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 5- 7:30 p.m.

Mizzou Nike Uniform Combination: October 3, 2015

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Mizzou Football returns to The ZOU for the annual gold rush game in the exclusive Nike combination of gold jerseys, anthracite pants, and glossy black tiger helmet. Be at the Tiger Walk Bridge at 8:30am to greet the team! For all the latest on Mizzou Football follow the team on Twitter and like us on Instagram and Facebook.