You can't possibly expect me to stick to a single topic after I spent Thanksgiving weekend shoving a variety of meats, vegetables, and pies into my mouth.
That's my excuse anyway for a segmented version of our weekly rendezvous.
BARRETT BOOSTERS
"Dude, I'm going to win this game for you."
That's what Missouri quarterback Brady Cook said about Barrett Banister, senior receiver and team captain who missed Friday's game with Arkansas because of an injury. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz also made reference in the postgame press conference about Banister, who arrived at Missouri as a walk-on from Fayetteville.
"That trophy means a hell of a lot to him, and our team," Drinkwitz said of the Border Line trophy that goes to the winner of the Arkansas-Missouri series, which now stands 7-2 in Missouri's favor in SEC games.
More importantly, Missouri became bowl eligible with the win, which means Banister will have a final game to play.
Banister developed into a reliable receiver for the Tigers, especially on third downs when he helped move the chains with his catches. With one game to go, Banister has 129 career catches for 1,215 yards and two touchdowns.
He was also an All-Academic performer who graduated last spring and had enough time to get married somewhere along the way. Oh, and he's also up for the Burlsworth Award that goes to an elite player who began his college career as a walk-on.
Whatever disappointment you have with Arkansas' loss Friday, you have to be thrilled for Banister, a true-student athlete who turned his disappointment in not being pursued by his hometown team into a really solid career in the SEC.
LET 'EM PLAY, REF!
Woody Hayes famously said years ago three things can happen when you pass and two of them are bad.
I hate to disagree with ol' Woody, but that assertion is no longer applicable in today's game. Four things can happen when you pass and only two of them are bad, which gives you a much better chance for a favorable outcome.
No. 1 -- Incomplete pass.
No. 2 -- Pass intercepted.
No. 3 -- Pass completed.
No. 4 -- Fling the ball downfield and hope referee throws a flag for pass interference, which they often do.
I've long complained about flag-happy officials who make playing in the secondary almost impossible. Another example came in the finals seconds of Florida State's 45-38 win over rival Florida late Friday night. Florida was faced with fourth down-and-18 when the Gators were bailed out by a referee following a long throw in tight coverage. Even the ESPN play-by-play man argued against the call.
"You don't make that call on fourth down, especially in a rivalry game," he said.
Florida's attempt at a comeback failed despite being handed an extra opportunity by a bad call in the secondary.
Just throwing the ball up and hoping for a pass interference call from a referee was not designed to be included in the offensive playbook. It just wasn't.
So, again I plead, let 'em play, ref!
HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW
We've long been used to the coaching carousel that begins to spin wildly this time of year with coaches taking new jobs and coaches leaving or being fired from old jobs.
The movement among players will be vastly more frenzied with the recent introduction of the transfer portal, college football's equivalent to NFL free agency. Before they go, there should be a large banner placed in the locker room that shows nearly half of the players who decide to leave are unable to find a new place to play. That's according to the NCAA Transfer Portal Database that showed 42 percent of the 1,427 players at the FBS level who left did not find a new home equivalent to the school they had just left.
What's the old saying? The artificial surface is not always greener on the other side? Yea, I think that's it. Exactly it.
MORE MUSINGS
The less I hear Jim Harbaugh speak, the more I like Michigan. .... I'm happy for Bret Bielema, a Midwestern guy back in his element at Illinois. Bielema has done more in two years at Illinois (12-11) than former coach Lovie Dovey Smith did in five years (17-39) with the Illini. ..... Former Fayetteville quarterback Taylor Powell threw 3 touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead Eastern Michigan past Central Michigan to ensure the Eagles' first 8-win season since 1987. That likely means a bowl game appearance for Powell, who began his college career at Missouri along with Fayetteville High School teammates Barrett Banister and Akial Byers.