NCAA 09: Iowa State (plus bye week)

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 trip to Iowa State.

Mizzou survives scare in Ames, defeating Iowa State, 34-24

       AMES, IOWA - No. 1 Missouri avoided another Ames meltdown Saturday, surviving four turnovers and a comeback bid from Iowa State for a 34-24 road win.
       Missouri (11-0, 7-0) got on the board first, registering a 35-yard field goal from Jeff Wolfert on the game's third possession. MIzzou and Iowa State (5-6, 2-5) traded punts over most of the remainder of the first quarter.
       However, with less than a minute to play in the opening quarter, Jason Harris burnt Hardy Ricks in coverage, connecting on a 61-yard touchdown pass from Austen Arnaud.
       Yet, the deep strike appeared to give Mizzou the shock it needed. The Tigers needed only four plays - all pass completions by Chase Daniel - to respond, with Daniel finding Wes Kemp for a 3-yard touchdown pass.
       After the team's traded interceptions on each of their next two possessions, Daniel hit receivers on completions of 13, 35, and 28 yards to rapidly put the Tigers in the red zone. Two plays later, Daniel hit Danario Alexander for a Missouri touchdown.
       Neither team would score again before the end of the first half, with Mizzou holding a 17-7 advantage at the break.
       Iowa State opened the second half with a three-and-out, giving Daniel the window he needed to extend the lead. Daniel went 5-of-5 on a five-play drive, finding Jared Perry for an 18-yard touchdown reception and a 24-7 Mizzou lead.
       Mizzou was on its way to putting the game away late in the third, but a Derrick Washington fumble swung the game's momentum. Iowa State capitalized with an Arnaud touchdown pass to cut the Mizzou lead to 10.
       On Mizzou's ensuing posession, Daniel was intercepted at the MU 29 on the drive's second play. However, on the very next play, Sean Weatherspoon came up with an Arnaud fumble, swinging momentum back in Mizzou's favor.
       The teams traded field goals as the third quarter ended and the fourth quarter began. It was then that the Cyclones went on a 17-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that ended with Arnaud's third touchdown pass of the day, making the score 27-24.
       Mizzou got the ball back with over three minutes left and set about trying to bleed out the clock. Facing a 3rd-and-4 inside the ISU 30, Mizzou abandoned its Pistol dive and Shotgun zone read philosophy, converting a first down on a screen pass to Jimmy Jackson.
       Two plays later, Jackson took a Daniel handoff off tackle to put Mizzou back up two scores with only 20 seconds remaining.
       The win keeps Missouri undefeated, with only a neutral site date with Kansas remaining in the regular season after a bye next week. In addition, Mizzou now stands as the nation's only undefeated team following BYU's upset loss on the road against Air Force.

Scoring, stats, results, Big 12 standings, and BCS rankings after the jump

SCORING

First Quarter
MU - FG Wolfert 35
ISU - Harris 61 pass from Arnaud (Guyer kick)

Second Quarter
MU - Kemp 3 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick)
MU - Alexander 9 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick)

Third Quarter
MU - Perry 18 pass from Daniel (Wolfert kick)
ISU - Carlson 6 pass from Arnaud (Guyer kick)
ISU - FG Guyer 27

Fourth Quarter
MU - FG Wolfert 39
ISU - Franklin 14 pass from Arnaud (Guyer kick)
MU - Jackson 3 run (Wolfert kick)

STATS

TEAM STATS
Total yards: MU 531, ISU 391
Passing yards: MU 478, ISU 254
Rushing yards: ISU 137, MU 53
First downs: MU 25, ISU 19
Turnovers: MU 4, ISU 2
Time of possession: MU 12:45, ISU 9:40

- - -

WEEK 12 RESULTS
(No. 18) Kansas 42, (No. 5) Texas 31 - Jayhawk win has HUGE implications for Big 12 title game
(No. 21) Kansas State 28, Nebraska 14 - Wildcats improve to 8-3 in slugfest
Oklahoma State 46, Colorado 6 - The CU freefall continues since the WVU upset
Texas A&M 52, Baylor 6 - Ags add 45 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarter
Bonus: Air Force 45, (No. 2) BYU 35 - The BCS Chaos begins

WEEK 13 (Bye Week) RESULTS
(No. 7) Oklahoma 42, (No. 15) Texas Tech 10 - Sweet revenge for Sooners, who outgain Raiders 556-324 in total yardage
(No. 20) Kansas State 28, Iowa State 18 - Patton leads way to Wildcats' ninth win of season

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (after bye week)

BCS RANKINGS

MISSOURI 11-0 (1.000)

Florida 10-1 (0.994)

Ohio State 11-1 (0.989)

Wisconsin 11-1 (0.983)

Georgia 9-2 (0.975)

USC 9-1 (0.972)

Oklahoma 9-2 (0.969)

LSU 9-2 (0.961)

Texas 9-2 (0.953)

Miami 10-1 (0.947)