The most misleading stat of Missouri’s 2018 football season is 4-1. That was the Tigers’ record in games tight end Albert Okwuegbunam didn’t finish. The 2017 Freshman All-American suffered a shoulder injury in the first half at Florida on Nov. 3. It was not described as a season-ending injury — until the season officially ended and he hadn’t returned.
Up until the day before the Liberty Bowl, nearly two months later, Mizzou toyed with the idea that Okwuegbunam would return at some point. Of course, that never happened. The staff was especially coy about the status of his shoulder and not until the spring was it revealed that Okwuegbunam actually broke his scapula, an injury the team said didn’t require surgery, only rest and rehab.