Missouri returns from bye, gets Kentucky

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Fishing, video games, going home. The bye week came at a perfect time for a Missouri team eager for a breather from a winless start in the SEC.

If only they could do this more often.

"We could use a bye week every other week, in my opinion," receiver T.J. Moe said.

Usually, the break comes in late September or early October after the team feasts on non-conference opponents. But this year, Missouri (3-4, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) limped in after a bevy of injuries.

"We needed it," coach Gary Pinkel said.

Still searching for its first SEC victory as a member of the league, Missouri on Saturday will host Kentucky (1-7, 0-5), which has seen its own share of injuries and is on a six-game losing streak.

While players relaxed, coaches did anything but.

In addition to recruiting, they evaluated the self-inflicted mistakes that have plagued this year's team. Pinkel was adamant there would be no wholesale adjustments made during the break.

"Our bye week schedule's our bye week schedule," he said. "We don't put in brand-new offenses, brand-new defenses. We don't change the way we lift weights. We don't change the way we practice. We're very consistent. What we do works."

Missouri entered the SEC with 48 wins in its last five seasons, and that prior success is why Moe thinks the onus is on the players to execute better, and not necessarily the playbook.

"[Pinkel's] got some credibility," Moe said. "Look at some of the teams he's had in the past. It's not like he's coming out and saying the system works and he's only winning three or four games a year."

Near the midpoint of 2011, the Tigers were 3-4 in the Big 12, but strung together four wins in their final five regular-season games to extend their bowl streak to seven. Now in the SEC, they will have to win at least one game on the road against No. 3 Florida, Tennessee or No. 22 Texas A&M to be eligible for the postseason.

Having been outscored 133-55 in their first four conference games, players know the odds are against them.

The job only gets more difficult without starting quarterback James Franklin, who will likely miss his second consecutive game nursing a strained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. The team will decide today if Franklin will be able to play, but he hasn't run since being injured in the first quarter against Vanderbilt on Oct. 6.

Offensive coordinator Dave Yost said the team is planning for redshirt freshman Corbin Berkstresser to make his third career start after he completed 12 of 29 passes against Alabama for 126 yards and two interceptions. However, the quarterback will benefit from the return of starting center Mitch Morse, who missed one game with a sprained MCL.

With a losing record, a daunting upcoming schedule and inexperienced players, it would be easy to look at returning to the grind of the season as a chore. But after a week of living somewhat normally, the Tigers are far from ready to give up.

"Football's fun," Moe said. "You can't worry about all the different stuff that's going on. You can try to fix it. But that's the fun in it. If everything went perfect all the time, it'd probably get kind of boring."