Sept. 22, 2008
DALLAS -
A pair of Mizzou football standouts were honored Monday for their play in the 5th-ranked Tigers' 42-21 win over Buffalo last weekend. Senior QB Chase Daniel (Southlake, Texas) and junior LB Sean Weatherspoon (Jasper, Texas) were named the Big 12 Conference Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, as announced by the league office.
Daniel was cited for his stellar play Saturday against the Bulls, as he led the Tigers to yet another big offensive day, and did so in record-setting fashion. The Heisman Trophy candidate passed for a career-high 439 yards, while completing an MU-record 83.7% of his passes (36-of-43), and adding two touchdowns. At one point in the game, Daniel completed 20 consecutive passes, which broke the Big 12 Conference and MU single-game records, and stood just three shy of equaling the NCAA record. He finished the game with 455 yards of total offense, and that upped his career total to 10,356, making him only the fifth player in Big 12 history to reach the 10,000 mark. After four games this year, Daniel has 12 touchdown passes with just one interception and has completed 101-of-133 passes overall for 1,412 yards. He ranks 4th nationally in pass efficiency, with a season rating of 193.39. He also ranks 4th in the NCAA in total offense (371.50 ypg) and his season completion rate of 75.9% is tops in the nation among quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts. Under Daniel's direction, Mizzou stands atop the NCAA team rankings for total offense (595.50 ypg) and is 2nd in scoring (53.75 ppg), while also ranking 3rd in passing (404.25 ypg) and 4th in passing efficiency (183.45 rating). Visit www.chasetheheisman.com to follow Daniel's exploits throughout the 2008 season.
Weatherspoon was honored for his career day, as he led Mizzou with a career-high 20 tackles against Buffalo. Among those tackles included three tackles for loss on the day, including a half sack, while also breaking up one pass. Weatherspoon's efforts were a key element in Mizzou's solid overall defensive performance Saturday, as it allowed an opponent season-low 286 yards of offense to a Buffalo team that came into the game averaging 427.00 yards per game. Mizzou's defense permitted only 14 of the 21 points scored, as UB's first score of the day came on a kickoff return. Through four games this season, Weatherspoon is tied for 1st in the Big 12 Conference (and tied for 3rd nationally) in tackles, with a per-game average of 12.00. He also leads the Big 12 in tackles for loss, at 2.00 per game, a figure which is also tied for 4th nationally.
Mizzou is off this weekend, and will next take the field Saturday, October 4th in Lincoln, Neb. against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
