In the bowels of Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday night, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel presented the stiffest of upper lips to media types after the 21-13 loss at Kentucky.
“This will not define us,” Pinkel promised. “We talked about this back in August. If and when adversity strikes — and it’s going to strike — we have a plan in place how to deal with it.”
There is nothing elaborate about that plan, as Pinkel described it. Everybody will keep working hard and the coaching staff will remain positive.
But that is getting more difficult all the time.