To both better prepare for football season and to better illustrate our nerd-dom, over the next few weeks, RMN will be using EA Sports' NCAA Football 09 to predict the 2008 football season for Mizzou and the rest of the Big 12. The games are run without human involvement under game-predicted conditions and (from here on out) six-minute quarters. This installment previews Mizzou's date with the Nevada Wolfpack.
Late Coffman TD propels No. 6 Mizzou to 38-34 win over Nevada
COLUMBIA, MO - Missouri's 38-34 win over Nevada had a little bit of everything in it: good news, bad news, lots of turnovers and some late game heroics.
Despite the beautiful weather in Columbia for the 11:00 a.m. kickoff, the day was colored by sobering news for the Missouri offense.
Before the game, it was revealed that a knee injury sustained by Jeremy Maclin against Southeast Missouri State was diagnosed as a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament, sidelining him for the season. The injury is the second season-ending knee injury in three years for Maclin.
Once the game started, the Mizzou offense set about putting up points without Maclin, doing so in under one minute of possession. No. 6 Mizzou (3-0, 0-0) took the ball off the kickoff and went in 60 yards in six plays on a drive that culminated in a 5-yard TD reception by Tommy Saunders. The drive included catches of 20 and 31 yards by Wes Kemp and Jared Perry, respectively.
Yet, for the rest of the first quarter, the game became Colin Kaepernick's personal playground. Kaepernick went 7-of-8 on Nevada's first drive, cutting the Wolfpack deficit to 7-6 after a missed extra point. Following Nevada's recovery of a Mizzou fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Kaepernick finished a six-play drive with a 2-yard TD run to put Nevada (1-2, 0-0) up 13-7.
In the second quarter, Mizzou's ground game once again found its legs in the receiving corps, as Perry, filling in for Maclin, took a pitch 69 yards for a touchfown to give the lead back to Mizzou.
With time running down in the half, Daniel connected on six straight passes before getting Mizzou into the endzone on a 3-yard QB draw up the middle, giving the Tigers a 21-13 halftime lead.
On the first play of the second half, William Moore came up with a Kaepernick pass to give Mizzou the ball with great field position, but Mizzou mustered only a 21-yard Jeff Wolfert field goal.
Later in the quarter, a Daniel-to-Coffman touchdown was immediately answered by a 92-yard kickoff return for touchdown by Nevada's Dayton Guillory. After a Daniel interception, Nevada scored again on Kaepernick's second touchdown pass.
In the fourth, Nevada took the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter on Kaepernick's third TD pass, coming with 3:02 remaining.
Daniel then guided Mizzou the length of the field in nine plays, hitting Chase Coffman on a slant for a 8-yard TD reception with only 27 seconds remaining. Daniel went 9-of-11 on the drive.
The win moved Missouri to fifth in the polls, trailing Georgia, USC, Florida, and LSU, respectively. Next up for Missouri is the non-conference finale at home against the Buffalo Bulls.
Scoring, stats, and Big 12 results after the jump.
SCORING
| 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Total | |
| Nevada | 13 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 34 |
| Mizzou | 7 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 38 |
First Quarter
MU - Saunders 5 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick)
UN - McCoy 9 pass from Kaepernick (kick missed)
UN - Kaepernick 2 run (Jaekle kick)
Second Quarter
MU - Perry 69 run (Wolfert kick)
MU - Daniel 3 run (Wolfert kick)
Third Quarter
MU - FG Wolfert 21
MU - Coffman 17 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick)
UN - Guillory 92 kickoff return
UN - Bene 10 pass from Kaepernick (Jaekle kick)
Fourth Quarter
UN - Green 18 pass from Kaepernick (Jaekle kick)
MU - Coffman 9 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick)
STATS
TEAM STATS
Total yards: MU 566, UN 457
Passing yards: MU 434, UN 346
Rushing yards: MU 132, UN 111
First downs: MU 25, UN 22
Turnovers: MU 4, UN 2
Possession: MU 12:17, UN 10:05
PASSING
| Comp. | Att, | Yards | TD | INT | Rating | |
| MU - Daniel | 39 | 55 | 434 | 3 | 2 | 147.9 |
| MU - Wolfert | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| UN - Kaepernick | 26 | 40 | 346 | 3 | 1 | 157.4 |
RUSHING
| Carries | Yards | TD | |
| MU - Daniel | 7 | 30 | 1 |
| MU - Washington | 5 | 25 | 0 |
| MU - Perry | 2 | 72 | 1 |
| MU - Gissinger | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| UN - Lippincott | 16 | 67 | 0 |
| UN - Fragger | 5 | 35 | 0 |
| UN - Kaepernick | 3 | 9 | 1 |
RECEIVING
| Rec. | Yards | TD | |
| MU - Coffman | 11 | 89 | 2 |
| MU - Thomas | 8 | 112 | 0 |
| MU - Washington | 7 | 53 | 0 |
| MU - Perry | 5 | 104 | 0 |
| MU - Saunders | 5 | 51 | 1 |
| MU - Goldsmith | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| MU - Kemp | 1 | 20 | 0 |
| UN - McCoy | 6 | 65 | 1 |
| UN - Sanders | 5 | 77 | 0 |
| UN - King | 5 | 99 | 0 |
| UN - Green | 4 | 42 | 1 |
| UN - Lippincott | 3 | 30 | 0 |
| UN - Bene | 1 | 11 | 1 |
| UN - Puloka | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| UN - Fragger | 1 | 15 | 0 |
WEEK 3 RESULTS
Kansas 24, USF 21 - 22-yard TD reception by Herford in 4th gives KU the win
Oklahoma State 45, "FCS Midwest" 0 - Pokes roll up 652 yards of offense
Washington State 35, Baylor 21 - Bears surrender 4 TDs through the air
Nebraska 66, New Mexico State 42 - Can virtual defenses quit three games into a season too?
Oklahoma 52, Washington 7 - Locker shut down for 99 total yards
Iowa 40, Iowa State 37 - Hawkeyes overcome 4 Christensen INTs for overtime win
Texas Tech 50, SMU 31 - Leach bests June Jones in Texas-sized shootout
Texas 31, Arkansas 7 - 'Horns double up Hogs in time of possession