Senior Season (2008)

2008 Stats
  Rushing Passing Total
Offense
Opponent Rush Yds. TDs Att Comp Int Yards TD Conv Plays Yds
vs. Illinois (St. Louis) 9 46 0 45 26 1 323 3 0 54 369
vs. SE Missouri St. 0 0 0 17 16 0 245 3 0 17 245
vs. Nevada 1 12 0 28 23 0 405 4 0 29 417
vs. Buffalo 4 16 0 43 36 0 439 2 0 47 455
at Nebraska 1 0 0 23 18 0 253 3 0 24 253
vs. Oklahoma State 7 46 0 52 39 3 390 1 0 59 436
at Texas 4 -8 1 41 31 1 318 2 0 45 310
vs. Colorado 5 34 0 37 31 1 302 5 0 42 336
at Baylor 5 13 0 38 30 2 318 3 0 43 331
vs. Kansas State 4 -22 0 36 24 2 271 2 0 40 249
at Iowa State 1 -1 0 40 32 1 328 2 0 41 327
vs. Kansas (Kansas City) 9 103 0 41 25 2 288 4 0 50 391
vs. Oklahoma (Kansas City) 10 13 0 43 27 2 255 3 0 53 268
vs. Northwestern (Alamo Bowl) 9 29 0 44 27 3 200 2 0 36 229
TOTALS 69 281 1 528 385 18 4,335 39 0 597 4,616

Chase in 2008:

     Mizzou senior QB Chase Daniel began the 2008 season on the short list of Heisman Trophy favorites, according to most prognosticators. Even though those preseason expectations won't be realized, Daniel has still put together an impressive season, and his leadership is a key reason why Mizzou has moved to the top of the heap in the Big 12 North, and finished just one win shy of reaching a first-ever BCS bowl game.
   Through 13 games, Daniel has directed the Tigers to the nation's 6th-ranked outfit in total offense (497.46 ypg) and 6th-ranked scoring offense (43.15 ppg), while the Tigers rank 4th in the NCAA in passing (340.38 ypg) and 8th in pass efficiency (162.69 rating). Individually, he ranks 5th in the NCAA in total offense (337.46 ypg) and is 7th in pass efficiency (164.76 rating).
     He completed an efficient 18-of-23 passes at Nebraska last time out, including TD passes of 58, 7 and 26 yards as he directed the Tiger offense to its 2nd-largest point total ever against the Huskers. Mizzou’s #1 offense – which was pulled at the end of the 3rd quarter after the score stood 52-10 – scored on 6-of-7 possessions, with the only non-score coming on a missed 59-yard FG attempt at the halftime gun.
     Against Buffalo, Daniel completed 20 consecutive passes at one point in the game, which broke the Big 12 Conference single-game record of 18, and was just 3 shy of the NCAA record for a game. He ended the day 36-of-43 passing for a career-high 439 yards with 2 TDs, and had potential yards and TDs taken away as the Tiger receivers uncharacteristically fumbled the ball away after catches three times deep in Buffalo territory – at the 12-yardline, at the 22-yardline and at the 38-yardline.
     For his efforts, Daniel was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, and he also took home the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week Award for the 2nd straight week – marking the first time in the award’s existence that a player had won on consecutive weeks.
     Against Nevada, Daniel was in another stratosphere, going 23-of-28 for 405 yards and 4 TDs. His 1st TD of the day, an 80-yarder to WR Jeremy Maclin, gave him enough career passing yards to break the MU record of 8,799 previously held by former great Brad Smith (2002-05). Daniel now has 9,845 passing yards for his career.
     As noted previously, Daniel had a string of 15 straight possessions where he led MU to a score (13 TDs, 2 FGs) spanning 3 games, playing just 1 1/2 quarters versus SEMO and 2 1/2 quarters vs. Nevada before being pulled, plus the first two drives last time out against Buffalo.
     Daniel had about as perfect performance as you can have against SEMO in game #2, as he completed 16-of-17 passes for 245 yards and 3 TDs. He did all of this in just a quarter and a half of play, as he was pulled after MU scored to make it 42-0 with 8:45 remaining in the 2nd quarter! Daniel was in for 5 possessions against SEMO, and he led MU to 5 TD drives, with the longest consuming just 2:48 off the clock. In fact, those 5 scoring drives combined took just 9:35 off the clock in total.
     In the 2008 season opener, Daniel threw for 323 yards and 3 TDs in helping lead Mizzou to a 52-42 win over 20th-ranked Illinois. The points were a record for Mizzou against a ranked opponent. Daniel had 369 yards of total offense on the night, as he burned the Illini for 46 rushing yards on just 9 attempts (5.1 avg.).
     Daniel was his best in the middle of the game, when he led MU to 4 offensive TDs in a 5-possession span, bridging the 2nd and 3rd quarters. In that stretch, he had TD passes of 17 yards to TE Chase Coffman just before halftime, and followed with TD strikes of 4 yards and 21 yards to WR Tommy Saunders on consecutive 3rd-quarter possessions as MU took a commanding 45-20 lead with 2:50 left in the 3rd.
     The performance was a nice follow-up to his 2007 season, when Daniel continued to smash all sorts of Mizzou passing and total offense records, as he became the school’s first-ever Heisman Trophy finalist (finishing 4th in balloting). He helped lead Mizzou to its 12-2 season as he threw for an MU-record 4,306 yards and 33 TDs.
     Daniel ranked 7th in the NCAA a year ago in total offense (325.64 ypg) and was 15th overall in pass efficiency (147.89 rating), while amassing at least 300 passing yards in 8-of-14 games – including a pair of 400-yard performances (401 vs. Nebraska and 421 at Colorado).

Outlook:

One of the nation’s top players who will be a pre-season Heisman and All-American favorite after producing a record-setting 2007 season … Was MU’s first-ever Heisman finalist in 2007, finishing fourth in voting, and was also a finalist for the O’Brien, Walter Camp and Manning awards, as well, while earning 1st-Team All-Big 12 honors … Also was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, while earning 2nd-Team Associated Press All-American honors … Is also an outstanding student who was a 1st-Team Academic All-District performer in 2007, who is on track to graduate in May in just four years … As part of MU’s esteemed School of Business, he got a chance this spring to visit legendary businessman Warren Buffett in Omaha, Neb., along with select Mizzou business students … Got to personally meet Buffett and now trades e-mails with his new friend on occasion … Owns the best career QB rating in MU history, at 143.80 entering the 2008 season, as well as numerous single-game and single-season passing and total offense records … Needs just 620 passing yards in 2008 to become MU’s career passing yardage leader (enters with 8,180, trailing only Brad Smith’s 8,799) … Has a shot at breaking Smith’s MU career total offense record as well, as he enters his final season with 8,869 yards, needing 4,220 to break Smith’s record of 13,088 (2002-05) … Does the majority of his damage in the air, but is also able to hurt defenses with his feet, as he has run for nearly 700 yards and for 9 TDs in MU’s attacking spread offense  … Has a fearless mentality that translates well into the intangible category of leadership, and also possesses a great knowledge of the game, to go along with his considerable athletic skills.