NCAA 09: Texas

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 a HUGE showdown between No. 1 (AP) Mizzou and No. 1 (Coaches) Texas in Austin.

Defensive victory over Texas puts Tigers at No. 1

       AUSTIN, TEXAS - Entering the game, the matchup between No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Missouri already featured several prominent storylines.
       There's the redemption story of Chase Daniel playing against the "dream school" that snubbed him in recruiting. There's the story of the two prolific offenses. And, oh yeah, there's the story of the nation's top two teams squaring off in mid-October.
       But it was the story of the two defenses that stole the show, as Missouri fought for a 16-9 victory over Texas in a defensive battle in Austin.
       Last week against Oklahoma State, Missouri (7-0, 3-0) managed 589 yards of offense. Saturday, Missouri and Texas (6-1, 2-1) combined for only 421.
       The game started slowly, as both offenses struggled to get going. The teams traded three-and-outs on the game's first three possessions before a Mizzou first down on the game's fourth possession ended the drought.
       After Texas' third consecutive three-and-out, a 40-yard punt return from Jared Perry put Mizzou at the UT 33. On the drive, Mizzou managed a 45-yard field goal from Jeff Wolfert with 0:02 left in the first quarter.
       Texas finally obtained a first down on the first play of the second quarter. After three more plays, Texas converted a 4th-and-2 near midfield on an option pitch to Vondrell McGee to keep the Horns' drive alive.
       Texas tied the game a minute later on a 56-yard field goal by Ryan Bailey. Mizzou was poised to retake the lead on its next drive before the law of averages finally caught up with the Tigers.
       A 42-yard field goal attempt by Wolfert hit the right upright and fell wide. The miss was Wolfert's first in Big 12 play in his career.
       As the first half drew to a close, a goalline stop by the Mizzou defense kept Texas out of the endzone. The Horns settled for a 19-yard field goal from Bailey as time expired, giving Texas a 6-3 lead entering halftime.
       But when the second half started, Mizzou's offense returned to life. On the second play of the third quarter, Perry turned and broke a tackle on a hook route, breaking free for a 78-yard touchdown.
       The first turnover of the game followed on the next possession, as a fumble forced by Brock Christopher on a scrambling Colt McCoy ended up in the hands of William Moore.
       Mizzou returned the favor five plays later though, as Chase Daniel put too much air under a deep ball to Tommy Saunders, resulting in an interception by Ben Wells at the UT 21. The interception was Daniel's fifth of the season.
       Texas then drove 76 yards in 13 plays, but another goalline stand by Mizzou forced yet another Bailey field goal, cutting the score to 10-9.
       Mizzou responded with a 33-yard drive to set up another Wolfert field goal try. Wolfert redeemed himself by drilling a career-long 56-yarder down the middle with 5:08 left to play.
       Later in the quarter, it looked like Texas would get the ball back with over three and a half minutes remaining. However, a Texas stop on third down was negated by a facemask penalty, keeping the Mizzou drive going near midfield.
       Over the next six plays, Mizzou was able to kill another two minutes of clock and set up Wolfert for his third field goal of the game. Wolfert's kick put Mizzou up 16-9 with 1:33 remaining.
       After a Stryker Sulak sack put Texas behind the eight ball, a deep pass by McCoy was picked off by Justin Garrett with 0:37 seconds left, effectively ending Texas' comeback hopes. Three Derrick Washington rushes burnt Texas' timeouts before the clock finally expired.
       Neither quarterback was given much help by his offensive line. Daniel was sacked six times and held to a season-low of 215 yards. McCoy faced pressure most of the day as well, being sacked a total of five times.
       The win becomes one of the program's most historic since last year's 36-28 victory over Kansas. Both wins gave Mizzou the nation's No. 1 ranking the following week. Mizzou, BYU and UConn remain the only undefeated teams in Division I.

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

SCORING

First Quarter
MU - FG Wolfert 45

Second Quarter
UT - FG Bailey 56
UT - FG Bailey 19

Third Quarter
MU - Perry 78 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick)
UT - FG Bailey 21

Fourth Quarter
MU - FG Wolfert 56
MU - FG Wolfert 39

STATS

TEAM STATS
Total yards: MU 224, UT 197
Passing yards: MU 215, UT 154
Rushing yards: MU 9, UT 43
First downs: UT 11, MU 8
Turnovers: UT 2, MU 1
Time of Possession: UT 13:14, MU 10:50

WEEK 8 RESULTS
(No. 13) Oklahoma 38, (No. 3) Kansas 10 - Venables' crew holds Jayhawks to 184 yards of offense
(No. 15) Texas Tech 35, Texas A&M 17 - Crabtree and Morris combine for 258 receiving yards
Colorado 28, (No. 19) Kansas State 17 - Three turnovers play big role in 'Cats first loss
Nebraska 44, Iowa State 21 - Arnaud throws five picks as game gets out of hand early
Oklahoma State 52, Baylor 21 - OSU rebounds from Mizzou drubbing with 554 yards of offense

CONFERENCE STANDINGS