A 7-0 start. A quarterback change. Numerous down-to-the-wire finishes.
And an SEC Championship.
Yes, in just two seasons at Missouri, the Tigers have climbed to the top of the SEC, in perhaps one of the more thrilling comebacks and finishes in the history of conference championship games.
More on that in just a minute.
But this year's Missouri team was on a roll. The Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 start and were sitting atop the SEC East halfway through the year.
Well, it should've been 6-1. The Tigers traveled to the Carrier Dome to take on Syracuse for the most ridiculous game of all time.
The Orange led 41-14 near the end of the third quarter when head coach Calvin Smith had enough of sophomore quarterback Maty Mauk's terrible throwing ability. The defense couldn't stop quarterback John Kinder, who threw for 512 yards (yes, you read that right) and five touchdowns.
Smith put in junior quarterback Corbin Berkstresser to light a spark. Back-to-back touchdowns cut the lead to 41-28 early in the fourth quarter, but Syracuse answered immediately with a touchdown of their own. Then the Tigers responded, and held the Orange to a field goal to make it 51-35 with 3:43 to go.
Berkstresser hit Sean Culkin for a 19-yard touchdown to cut the lead to eight after the two-point conversion. After getting a rare stop on defense, Berkstresser found Bud Sasser for an 8-yard touchdown to cut the lead to two, but the 2-point conversion was no good.
Then came the onside kick, which bounced much further than it should've. But Mizzou recovered it, drove down to field goal range and stole a victory, 52-51.
Smith named Berkstresser the starting quarterback. Even though the Tigers lost to South Carolina the following week, the offense was more in rhythm than with Mauk and his 11-touchdown, 15-interception half season.
Berkstresser was named the Tigers' new captain and threw 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions the rest of the way.
Week 13 was the biggest game in Missouri's three years in the SEC. A matchup with No. 17 Florida with the winner going to the SEC Championship against Texas A&M.
Down 26-20 with 2:51 left, Mizzou marched down with ease, as Henry Josey scored the eventual game-winning touchdown with 1:20 to go.
Mizzou won 27-26, and before they could stamp its ticket to Atlanta to play Texas A&M, they had to play on Senior Day ... against Texas A&M. Johnny Manziel dominated, as the now-senior went on to win his second Heisman Trophy with the Aggies. Again, this is a videogame.
The Aggies won 55-45 at Faurot Field, and the rematch was set in Atlanta. Texas A&M went into the game ranked No. 1 in the country, and the only way Mizzou was getting a BCS berth was it had to beat these same Aggies.
Now, for the recap of the greatest SEC Championship Game of all time.
2014 SEC Championship
FINAL
No. 9 Missouri - 49
No. 1 Texas A&M - 48
TOP PERFORMERS
Berkstresser (Mizz): 28-of-40, 480 yards, 6 TD, 5 INT
Manziel (A&M): 22-of-34, 202 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Josey (Mizz): 21 carries, 127 yards
Williams (A&M): 14 carries, 105 yards, 1 TD
Green-Beckham (Mizz): 9 catches, 203 yards, 2 TD
Larson (Mizz): 8 catches, 119 yards, 2 TD
Reese (Mizz): 6 catches, 113 yards
Sasser (Mizz): 3 catches, 35 yards, 2 TD
RECAP
In two years, head coach Calvin Smith has done the impossible. Missouri is the king of the SEC.
And just like the Tigers have done the last two seasons, they didn't make it easy on themselves.
Down by 17 points with 4:39 remaining in what head coach Calvin Smith called the greatest conference championship game of all time, junior Corbin Berkstresser threw three touchdowns, including the game winner to receiver Bud Sasser with one second remaining as the Tigers won their first ever SEC Championship, 49-48 over Texas A&M.
"Am I allowed to cry?" Smith said. "If I can, I'm about to ball like a little baby. That was awesome."
The Tigers were able to do what no one predicted they'd do at the beginning of the year, or let alone this season. They got a fair shot at the SEC title against the same Texas A&M team that ran them out of Faurot Field two weeks before.
It was deja vu for about three and a half quarters.
The Aggies took a 45-28 lead with 4:39 to go on Johnny Manziel's second touchdown pass of the game. Berkstresser, who threw five interceptions on Saturday, was still in the game at quarterback for the Tigers.
"I told him after the first two picks that he needed to stay calm," Smith said. "Then after the next three, I just said, 'F*** it. Let's wing it.' Boy, did Corbin wing it."
An Aggies field goal gave Texas A&M some insurance, but Berkstresser threw two touchdown passes in two minutes to cut the lead to 48-42. After a failed onside kick, the Aggies recovered and decided to put the game away on a 56-yard field goal with less than a minute to go.
But the kick was far off to the right, and Missouri took over at the 39-yard line with no timeouts and less than a minute to go.
"I almost damn near had a heart attack when they brought out the kicking team," Berkstresser said. "I was praying for another chance, and I was going to give it to my guys."
With no timeouts, Berkstresser led the Tigers down the field in a fury, and with one second to go, hit Sasser on a slant route in the end zone to cap off the improbable comeback.
Berkstresser finished the day with seven total touchdowns (six passing and one rushing) to go along with those seven interceptions. But the junior quarterback who was given the job for this very reason said he could care less about the picks.
"It doesn't matter," he said. "We're SEC Champs, and we knocked off the best team in college football. I'm happy with that alone."
The Tigers jumped to No. 3 in the latest BCS rankings. It's a tale of 'What could've been' if the outcome was the same on Senior Day. Nevertheless, the win also knocked the Aggies from No. 1 to No. 4.
Which means, for the second year in a row, the Tigers played spoilers in the Aggies' quest for a big-time game. Last year it was a BCS bowl, Now, the National Championship.
And for the first time in program history, the Tigers will represent their conference as an automatic qualifier in a BCS game. Mizzou's reward is a date in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against No. 7 Arizona.
The Aggies, meanwhile, will play in the Fiesta Bowl against the Mountain West's champions, San Diego State.
"It's rare to play spoiler so much, no matter where you're at," Smith said. "Our biggest rivals have been shafted the last two years. I almost feel sorry for them."
The Wildcats are 10-2 heading into the Sugar Bowl, but the strength of schedule they possess is nowhere near good enough for BCS consideration. They did beat six bowl-eligible teams, but the only ranked team Arizona played was a 46-42 loss to Pac-12 champion USC.
Rich Rodriguez will lead his squad into New Orleans with sophomore quarterback Anu Solomon at the helm and his group of senior wide receivers, and senior running back Ka'Deem Carey.
"I'm just proud of what we've all done here in two years," Smith said. "Our goal when we came here was to make this program as successful as can be, and make players want to come here. I think we've done that. Now it's time to finish the job."
Notable Bowl Games
As I looked through the bowl schedule, my first word was ... "Huh???"
Yours will be, too.
MAACO Bowl Las Vegas
Stanford vs. Fresno State
GoDaddy.com Bowl
Ohio vs. No. 13 Notre Dame
Chick-fil-A Bowl
No. 18 South Carolina vs. No. 22 Clemson
(Rematch of final game of regular season. Gamecocks took down No. 4 Tigers, knocked them out of BCS contention. Clemson lost ACC Title game.)
Outback Bowl
No. 10 Ole Miss vs. No. 14 Michigan
Capital One Bowl
No. 15 Florida vs. No. 20 Wisconsin
Rose Bowl
No. 5 Oklahoma (At-Large) vs. No. 12 USC (AQ)
(Classic-style bowl rematch)
Fiesta Bowl
No. 4 Texas A&M (At-Large) vs. No. 19 San Diego State (AQ)
Orange Bowl
No. 11 Georgia Tech (AQ) vs. No. 6 Louisiana Lafayette (At-Large)
(Yes, you read that right. The Rajun' Cajuns are in a BCS game.)
BCS National Championship
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 2 Ohio State
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