Mizzou 40, Texas A&M 26

[BenNX74205]

This was one hard-fought game. Mizzou jumped out to a 24-9 lead entering halftime, but the Aggies did not give in. They scored a touchdown on their first possession of the second half, and then knocked the ball out of Chase Daniel's hand and recovered the fumble. That turnover led to 3 points, and Mizzou was forced to punt on the ensuing possession.

In the 3rd quarter, Mizzou only had the ball for 5 minutes, and did not score any points. The Aggies were barreling over the Mizzou defense and got into the red zone, but the Tigers came up with a big sack on third down to make it something like 4th and 14, forcing the Aggies to "settle" for 3 points. Too bad nobody told their kicker, who pushed the attempt wide right. Missouri the got its offense back on track and scored on a short run by Jimmie Jackson. A&M quickly responded with a 40 yard touchdown pass, and with 7 and change left in the game the Aggies were down 31-26.

But Missouri beared down and got it done when it mattered. Daniel took the Tigers 80 yards, hooking up with Maclin for a touchdown pass after taking over four minutes off the clock (a molassas-paced drive for the Tigers). With a 12 point lead, the Aggies started on their own 10 yard line, and on the first play of that drive Lorenzo Williams sacked Stephen McGee for a safety, and setting the final margin of victory at 40-26.

The Tigers are now 9-1, and they found a way to win this game when Tiger teams of the past would probably have suffered a let down. This is the first time the Tigers have been 9-1 since the Nixon administration. Next up is a K-State team that was throttled by Nebraska, which dropped 73 points on them. Depending on how Kansas fares against Oklahoma State (and Illinois does against Ohio State), the Missouri Tigers could be a top 5 team. Anybody else excited?

Go Tigers!

[JCShutout]

Sloppy win, but I'll take it as long as Maclin isn't injured.

[BenNX74205]

Sloppy win, but I'll take it as long as Maclin isn't injured.

Yeah, I think he'll be fine. There wasn't a need for him to come back in at that point in the game, but I'm hoping he'll be alright.

I think that this was a sloppy game, but you need to be able to pull out wins in games like this. The early safety where the snap got caught in the wind was unfortunate, but I think the perception of sloppiness stems mostly from the 3rd quarter, wheren MU lost a fumble and had to punt. But they only had those two possessions and A&M ran the ball effectivley and held it for like 10 minutes.

MU did still roll up 555 total yards of offense, including over 200 rushing yards. Tony Temple led the way with 140 rushing yards. It's great to see that Mizzou can run the ball as well as spread it all over the field through the air.

Right now Illinois is running neck and neck with Ohio State right now. To close out the first half, the Illini score their third touchdown of the game and head to the locker room ahead 21-14 in Columbus. If Ohio State loses (still a big "if" at this point in the game), then the National Title is completley up for grabs. Between this game, and Kansas playing later tonight, you better grab some popcorn.