Mizzou defeat of 'Fighting Illini' sparks interest in upcoming season
by Emily Schmidt, posted Sept. 6, 2007
MU’s offense was expected to carry the team this season, but it was the team’s defense that came through in the season-opener against Illinois. Led by quarterback Chase Daniel, the Tigers opened up a 37-13 lead over the Illini, while the defense forced several turnovers to seal the victory.
The win was an important step for coach Gary Pinkel and the Tigers, who are expected to contend for the Big 12 North title this season. But if Saturday’s game at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis was any indication, Missouri still needs to make some adjustments if they plan to compete against Nebraska and Colorado.
“Generally we learn through our adversities, and we did that today,” Pinkel said. “We made a lot of big plays at the right time, and we were able to win the game.”
The Tigers played a nearly flawless first half as they surged out to a 23-6 halftime lead. Illinois scored first off of a blocked punt in the opening quarter. Then, Daniel threw touchdown passes of 1 and 2 yards, Cornelius Brown returned a fumble 100 yards and Jeff Wolfert kicked a 27-yard field goal to cap off a 23-0 scoring run.
Juice Williams, the Illini’s starting quarterback, suffered a second quarter injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the game. But Illinois would rally in the second half behind redshirt freshman quarterback Eddie McGee. McGee led an early third quarter scoring drive of 79 yards that was capped off by running back Rashard Mendenhall’s 25-yard touchdown run. Missouri answered with Daniel throwing his third touchdown pass of the game, a 25-yard strike to Jeremy Maclin. Moments later, Maclin returned a punt 66 yards to put the Tigers up 37-13.
“The right side really did their job blocking,” Maclin said. “I saw the cutback, so that's what I did and I was able to score the touchdown.”
McGee and the Illini then started their comeback. Despite winning only two games last season, Illinois is expected to be in the thick of a mediocre Big 10 race this season. Head coach Ron Zook has had one of the best recruiting classes in the nation the past few years, and they would shine late in the game. McGee scrambled 16 yards for a score after Maclin’s punt return and Illinois forced fumbles on the ensuing Missouri possessions. They capitalized on both of the Tigers’ turnovers after a 41-yard touchdown pass by McGee and a 4-yard run by Mendenhall to cut the score to 37-34 with 12 minutes remaining.
The Tiger defense rose to the challenge and forced two late interceptions, the final coming with under a minute to play. Illinois drove to their own 22-yard line before safety Cornelius Brown intercepted McGee’s final pass at the goal line. It was fifth and most costly turnover of the game for the young Illini squad, and it sealed the win for the Tigers.
“We were able to finish in the fourth quarter,” Brown said. “We all made plays at the right time, and we fought until the end and we came out of here with the victory.”
Daniel continued where he left off last season, 37 of 54 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns. He completed passes to seven different receivers, including 10 passes for 86 yards to Martin Rucker and nine for 82 to Danario Alexander. But turnovers were the difference in an evenly matched game. Missouri tallied 429 total yards and 25 first downs to Illinois’s 435 and 23, respectively.
“I was so proud of how the team was able to finish, and how we were able to find a way to win the game,” Daniel said. “The never-let-die attitude that this team had was great. We are going to have a lot of games like this one this season, and now we know we can come out on top.”
The Tigers will look to improve in several areas before next Saturday’s contest at Mississippi including the rushing game, which managed a mere 70 yards on 33 carries. A successful running attack will take pressure off Daniel and give the defense more time to rest. Saturday’s 40-34 victory was a promising start to the 2007 season for the Tigers, but with consecutive games next month against Nebraska and Texas, Missouri will need to play 60 minutes of flawless football.
