So I came across this document this week in interacting with a Notre Dame fan on Twitter: it is basically an archive of the 700+ hours’ worth of Notre Dame games on YouTube. YouTube has basically become the National Sports Archives, an ESPN Classic, on-demand and on steroids.
Granted, Mizzou doesn’t have quite the football history that Notre Dame does, and there therefore aren’t 700 hours’ worth of Tigers games on the site. But there’s a lot. I figure one thing we can try to do to fill the offseason void is shine a light on what does exist on YouTube and document it in some way*. In the meantime, we can revisit and enjoy some random old games.
* Our Oscar Gambler began doing this a while ago, putting together football and basketball playlists. But there’s a lot more out there to document.
Today’s selection: the 1998 Mizzou-Colorado game.
The Stakes:
Larry Smith and Mizzou were 6-2 and ranked 18th in the country, coming off of a thrilling last-second win at Texas Tech. Quarterback Corby Jones had been slowed by a turf toe injury for most of October, and it played an integral role in a frustrating 20-13 loss at No. 7 Nebraska two weeks prior. Meanwhile, Rick Neuheisel’s Buffaloes were 6-3, having just fallen out of the top 25 following an upset loss at Kansas.
The Recap (via Newspapers.com):
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Corby Jones’ face said it all: Smiling broadly, his green eyes sparkling, Jones declared, “Shoot, I’m having a good time now.”
His nagging toe injury finally a dead issue, Jones unshackled himself and led Missouri to a 38-14 whipping of Colorado before a chilled but raucous gathering of 57,261 Saturday at Faurot Field.
On a rainy day when Devin West knocked off MU’s 29-year-old single-season rushing record, Jones bulled his way back into the spotlight. He dipped, darted and danced around the bamboozled Buffaloes in his most productive outing since he sprained the big toe on his left foot Oct. 3 against Northwestern State.
West, a senior tailback from Moberly, collected 146 yards on 32 carries, and scored on runs of 1, 1 and 12 yards. He pushed his season rushing total to 1,402 yards, snatching the record from St. Louisan Joe Moore. West erased Moore’s record of 1,312 when he took a pitch from Jones and scampered for 4 yards around right end 8:27 after kickoff.
The rest of the day belonged to Jones, West’s best friend and roommate.
The Scoring (if you want to skip parts of the video):
- MU — 11:00, Q1: Ford 3 pass from Jones (7-0)
- MU — 9:56, Q1: Posey 61 INT return (14-0)
- MU — 5:52, Q1: Long 36 FG (17-0)
- MU — 8:55, Q2: West 1 run (24-0)
- CU — 4:46, Q2: Toler 9 pass from Moschetti (24-7)
- CU — 8:39, Q3: Chiaverini 11 pass from Moschetti (24-14)
- MU — 12:37, Q4: West 1 run (31-14)
- MU — 1:13, Q4: West 12 run (38-14)
The Key Stats:
- Total Yards: Missouri 429 (5.9 per play), Colorado 317 (4.6)
- First Downs: Missouri 25, Colorado 21
- Turnovers: Missouri 3, Colorado 3
- Corby Jones: 10-for-18 passing for 147 yards and a touchdown, 19 carries for 108 yards
- Devin West: 32 carries for 146 yards and 3 TDs, two receptions for 21 yards
- Kent Layman: four catches for 87 yards
The Aftermath:
Colorado would finish the season by thumping Iowa State at home and dropping a 16-14 heartbreaker at Nebraska. The Buffs took down Oregon, 51-43, in the Aloha Classic.
Mizzou, meanwhile, would come oh, so damn close to something great. Up to 13th following the CU win, the Tigers fell 17-14 at No. 6 Texas A&M the next week, then returned home and lost another heartbreaker, 31-25 vs. No. 2 Kansas State. They rebounded by outlasting West Virginia, 34-31, in the Insight.com Bowl to finish 8-4 and 21st in the AP poll.
This was the best Missouri team in 15 years and the best 8-4 team in the country. It was a tough as hell team that was a small handful of plays away from greatness. Against a pretty good Colorado team, the Tigers proved their ability to ground and pound, sprinting to an early lead and throwing body blows the rest of the way until the Buffs’ comeback efforts fell apart.