A loss that night might have crippled Bob Simmons' regime. A loss to a I-AA team would have been no way to build for the future. Instead, OSU survived and now has Miller to preach the gospel that I-AA opponents foam at the mouth to play a Big 12 school. Miller says pride comes in many packages. Like Evander Holyfield and Archie Moore before him, players play harder when they step up a class.
Coaches coach harder.
Miller says he started working on OSU in January '96 and figures Simmons wasn't too worked up about Southwest Missouri State until the witching hour. You don't want to look poorly. Plus, I-AA teams often have secret weapons. Miller's '96 Southwest Missouri team had two offensive tackles still on NFL rosters. The '99 Southwest Texas squad had three players taken in the NFL draft.