RECIPE FOR A COMEBACK
Just how did the Tigers post their stirring comeback win last Saturday? Certainly, lots of things came together to make it happen. Making it even more improbable was the fact that the comeback was led by a true-freshman 2nd-string QB in Chase Daniel.

Daniel entered the game with MU trailing by 10 points and less than 9 minutes left. He came in the game facing a 3rd-and-10 from his own 25-yardline, replacing an injured Brad Smith. Daniel promptly threw for a 13-yard gain to keep the chains moving, and calmly led MU on a 16-play, 73-yard drive that ended in a 19-yard field goal to make it 24-17 in favor of ISU with 4:44 remaining...

After MU's defense forced an ISU punt, Daniel came back in and took his team from its own 13-yardline and drove 87 yards in 11 plays for a game-tying touchdown to Sean Coffey (4 yard TD pass) with just 20 seconds remaining in the game to force overtime. The TD pass came one play after Daniel connected with Coffey for 17 yards on a 3rd-and-10 from the ISU 21 yardline...

In overtime, after ISU lost 1 yard on 3 plays and missed a 43-yard field goal attempt, Daniel was sterling again as he directed a 6-play, 16-yard drive down to the ISU 9-yardline, which set up a 26-yard game-winning field goal made by Adam Crossett - marking the 2nd-straight year that Crossett had beaten Iowa State with an overtime field goal.

TRUE FRESHMAN Chase Daniel AWOKE TIGER OFFENSE JUST IN TIME
What made MU's comeback more dramatic than just the final score was the underlying fact that MU overcame a 10-point 4th-quarter deficit to win on a day where its offense had been held scoreless all day long. As mentioned previously, making it even more improbable was the fact that the rally was led by its backup quarterback, due to the injury of star signal caller Brad Smith.

Iowa State's defense held Smith and Mizzou's high-powered offense in check for 3-plus quarters, as the Tigers' only points came on a pair of defensive scores in the 1st quarter.

Mizzou's offensive struggles were surprising, given the fact that the Tigers entered the game with the nation's 7th-ranked offense, averaging 508.00 yards per game. Up until the time that Daniel entered the game in the 4th quarter, MU had amassed only 152 yards of offense, and was shut out after entering the game averaging nearly 38 points a contest.

In the final 8-plus minutes of regulation and overtime, Daniel sparked the Tigers and led an offense that put up 176 yards and 13 points.

Just how good was Daniel? The numbers show he was pretty good, as he went 12-of-17 passing for 146 yards and 1 TD in the 4th quarter and OT periods, and added 9 rushes for 18 yards as well. He converted four 3rd-downs and one 4th-down in the process...

Daniel ended the day 16-of-23 passing overall (he played one pre-determined series in the 2nd quarter) for a career-high 185 yards and 1 TD, and added 12 rushes for 26 yards overall.

DEFENSE ALSO ROSE TO THE OCCASION
Mizzou's defense hadn't gotten the positive notice like its offensive teammates early in the season, but it came out with guns blazing last Saturday, as the Tiger defenders scored the first 2 TDs of the day to help stake MU to a 14-0 lead early on.

The Tigers entered the game without a defensive score in 2005, but that changed quickly and dramatically in a 44-second span in the 1st quarter as MU scored a pair of defensive TDs - the first on a 62-yard interception return by redshirt freshman safety William Moore with 7:10 left and the 2nd on a 16-yard fumble return by junior DE Xzavie Jackson with 6:26 left.

Moore, making his first career start, got things started by jumping a pass near the sideline from ISU QB Bret Meyer. He intercepted the ball at the MU 38 yardline, and weaved his way through some traffic and good downfield blocking from his teammates, and dove untouched into the endzone for his first career TD, to make it 7-0 after the extra point.

Jackson's return came just two plays later, when ISU TB Jason Harris was plastered in the backfield by junior DT Jamar Smith. Smith's hit caused a fumble by Harris, with Jackson picking up the ball and rumbling 16 yards for his first career TD. That made it 14-0 in favor of MU.

That marked the first time since 1994 that MU had two defensive TDs in a game. The previous occurrence came in 1994 at Hawaii, when Marc Pedrotti returned an interception for a TD and Damon Simon returned a fumble for a score in MU's 32-32 tie.

Iowa State was able to rebound from those early mistakes and claim a seemingly commanding 24-14 lead, thanks to its ability to control the ball for most of the day.

However, MU's defense rose to the occasion late when it was needed, as the Tiger defenders got a crucial stop after the offense drove for a field goal to make it a 7-point deficit. On ISU's ensuing possession, the Cyclones ran for 14 yards and a 1st down out to their 34-yardline. But the Tigers stiffened, holding ISU to a gain of 5 yards on 1st down, no gain on 2nd down and forcing an incomplete pass on 3rd down, setting up a punt that preceded the offense's heroics.

Lastly, in overtime, the defense was equally tough, as it held the Cyclones to minus-1 yard in ISU's overtime possession. LB Dedrick Harrington and DE Brian Smith combined to stuff ISU TB Greg Coleman for a loss of 1 yard on the first play of OT. That was followed by a pair of big plays by defensive backs, as senior CB Marcus King broke up a pass by getting just enough of the ball to prevent a potential TD by ISU's Todd Blythe on 2nd down, and senior S Jason Simpson broke up a pass on 3rd down by forcing ISU's R.J. Sumrall out of bounds before he could come down with possession.

Those plays forced ISU to settle for a 43-yard field goal, which it missed to set up the Tiger offense for its game-winning exploits.

CROSSETT CROSSES ISU FOR 2ND-STRAIGHT YEAR; EARNS BIG 12 WEEKLY AWARD
In addition to QB Chase Daniel, and the numerous receivers and defenders who made plays down the stretch, sophomore PK/P Adam Crossett played the hero in Saturday's OT affair against Iowa State.

Crossett played hero for the 2nd-straight season in an overtime win over Iowa State, as he drilled a 26-yarder in the OT period to give MU a 27-24 win, after ISU missed its own 43-yarder in the preceding possession. Crossett beat ISU in Ames to close the 2004 season by making a 25-yarder in OT for a 17-14 MU win that prevented the Cyclones from winning the Big 12 North division outright.

Crossett also handled the punting and kickoff duties once again for Mizzou, and had his best overall game of the season. He punted 3 times and averaged a career-best 47.0 yards per punt, including a long of 57 yards and one punt that was downed inside ISU's 20-yardline. He was named on Monday as the Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts.

One of the few triple-threat kickers in the nation - he handles all of MU's place-kicking, punting and kickoff duties - Crossett came up big on kickoffs, as well, as he forced 4 touchbacks on the day in 5 kickoffs. ISU managed only 17 yards on its one kickoff return, and the Cyclones entered the game ranking 17th in the NCAA with a kickoff return average of 25.64 yards per attempt.

Crossett enters Saturday's game against Nebraska 9-of-12 on the year on field goals and is 21-of-23 on extra points.

SOME STATS THAT DON'T ADD UP
Sometimes, the numbers don't tell the whole story, and that maxim was never more true than last Saturday in MU's 27-24 overtime win against Iowa State, as the Tigers overcame some decided statistical disadvantages to claim the comeback win.

Iowa State held the ball seemingly all day long, and ended the game with a huge advantage in time of possession - controlling the ball for 38:22, compared to just 21:38 for Mizzou.

Mizzou came into the game averaging 88.8 offensive plays per game - 18 more per game than its opponents. But the Cyclones ended the day with 79 plays, 7 more than MU's 72. In fact, prior to MU's 1st 4th-quarter drive led by Chase Daniel, Iowa State had run 71 plays, gained 319 yards and held the ball for a total of 35:50.

That compared to MU's totals of 41 plays, for 152 yards and a possession total of 14:56 as ISU built its 24-14 lead.

Things switched dramatically in the final 9 minutes of regulation and the overtime period, as MU all of a sudden took control on both sides of the ball. In that timeframe, Mizzou ran 31 plays, gaining 176 yards and held the ball for 6:32 while rallying for its 27-24 win.

MIZZOU'S PINKEL GOING FOR 100TH CAREER VICTORY SATURDAY
Mizzou Head Coach Gary Pinkel enters Saturday's game with Nebraska with 99 career victories, meaning a win over the Huskers would give him a milestone 100th win.

Pinkel enters the game with a career mark of 99-64-3 overall in 15 seasons (60.5%). He also enters the game with a record of 26-27 at Mizzou in 5 seasons (49.1%), meaning that a win Saturday over Nebraska would even his record to .500 coaching the Black & Gold.

MIZZOU IS NCAA'S ALLTIME OVERTIME KING
Overtime is becoming old hat around Mizzou. Since the rule was put into effect for the 1996 season, Mizzou has played the most overtime games in NCAA history, with 11 through games of Oct. 15th, 2005. With MU's 27-24 OT win last week versus Iowa State, the Tigers improved to 8-3 alltime in overtime games, a win total which also is most in the NCAA.

Mizzou went 1-1 in 2002 in overtime affairs, dropping a tough 42-35 home overtime game to #18 Colorado and the very next week winning a 33-27 double overtime thriller at Texas A&M, the week after A&M beat #1-ranked Oklahoma on the same field.

Mizzou made some history with its consecutive overtime games - that marked the first time in NCAA history that a Div. I-A team played overtime games in consecutive weeks.

Interestingly, MU Head Coach Gary Pinkel won the very first overtime game played in Division I history when his Toledo Rockets beat Nevada, 40-37, in the 1995 Las Vegas Bowl. The overtime rule was put into effect for that bowl season, and has been in use ever since.

Pinkel is now 7-1 alltime in his career in overtime games, including 5-1 at Mizzou.

MIZZOU-NEBRASKA SERIES NOTES

LAST YEAR REWIND: NEBRASKA 24, MIZZOU 3
A rough day on special teams proved fatal for Missouri, as the Tigers fell at Nebraska, 24-3, despite owning statistical advantages in most categories.

Nebraska took advantage of two Tiger errors in the punting game, one on a blocked punt, and the other on a fumbled snap, and turned those into 14 points as the Huskers took a 17-3 lead in the 3rd quarter.

An 86-yard TD run by Nebraska's Cory Ross with less than 3 minutes left in the game accounted for the final score. Prior to that run, the Tiger defense had held the Huskers to a mere 146 yards of total offense.

Mizzou's sterling defensive effort went for naught, as its offense moved the ball reasonably well, but could not reach the end zone - the first time since the 2002 season that MU failed to score a TD in a game.

Mizzou held Nebraska without a 3rd-down conversion on the day (0-of-14), and ran 91 offensive plays, compared to just 58 for the Huskers, as MU outgained NU by a 328-to-235 margin.

The Tiger defense was especially effective against Nebraska's west-coast passing attack, as Nebraska QB Joe Dailey completed only 4-of-17 passes for just 26 yards.

But the Tiger defense couldn't produce any turnovers, which was a key in the game, given the fact that Nebraska entered the game with an NCAA-high 27 turnovers committed.

Nebraska opened scoring with a 41-yard field goal on the game's opening possession. From that point, until the late, meaningless 86-yard TD run by Ross, the Huskers managed only 94 yards of offense.

Mizzou tied the game in the 2nd quarter, on a 39-yard field goal by Joe Tantarelli. The Tigers missed out on three other golden scoring opportunites, however, as Tantarelli and Adam Crossett missed on field goal tries of 42 and 44 yards, respectively.

Nebraska blocked a Matt Hoenes punt midway through the 2nd quarter, and returned it 16 yards for a TD that made it 10-3, and that's how it stood at halftime.

Mizzou took the opening possession of the 3rd quarter and drove as far as the Husker 15 yardline, but a sack pushed the ball back and led to the long miss by Crossett.

Later in the 3rd, Nebraska broke the game open when MU's Hoenes fumbled a snap on a punt attempt, with the Huskers recovering on MU's 15 yardline. Ross ran it in from there on the ensuing play, as Nebraska surged to a 17-3 lead with 1:34 left in the 3rd.

Brad Smith, who ended with a season-high 277 yards passing, drove the Tigers to a 1st-and-goal from the Nebraska 8 with 5 minutes left in the game, but MU couldn't punch it in, and Ross sealed the game with his long run.

Nebraska held MU to a season-low 51 yards rushing on 35 attempts.

LAST TIME IN COLUMBIA: MIZZOU 41, #10 NEBRASKA 24 (2003)
The last time Nebraska visited Faurot Field proved to be one of the more memorable games in Mizzou's recent history, as Brad Smith tied a school record with four touchdowns and Missouri scored twice on trick plays, and the Tigers ended a 24-game losing streak against No. 10 Nebraska with a 41-24 victory on Oct. 11, 2003.

Nebraska (5-1, 1-1 Big 12) committed five turnovers in losing to Missouri (5-1, 1-1) for the first time since 1978, and for the first time at Faurot Field since 1973. Among the school's first sellout crowd in four seasons were several members of the last team to beat the Huskers, including coach Warren Powers.

Missouri trailed 24-14 in the third quarter before outscoring Nebraska 27-0 in the fourth quarter. Nebraska entered the game with the nation's top-ranked defense and was coming off its first shutout in three seasons.

Missouri ended a 45-game losing streak against Top 10 teams dating to a 14-3 victory over No. 9 Mississippi State on Oct. 3, 1981. The Tigers, who scored on a throwback pass to Smith and a fake field goal, also ended a 20-game losing streak against Top 25 teams.

Smith rebounded from a poor outing in a 35-14 loss two weeks prior that dropped Missouri from the Top 25. He was 13-for-27 for 180 yards and his first two interceptions of year, making up for those errors with 123 yards on 18 carries plus a 47-yard touchdown reception off a lateral to Darius Outlaw.

Nebraska had been allowing only 219 yards per game, but gave up 452 yards to Missouri. In a nine-minute span of the fourth quarter, Missouri scored more points than the Huskers had allowed in a game all year.

A 39-yard run by Smith on the first play of the fourth quarter cut the gap to three at 24-21. The Tigers then took a 28-24 lead on a fake field goal when holder Sonny Riccio, the backup quarterback, hit Victor Sesay for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 11:21 left.

Smith ran 1 yard on a naked bootleg to make it 34-24 with 5:53 left and an interception and 34-yard return by Zach Ville set up a 9-yard Smith run with 5:11 to go.

Smith also scored on a 47-yard reception after the lateral pass to Outlaw, a former quarterback, in the second quarter.

Jammal Lord ran for one touchdown and passed for a second for Nebraska, which also got a big game from backup tailback David Horne.

Mark LeFlore turned a swing pass from Lord into a 55-yard touchdown play for the game's first score. Lord ran it in from 35 yards on the option as Nebraska, which trailed 14-10 at the half, made it 24-14 in the final minute of the third quarter.

Horne played most of the game after Josh Davis tried to field a punt at the 5 and fumbled, leading to Missouri's first touchdown. Horne had 119 yards on 26 carries and Lord added 111 yards on 19 carries.

Brad Smith HAS RECORD-SETTING DAY IN OSU WIN
QB Brad Smith led Mizzou to its big road win at Oklahoma State, as he accounted for 377 yards of offense on the day, with 193 passing yards (1 TD / zero INTs) and a season-high 184 yards rushing. He completed 21-of-27 passes on the day and had a QB rating of 150.05 (his 2nd-best of the season).

Smith broke the Big 12 career record for rushing yards by a QB during the game, breaking the old Big 12 record of 3,434 by Nebraska's Eric Crouch (1998-2001) on an 11-yard keeper in the 2nd quarter against Oklahoma State. Even after being held to a season-low rushing total of 39 yards last week against Iowa State, he stands just 289 yards shy of the NCAA record of 3,895 by Indiana's Antwaan Randle-El (1998-2001).

Smith's rushing total of 1,406 yards during the 2003 season was the 4th-most ever in a season by a quarterback, behind only Beau Morgan of Air Force (1,494 in 1996), Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois (1,443 in 1989) and Jamaal Lord of Nebraska (1,412 in 2002).

Smith enters the NU game ranked 16th in NCAA D-I history in total offense (11,269), and if he reaches his three-year average of 3,161 in 2005, he'd end up with 12,644 yards, which would put him 5th alltime...

Brad Smith RANKS 15TH NATIONALLY IN TOTAL OFFENSE; LEADS BIG 12 IN RUSHING
QB Brad Smith enters the NU game ranking 15th in the country in total offense, at a clip of 297.67 yards per game. He currently leads the Big 12 Conference in rushing (and ranks 18th nationally), with his per-game average of 103.17 yards.

Smith has 619 yards and 6 TDs rushing in 6 games this season, compared to 2004 11-game totals of 553 yards and 4 TDs (a per-game average of 50.3 rushing yards). His pass efficiency rating is currently at 121.9, which is better than his previous season best of 117.3, set as a redshirt freshman in 2002. Smith's 18-yard TD pass to TB Marcus Woods in the 2nd quarter at OSU marked the 50th of his career (an MU record).

He's coming off something he's unaccustomed to - a bad day statistically. Smith was held to a career-low 84 yards of total offense last Saturday against Iowa State. He completed 8-of-12 passes for 45 yards (1 INT) and was held to 39 yards rushing on 11 carries. That marked the lowest single-game offensive output of Smith's career - 95 yards at Kansas in 2003 had been the previous mark.

Perhaps history is an indicator of good news for Mizzou fans, however, as after that Kansas game in 2003, Smith rebounded the next game and led MU to its upset of 10th-ranked Nebraska, as he amassed 303 yards of offense against the Huskers, throwing for 180 yards and rushing for 123 more and scoring 4 TDs overall (3 rushing, 1 receiving).

Those wondering how QB Brad Smith would take to MU's new offense had their questions answered in a big way early on, as Smith put up total offense numbers of 412 yards against Arkansas State and 413 yards against New Mexico. He had a workmanlike day against Troy, with 262 yards (183 passing / 79 rushing), 2 TDs (1 passing / 1 rushing) and 1 2-pt. conversion run. He was held to 238 yards versus #2 Texas (181 passing / 57 rushing), but did manage 2 rushing TDs.

Smith had a statistical output of 412 yards of total offense in the season opener against ASU, as he passed for 317 and a career-high (and school-record tying) 4 TDs on the day (6, 1, 7 and 14 yards). Additionally, Smith was MU's leading rusher, as he ran for 95 yards on just 12 carries (7.9 avg.). He did all of this despite playing only 1 series in the final quarter-and-a-half of the game.

Smith was named the SBC Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. It marked the 5th time that he has won the award, with the other instances coming after performances in 2002 vs. Illinois, in 2003 vs. Nebraska and Texas Tech, and in 2004 vs. Iowa State.

Against New Mexico, Smith had 413 yards of offense, as he threw for 248 yards and 1 TD and rushed for 165 yards and 3 TDs in MU's defeat. Smith's 413 yards of total offense was just 6 shy of his personal best, when he amassed 419 in 2003 against Texas Tech (291 rushing, 128 passing).

SMITH ONLY 3RD QB IN NCAA D-I HISTORY TO ACHIEVE 6,000/3,000 FEAT
With 95 rushing yards Sept. 3rd against Arkansas State, Brad Smith passed the 3,000-yard plateau for his career. That put MU's signal caller in rarified air from a national perspective, as he became only the 3rd player in NCAA Div. I-A history to achieve at least 6,000 yards passing and 3,000 yards rushing. In fact, only 4 others altogether have ever achieved the 3,000/3,000 feat.

As we all know, as a redshirt freshman in 2002, Smith became only the 2nd player in NCAA D-IA history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a single season, when he threw for 2,333 and rushed for another 1,029. He just missed that feat a 2nd time in 2003, when he threw for 1,977 yards and rushed for 1,406.

Brad Smith BREAKS MU CAREER RECORDS FOR PASSING & RUSHING
MU's game vs. New Mexico was bittersweet for the Tigers, because despite the loss, they witnessed history not once, but twice, in the third quarter, as QB Brad Smith broke two major school career records.

First up on the hit list was the MU career passing yardage record of 6,959 by Jeff Handy (1991-94). Smith entered the game against New Mexico with 6,812 yards, just 148 yards from the record. He got that total by early in the 3rd quarter, and the record fell on a 7-yard pass to TB Marcus Woods on MU's 3rd possession of the quarter.

Smith ended the game with 248 yards passing, and he enters Saturday's game with Nebraska with 7,662 career passing yards.

Next up was the MU career rushing record of 3,198 set by Zack Abron (2000-03). Smith entered the game in 2nd place, with 3,083 yards, and needed 116 to break the record. He had 41 yards on the ground at halftime, but really came on in the third quarter as the Tiger offense racked up 203 yards of offense. Smith broke off two highlight-reel runs of 31 and 15 yards that went for TDs as MU rallied from a 21-14 deficit to take a 28-21 lead.

The rushing record came on a 32-yard run by Smith on the next-to-last play of the 3rd quarter. That pushed his game total to 140 yards, and he ended the evening with 165 to give him a total of 3,248. He now has 3,607 career rushing yards entering the NU game.

MORE Brad Smith QUICK SLANTS
We'll try to wrap up the homage to Brad Smith with the following blurbs...

COFFEY'S WARMING UP; NEXT CATCH WILL BE 100TH OF HIS CAREER
Senior WR Sean Coffey returned to the Tiger lineup three games ago against Texas, and caught a game-high 6 passes for 43 yards. His return was a welcomed sight, as MU's leading receiver from a year ago (39 catches for 648 yards and a school-record 10 receiving TDs) had missed games #2 and #3 due to a shoulder he injured in the 2005 season opener against ASU.

He followed with a big game at Oklahoma State, as he caught a career-high 7 passes for 97 yards and his 1st TD of the 2005 season on a great grab of a 30-yard pass from fellow WR Brad Ekwerekwu just before halftime.

Coffey had an interesting day last Saturday in MU's OT win against Iowa State, as he mirrored the fate of the MU offense. With the Tiger offense stuck in neutral until the 4th quarter comeback, Coffey had been shut out in catches on the day. But when it came to clutch time, Coffey stepped up like the senior leader he is, and he caught 4 passes in the final 9 minutes of regulation for 51 yards and the game-tying TD (from 4 yards out) with just 20 seconds left.

His TD catch was a beautiful grab in the back of the endzone, as he reached high to grab the ball, all the while he drug his feet to make the play stand. In all, he caught 3 passes for 41 yards on MU's game-tying 11-play, 87-yard drive, making big grabs of 20 yards, 17 yards and 4 yards (TD). He also made a great move to draw a pass interference penalty against an ISU defensive back that moved the ball from midfield to the Cyclone 35 yardline.

His performance moved him move up the school career receiving top-10 lists, and he enters the Nebraska game ranking 6th on MU's receiving yardage list (1,421) as well as ranking 8th on the receptions list (99).

With his next catch, Coffey will become only the 8th Tiger in history to catch 100 passes for his career. He enters Saturday's game with 99 career receptions for 1,421 yards and 13 TDs, after setting an MU single-season TD reception record in 2004, with 10 scoring grabs.

Brian Smith NAMED BIG 12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK VS. OKIE STATE
Junior DE Brian Smith had a big game at Oklahoma State, as he was a disruptive force all day long for the Cowboy offense. Smith had a career-high 11 tackles on the day, including 2 QB sacks, 4 tackles for loss overall, one forced fumble, one QB hurry and one pass broken up. His QB hurry led to a forced throw which resulted in David Overstreet's interception in the final minute to ice the game for the Tigers. He was named the Big 12 defensive player of the week for his efforts - MU's first league defensive award since 2002.

Smith's forced fumble was a huge play in the game, as he sacked OSU QB Bobby Reid with :34 seconds left in the 1st half, with teammate Lorenzo Williams pouncing on the ball at the Cowboy 30 yardline. On the next play, MU threw a 30-yard TD pass to put the Tigers up, 21-9 at halftime.

Smitty continued his move up the Mizzou career QB sack list. He now has 20.5 for his career, and after 1 more sack last week versus Iowa State he stands in 2nd-place on the MU career sacks list, only 2 shy of the record of 22.5 set by former Tiger All-American DE Justin Smith (1998-2000).

Smith got his 2005 season off to a good start, as he recorded 1.5 sacks versus Arkansas State. Those sacks bumped his career total to 16.5 and moved him past former Tiger C.J. Mosley into 6th-place on the MU charts.

The Denton, Texas, native led all NCAA freshmen defenders as a redshirt freshman in 2003 with 8 QB sacks. He followed last season with 7 more as a sophomore, and carries a total of 4.5 sacks into Saturday's game with Iowa State.

COFFMAN, RUCKER ARE BIG 12'S TOP TIGHT END DUO
Mizzou has the Big 12 Conference's top tight end combo, in true freshman Chase Coffman and sophomore Martin Rucker.

Alot of times, we're guilty of writers' embellishments, but the above statement is grounded in absolute fact, as the dynamic duo of Coffman and Rucker are tops in the conference in receptions among tight ends, with 24 and 20, respectively, entering the Nebraska contest. The 44 combined catches outdistances the next-most prolific league tandem, as Colorado's Joel Klopfenstein and Quinn Sypniewski have combined for 29 catches.

Coffman leads all Big 12 tight ends with 24 catches for 266 yards and 2 TDs, good for a per-game average of 4.0 receptions. He was right on his average last Saturday against Iowa State as he had 4 catches for a team-best 54 yards - including a huge 25-yarder on 4th-and-7 from the MU 41-yardline in the 4th quarter that kept alive the 1st of MU's 2 drives that ended up tying the game. The catch marked a career-long for the budding superstar. The week prior, Coffman had a 5-catch outing at OSU that saw him gain a career-high 60 yards on the day.

Coffman is also the top freshman pass catcher in the Big 12 Conference, among all positions. The next-best in the league is WR Patrick Williams of Colorado, who has caught 12 passes for 105 yards thus far.

Rucker is right behind, ranking 3rd in the Big 12 with 20 catches for 228 yards, good for an average of 3.33 catches a game. Rucker grabbed 3 passes for 30 yards last week against Iowa State, one week after hauling in 2 balls at OSU, including an amazing one-handed leaping catch that he pulled in for a 23-yard gain that kept alive a 2nd-quarter drive for the Tigers.

This marks the second season in a row that a freshman tight end is making eye-opening contributions for Mizzou. Last year, it was redshirt freshman Martin Rucker who made a splash as he earned freshman All-American status by catching 19 passes for 263 yards and 4 TDs.

Both tight ends for MU have NFL bloodlines. Coffman's father, Paul, was a standout tight end for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs (1986-87), and the Green Bay Packers (1978-85), after playing collegiately at Kansas State.

Rucker is the younger brother of Mike Rucker, who is a standout defensive end with the NFL's Carolina Panthers, and was an All-American collegiately at Nebraska.

DEFENSE HAS MADE STRIDES IN RECENT GAMES
Mizzou's defense hasn't produced the numbers that its offensive teammates have thus far, but the squad has made some big plays in the last two games that seems to point to some overall improvement. The contributions have also been crucial in helping Mizzou win its last two games heading into to Saturday's tussle with Nebraska.

As noted previously, the defense came out of the gates strong against Iowa State last Saturday, with its 2 defensive scores. Even though ISU came back to take the lead, the defense buckled down in crunch time to force the Cyclones to punt with just over 2 minutes left in regulation after the Tigers had cut the lead to 7. That key stop set up MU's offense, which came through with the game-tying score.

The defense was even more stout in overtime, as it held the Cyclones to net minus one yard on its 3 overtime plays, which forced ISU to attempt a 43-yard field goal, which it missed, setting up MU's game-winning chip shot field goal.

What has stood out the last 2 games is that the defense has forced 6 turnovers (3 each versus Oklahoma State and Iowa State) which the Tigers have converted into 21 points. In MU's first 4 games, the defense gathered only 5 total turnovers, and could muster only 14 points off of those.

Even though the Tiger defense gave up 31 points to Oklahoma State in its previous game, Mizzou made more big plays than it had in previous games this year.

The first half of the game saw the Tiger defense play some of its best ball of the season, as it held the Cowboys out of the endzone for the entire 30 minutes - marking the first time since the opener against Arkansas State that an opponent had not scored a TD on the Tigers. Mizzou led 21-9 at halftime, and the Tiger defense had allowed only 129 yards of offense.

The Cowboys began to click offensively in the 2nd half, as they scored 3 TDs to make a game of it, but Mizzou's defense still contributed by making enough big plays to get the win. The biggest in the 2nd half was by S David Overstreet, who jumped to intercept the ball near midfield with 55 seconds left to preserve the game.

The Tigers got pressure on the quarterback all day long, as MU was credited with 5 QB sacks. DE Brian Smith had 2 of those sacks, and his 2nd-quarter sack forced a fumble deep in OSU territory that linemate Lorenzo Williams pounced on to set up a Tiger TD just before halftime.

In addition to the 5 sacks, MU's defense held OSU to rushes of zero or negative yards 8 times on the day. OSU averaged just 3.0 yards per rush, gaining 132 yards on 44 attempts. MU also forced a season-high 3 turnovers in the game.

IN MEMORY OF A.O.
Hearts will be heavy all season on the Tiger sideline, for while MU's team looks to focus on the football side of life, weighing on everyone's mind is the loss suffered over the summer of redshirt freshman linebacker Aaron O'Neal.

On July 12th, O'Neal participated with his teammates in a voluntary workout in Columbia. He collapsed after the workout and efforts to save him were unsuccessful. His tragic death was later determined to be due to complications arising from Lymphocytic Meningitis (viral).

While the loss was devastating for everyone, the team resolutely decided to dedicate its season to A.O.'s memory. A helmet decal is being worn to honor the St. Louis, Mo. native.

Additionally, several other means of honoring Aaron are planned throughout the 2005 season, and beyond. Here's a listing of the planned tributes...