Mizzou returns two INTs for TDs in win over Texas Tech

 

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Chase Daniel turned Mizzou's offense back on. Missouri had a commanding 24-0 lead in the second quarter, but allowed the Red Raiders to score three unanswered TDs before the Tigers put them away. Gameball goes to... Tony Temple. Mizzou's running back put the nail in Tech's coffin with an 8-yard touchdown jaunt in the fourth quarter. Temple finished with two TDs on 18 carries for 74 yards. Stat of the game... 15: Texas Tech's high-powered passing game was again a factor -- it contributed 350 of of TT's 429 total yards -- but the lack of a running game (just 15 attempts) is what did the Red Raiders in. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	18	29
Total Yards	306	456
Passing	173	378
Rushing	133	78
Penalties	7-60	8-64
3rd Down Conversions	7-13	4-12
4th Down Conversions	0-1	3-5
Turnovers	1	5
Possession	29:41	30:19

Individual Leaders

Missouri Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Daniel 15/22 173 1 1	Texas Tech Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Harrell 39/55 342 3 2 Todd 5/6 36 0 0
Missouri Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Temple 19 76 2 10 Daniel 13 37 0 14 Jackson 7 13 0 6	Texas Tech Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Woods 12 95 0 22 Harrell 4 -17 0 0
Missouri Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Franklin 5 90 0 36 Coffman 3 22 1 13 Rucker 2 25 0 13 Goldsmith 2 16 0 11	Texas Tech Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Filani 11 114 1 20 Woods 11 71 0 21 Amendola 8 79 1 23 Johnson 8 54 0 12

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				MIZZ	TTU
	FG	9:33	JEFF WOLFERT 41 YD FG Drive info: 14 plays, 57 yards.	3	0
	TD	2:00	TONY TEMPLE 1 YD RUN (JEFF WOLFERT KICK) Drive info: 4 plays, 12 yards.	10	0
SECOND QUARTER				MIZZ	TTU
	TD	11:48	XZAVIE JACKSON 17 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (JEFF WOLFERT KICK)	17	0
	TD	11:20	WILLIAM MOORE 22 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (JEFF WOLFERT KICK)	24	0
	TD	2:51	L.A. REED 30 YD PASS FROM GRAHAM HARRELL (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 7 plays, 59 yards.	24	7
	TD	1:23	JOEL FILANI 6 YD PASS FROM GRAHAM HARRELL (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 59 yards.	24	14
THIRD QUARTER				MIZZ	TTU
	TD	9:49	DANNY AMENDOLA 23 YD PASS FROM GRAHAM HARRELL (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 10 plays, 80 yards.	24	21
	TD	5:38	CHASE COFFMAN 6 YD PASS FROM CHASE DANIEL (JEFF WOLFERT KICK) Drive info: 10 plays, 73 yards.	31	21
FOURTH QUARTER				MIZZ	TTU
	TD	14:55	TONY TEMPLE 8 YD RUN (JEFF WOLFERT KICK) Drive info: 2 plays, 44 yards.	38	21

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Missouri's defense is for real.

The No. 23 Tigers' defense, which came into the game ranked No. 10 in the nation, set up most of the scoring in a 38-21 win over Texas Tech on Saturday night. But questions about the strength of Missouri's schedule had some wondering whether the defense had really been tested before playing Tech.

The answers came in four turnovers -- two interceptions and two fumbles -- by Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, which led to 28 points for Missouri.

"We all know what it's like to play that team, and the turnovers were the difference in the football game," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "That's certainly something we tried to do."

Chase Daniel threw for 171 yards and a touchdown, giving Missouri its first 6-0 start in 33 years.

Xzavie Jackson and William Moore scored on interception returns on consecutive Texas Tech possessions in the second quarter.

"I looked up and just felt it," Jackson said. "Then I looked at the quarterback's eyes and he threw the ball. I just cut in there and the ball sort of stuck to my hand."

Daniel, who returned to Texas where he played high school football in the Dallas area, really didn't have to do much. But his dual threat kept Tech's defense guessing. The Birthday Boy -- Daniel turned 20 on Saturday -- completed 15 of 22 passes, threw one interception and ran for 37 yards.

Daniel said the defense had talked all week about getting multiple turnovers.

"It's like coach talks about all the time: it's one thing to have ability, but you have to have capability," Daniel said. "We got the ball and scored."

Harrell, who came into the game ranked fourth in the nation in total offense and was the hero in last week's dramatic 31-27 win over Texas A&M, appeared flustered by the Tigers' blitz. Texas Tech coach Mike Leach even benched him for a series following the second of consecutive interceptions.

"The biggest thing I wanted to illustrate was how easy it was to make routine plays," Leach said. "It was simple what they were doing defensively."

Missouri (2-0 Big 12) got up 24-0 before Texas Tech (4-2, 1-1) crossed the 50. The Red Raiders scored two touchdowns before halftime and appeared to have momentum turned around. But Missouri stiffened and allowed only one score in the second half.

Harrell's second fumble came early in the second half gave the Tigers good field position at Tech's 44. Daniel threw a 36-yard pass to Will Franklin and Tony Temple ran 8 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to give the Tigers their winning margin.

Harrell completed 39 of 55 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns.

Missouri's defense pressured Harrell early, forcing a fumble at the Red Raiders' 12 on the first play of Tech's second possession. DeMarcus Scott recovered the ball and four plays later Temple put Missouri up 10-0 on a 1-yard run.

Missouri's defense got better in the second quarter.

Jackson got the first Missouri defensive score on a screen pass over the middle by Harrell, and the defensive end lumbered 17 yards into the end zone untouched to give the Tigers a 17-0 lead.

Harrell's very next pass -- to Robert Johnson near the sideline -- was picked off by Moore, who scampered 22 yards to put Missouri up 24-0.

On Tech's next series, Harrell was replaced by backup quarterback Chris Todd, who got the Red Raiders across midfield for the first time in the game. But Harrell returned on the next possession to a sprinkling of boos from fans.

He silenced them quickly, though, completing 4-of-5 passes, including a 30-yard touchdown to whittle Tech's deficit to 24-7.

It was then Daniel's turn to make a first-down mistake. Tech cornerback Chris Parker intercepted Daniel's pass at the Tech 41, and Harrell led the Red Raiders down the field for a touchdown. He threw a 6-yard pass to Joel Filani with 1:27 remaining in the half to draw Tech to 24-14.