(4) Missouri 52, Nebraska 17

1234T
#4MIZZ (5-0)141721052
NEB (3-2)730717

Final

9:00 PM ET, October 4, 2008
Memorial Stadium
LINCOLN, NE

No. 4 Mizzou routs Nebraska en route to first win in Lincoln in 30 years

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Top 25 Overview
It was over when... The Tigers decided they were sick and tired of losing in Lincoln after 30 years of winless trips.
Gameball goes to... Derrick Washington, who ran for 139 yards and two TDs and caught a 7-yard TD pass.
Stat of the game... 201. Mizzou racked up 201 rushing yards on the road compared to Nebraska's 79.
Team Stat Comparison
 
1st Downs2421
Total Yards462369
Passing261290
Rushing20179
Penalties1-1514-101
3rd Down Conversions7-912-19
4th Down Conversions0-10-1
Turnovers02
Possession26:0333:57
Air/Ground Leaders
Missouri Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Daniel18/2325330
Patton1/1800
Nebraska Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Ganz26/3829021
Missouri Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Washington14139243
Moore734016
Nebraska Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Lucky144609
Castille122606
Missouri Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Maclin589158
Coffman571026
Nebraska Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Peterson781022
Holt567121
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTERMIZZNEB
TD14:01Jeremy Maclin 58 Yd Pass From Chase Daniel (Jeff Wolfert Kick) 70
TD09:55Nate Swift 20 Yd Pass From Joe Ganz (Alex Henery Kick) 77
TD06:53Derrick Washington 3 Yd Run (Jeff Wolfert Kick) 147
SECOND QUARTERMIZZNEB
FG10:54Jeff Wolfert 48 Yd 177
TD04:08Jimmy Jackson 1 Yd Run (Jeff Wolfert Kick) 247
TD02:59Brock Christopher 17 Yd Interception Return (Jeff Wolfert Kick) 317
FG00:22Alex Henery 28 Yd 3110
THIRD QUARTERMIZZNEB
TD07:16Derrick Washington 7 Yd Pass From Chase Daniel (Jeff Wolfert Kick) 3810
TD02:24Derrick Washington 43 Yd Run (Jeff Wolfert Kick) 4510
TD01:32Danario Alexander 26 Yd Pass From Chase Daniel (Jeff Wolfert Kick) 5210
FOURTH QUARTERMIZZNEB
TD00:00Menelik Holt 20 Yd Pass From Joe Ganz (Alex Henery Kick) 5217
Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Missouri unleashed 30 years of pent-up frustration on Nebraska. The 52-17 final score said as much.

Chase Daniel threw three touchdown passes, Derrick Washington ran for 139 yards and scored three times and the fourth-ranked Tigers beat the overmatched Cornhuskers on Saturday night for their first win in Lincoln since 1978.

Fast Facts

• Missouri won in Lincoln for the first time since 1978.

• The Tigers put up 52 points, which is their most against the Cornhuskers since 1943. Mizzou now outscored Nebraska 95-23 in the last 2 meetings

• Mizzou never trailed. In fact, the Tigers have trailed for just 13 seconds this season.

-- ESPN research

"That wasn't just about the 2008 football team," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "It's about 30 years of fans from around the world and a lot of former Missouri players. It's pretty good to get a win at one of the toughest places to play in the country."

The 35-point defeat was the Huskers' most lopsided home loss in 53 years and fifth-worst in Lincoln in the program's 119-year history.

The Tigers scored on eight of their 10 possessions. They missed a field goal on another, and their second-string offense turned over the ball on downs late in the fourth quarter.

"I'm not used to losing. I'm not used to getting beat soundly. It's my fault," said first-year Nebraska coach Bo Pelini. "Damn right, yes, I'm embarrassed. I apologized to the team. I apologize to the state of Nebraska. I apologize to everyone associated with Nebraska football.

"It's my responsibility. I was hired to do a job and I didn't do the job tonight. Anything else need to be said?"

Missouri scored the first four times it had the ball, then went up 31-7 on Brock Christopher's 16-yard interception return late in the second quarter.

Missouri (1-0 Big 12) is unbeaten through five games for the third year in a row. Nebraska (3-2, 0-1) is winless in 10 straight against opponents ranked in the Top 10.

The Tigers ended two long road losing streaks on their march to the Big 12 North title last year -- winning at Colorado for the first time since 1997 and at Kansas State for the first time since 1989.

But it was the losing streak in Lincoln that has dogged the Tigers longest.

"I hope we made the nation of Tiger fans proud of us," Daniel said. "Right now it feels good, but down the road I'm sure it will mean more. We're focused on this game so we'll enjoy it."

The Tigers' previous win here was a 35-31 classic that denied the Huskers, ranked second at the time, a national title shot. Missouri didn't have much to show for its next 15 visits to Nebraska other than a good number of blowout losses.

All that was forgotten late Saturday night.

The 52 points were the most Missouri has ever scored against Nebraska, topping the 35 in 1978. The 35-point margin was Missouri's biggest against Nebraska since a 47-6 win in Columbia in 1947.

The Tigers were as good as, or better than, they were in beating three non-BCS opponents before starting Big 12 play.

Three of their scoring drives lasted less than 2 minutes -- giving them 17 such drives for the season. And their No. 1 offense extended its streak of no three-and-out possessions to 49.

"We didn't punt today. That's hard to believe," Pinkel said. "We're going to have to work hard on that in practice, because that's not reality."

Pelini said earlier in the week that his team's goal was to shut out a Mizzou offense that came in averaging 54 points and 596 yards a game.

That bluster was blown away in a hurry.

Daniel found Jeremy Maclin on a short slant on the third play of the game, and Maclin turned it into a 58-yard touchdown to continue the Tigers' streak of scoring on their first possession in each game this season.

Nebraska came right back, with Joe Ganz rolling out and hitting Nate Swift with a 20-yard touchdown pass.

Then it was game over.

Daniel, who was 18-of-23 for 253 yards, led the Tigers on three impressive scoring drives.

A personal foul and pass interference penalty helped fuel a quick 80-yard drive that Washington finished with a 3-yard run. Jeff Wolfert kicked a 48-yard field goal and Jimmy Jackson scored on a 1-yard run to end a 75-yard march.

Down 24-7 and facing third-and-14 at his own 16, Ganz tried to force a pass to Menelik Holt. But Christopher stepped in front from his linebacker spot and went in for a score.

Ganz finished 26-of-38 for 290 yards and two touchdowns, the last one a meaningless 20-yarder to Holt as time expired.

The Huskers, who hadn't been beaten so bad since Oklahoma shut them out 41-0 in 1955, never gave themselves a chance to get back into the game, stalling repeatedly because of penalties or turnovers.

Daniel said he took great satisfaction in the five-touchdown margin of victory. He said a Nebraska player spit on him before the game.

"I'm not going to say who it was. He knows who it is. That's bush league. That's blatant disrespect," Daniel said.

Daniel called Nebraska one of the "dirtiest" teams he's played.

"You have to settle it out on the field," he said, "and I think we more than did that tonight."

College Football Scores

Other Scores:

Wednesday, October 1st
Louisiana Tech 3 Final
17 Boise State 38
Thursday, October 2nd
Pittsburgh 26 Final
10 South Florida 21
Oregon State 28 Final
15 Utah 31
Friday, October 3rd
8 Brigham Young 34 Final
Utah State 14
Saturday, October 4th
1 Oklahoma 49 Final
Baylor 17
Kentucky 14 Final
2 Alabama 17
4 Missouri 52 Final
Nebraska 17
5 Texas 38 Final
Colorado 14
6 Penn State 20 Final
Purdue 6
7 Texas Tech 58 Final
Kansas State 28
23 Oregon 10 Final
9 USC 44
12 Florida 38 Final
Arkansas 7
13 Auburn 13 Final
19 Vanderbilt 14
14 Ohio State 20 Final
18 Wisconsin 17
16 Kansas 35 Final
Iowa State 33
Western Kentucky 13 Final
20 Virginia Tech 27
Texas A&M 28 Final
21 Oklahoma State 56
Hawaii 32 Final
22 Fresno State 29 OT
24 Connecticut 12 Final
North Carolina 38