NCAA 09: Nebraska

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 six-minute quarters. This installment previews Mizzou's conference opener against Nebraska.

Late game heroics save Missouri in Lincoln

     LINCOLN, NEB. - Saturday, No. 4 Missouri entered its game with Nebraska having not won in Lincoln since 1978. A Chase Coffman TD reception with 12 seconds remaining allowed Missouri to revise that bit of history with a nail biting 31-27 win.
     The game featured the return of wideout Danario Alexander, who had been sidelined since June with a torn ACL in his left knee. His return helped ease the blow of the loss of Jeremy Maclin against Southeast Missouri State.
     Nebraska (2-3, 0-1) tried to establish the run early, giving the ball to Marlon Lucky on the game's first four plays. However, the teams traded punts on each of their first possessions.
     After a Nebraska three-and-out in its second possession, Missouri (5-0, 1-0) finally found its rhythm, with Chase Daniel finding Wes Kemp for the first touchdown of his career and a 7-0 Mizzou lead.
     On Mizzou's second drive, a halfback pass on 4th down from Jimmy Jackson to Andrew Jones kept the ball in the Tigers' hands at the NU 45. Five plays later, Derrick Washington took a pitch five yards for a Missouri touchdown.
     Nebraska responded by opening the second quarter with a six-play drive capped by a six-yard TD pass from Joe Ganz to Todd Peterson, cutting the Tiger lead to seven. Later in the quarter, a QB sneak by Ganz allowed Nebraska to tie the game. A Jeff Wolfert field goal in the half's final two minutes gave Mizzou a 17-14 lead at halftime.
     For most of the third quarter, both offenses moved the ball well but failed to turn possessions into points until an Adi Kunalic field goal tied the game at 17. On Nebraska's next possession, Ganz' second touchdown pass of the day gave Nebraska its first lead.
     Mizzou methodically moved the ball as the fourth quarter opened, but an inopportune fumble by Derrick Washington in the red zone gave the ball back to Nebraska. The turnover resulted in three more points from Nebraska, increasing the Husker lead to 10 with three minutes remaining.
     Mizzou responded in six plays, with Daniel finding Washington out of the backfield for a 21-yard touchdown on 4th-and-1 with 2:01 left to play. On the ensuing Nebraska drive, the Huskers managed one first down, but would punt with 57 seconds remaining and the Tigers on the MU 35.
     On the drive's first two plays, Daniel hit Jared Perry and Alexander for gains of 14 and seven yards, respectively. Daniel then hit Chase Coffman on a wheel route down the right sideline for 33 yards to put Mizzou on the NU 11. A 10-yard Daniel scramble on the next play left Mizzou one yard short of the end zone with 17 seconds and one timeout remaining.
     A Colin Brown false start pushed Mizzou back to the NU 6, but on the next play, Mizzou went 5-wide and showed screen before Daniel hit Coffman on a slant over the middle for the game-winning touchdown.

Scoring, stats, Big 12 results and standings after the jump.

SCORING

First Quarter
MU - Kemp 21 pass from Daniel
MU - Washington 5 run

Second Quarter
NU - Peterson 6 pass from Ganz
NU - Ganz 1 run
MU - FG Wolfert 37

Third Quarter
NU - FG Kunalic 43
NU - Cotton 3 pass from Ganz

Fourth Quarter
NU - FG Kunalic 42
MU - Washington 21 pass from Daniel
MU - Coffman 6 pass from Daniel

STATS

TEAM STATS
Total yards: MU 481, NU 447
Passing yards: MU 371, NU 261
Rushing yards: NU 186, MU 110
First downs: MU 21, NU 20
Turnovers: MU 2, NU 0
Possession: MU 11:02, NU 10:37

PASSING

RUSHING

RECEIVING

WEEK 6 RESULTS
Kansas State 42, (No. 9) Texas Tech 27 - Kickoff, interception returns for TDs key upset in Manhattan
(No. 5) Texas 34, (No. 19) Colorado 6 - Buffs manage only 138 yards of offense
Texas A&M 51, Oklahoma State 21 - McGee throws for 325 yards and 4 TDs
(No. 7) Oklahoma 55, Baylor 8 - The Bears complete only five passes on the day
(No. 12) Kansas 41, Iowa State 3 - Kansas pours it on late for the win in Ames

CONFERENCE STANDINGS