COLUMBIA, Mo. — The sight of Nos. 7 and 81 jogging onto the practice field Wednesday morning should have subdued nearly 48 hours of dread that spread statewide and beyond.
Tiger fans could put down the prayer cards, take a deep breath and resume their regularly scheduled August of hope and dreams. The season would not capsize before it left the dock.
It was late in Monday’s practice when Bryant and Okwuegbunam, possibly the team’s two most important players, left the practice field with leg injuries within a few plays of each other. They were carted off to the team facility for further testing, leaving coach Barry Odom to express some vague optimism that neither injury was serious.