COLUMBIA, Mo. -- After an emotional embrace with son Garyt and a raucous locker room celebration with his team, Missouri's Barry Odom collected himself once he got in front of reporters Saturday night at Florida.
His mind shifted away from his first victory over a ranked opponent and ahead to Vanderbilt. The Commodores had an open date Saturday.
"They got a jump on us," he said. "We've got to put this behind us and go to work."
That's been Missouri's charge each of the past two years when the calendar flips to November. With Saturday's 38-17 win over the Gators, ranked No. 11 in the College Football Playoff rankings at kickoff, Odom's November record improved to 7-2.
The Tigers (5-4, 1-4 Southeastern Conference) take a six-game November winning streak into Saturday's 11 a.m. visit from the Commodores (4-5, 1-4).
Why the late-season surges under Odom? The schedules play a role. The Tigers' conference slate has been frontloaded in recent years. Odom is 5-1 against MU's three remaining opponents: Vandy, Tennessee and Arkansas. But to the credit of the coach and his teams, they've been at their best when backed into a corner late in the year. In 2016, once the Tigers had already been eliminated from bowl eligibility, the y pulled out wins over Vandy and Arkansas, both bowl teams that season. Last year, when all seemed lost after a 1-5 start, the Tigers swept their final six regular-season games, including all four November SEC games.
Drew Lock has been the Tigers' quarterback in every November game since 2015. By November, only a handful of teams are playing for championship stakes. That factors into how teams perform in the regular seasons' final month, he said.
"I think it's a mindset," Lock said Saturday. "It's mental toughness, adversity, pushing through it. (Odom) has preached that to us since he became the head coach here. Teams have a weird mindset when you get into November. If you think you should have been in the College Football Playoffs and you're not, can't get in it, or you think you should be in the SEC championship game, a lot of teams just lay down. Whatever team comes in that's the most physical, toughest team, they're going to win those games in November."
Mizzou was mired in another middling season when it arrived in Florida last weekend, though Odom has insisted in recent weeks the Tigers are better than their record. Two of their four losses came to No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia (Georgia is now No. 5), while the other losses came on their opponent's final play, with two seconds left at South Carolina and zero time left against Kentucky. The Wildcats scored the go-ahead touchdown on an untimed down, the result of a disputed pass interference penalty called against Mizzou on the final play of regulation.
"We lost to No. 1, we lost to No. 2," Odom said Saturday. "Then two drives in two games (against South Carolina, Kentucky). I still think we're a pretty good team. I've been telling our team that we have to go do it. You've got to find a way in a tough game. They're all going to come down to the fourth quarter when you prepare the right way."
The Tigers could face a desperate Vanderbilt team Saturday. The Commodores have played Notre Dame and Kentucky close, but Derek Mason's team must win two of three from Mizzou, Ole Miss and Tennessee to secure bowl eligibility. Otherwise, Mason will have failed to deliver a bowl season in four of his five years in Nashville. The Tigers are early 15-point favorites.
After Vandy, Mizzou plays the 2:30 p.m. CBS game at Tennessee on Nov. 17. While the Volunteers (4-5, 1-4) have a surprising win at Auburn they're still in major rebuild mode under first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt. The same goes for struggling Arkansas (2-7, 0-5) under first-year coach Chad Morris. For the Tigers, the path is clear for an 8-4 finish and a trip to one the SEC's group of six bowls: Outback, Gator, Belk, Music City, Texas or Liberty. But, first things first. After recovering from a crushing loss in one week, Odom has the opposite challenge this week. But it's November, his favorite month.