Posted: Saturday, October 22, 2005 7:00 pm
COLUMBIA, Mo. — This is what you call a finger-pointing bonanza that, to Nebraska, reeked of hard-to-swallow coincidence from a rough battle on the same field here two years ago.
Yep. There’s plenty of blame for everyone in Missouri 41, Nebraska 24.
When last we saw Brad Smith at Faurot Field, he was running for three touchdowns, catching another and amassing a then-career-high 302 yards to lead the Tigers to their first win against the Huskers in 25 years.
Now, what was that score again Saturday?
This time, though, Smith gave the Huskers a dizzying lesson about how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Well, not exactly the same.
On Saturday, the I’m-as-good-as-Vince-Young-when-I’m-on senior quarterback torched NU for 480 yards while running for three more TDs and throwing another.
So if you were pointing the first finger at a defense that Smith torched for 287 first-quarter yards while guiding Mizzou to a 21-3 lead, you’d be in good company.
Only problem with that thinking is the Blackshirts, much like they did after falling behind Texas Tech 21-0, refused to cave in. And after making an adjustment to the three-man front Smith laughed at, they started making enough plays that by halftime the Huskers had evened the score at 24.
“We had a good feeling going,” linebacker Corey McKeon said.
Unfortunately, that went by way of the evil twin we thought the Nebraska offense had banished from the family. And that, with no disrespect for the amazing game Smith produced, is really what did in the Huskers.
You do remember the West Coast offense of the first three games — right? The one that produced three scoring drives?
On Saturday, against a defense that ranked 100th nationally giving up an average of 31.5 points a game, it got blanked.
Actually, it was worse than that, because the three straight turnovers NU committed after having to punt on its first possession of the second half led directly to 10 energy-zapping points.
The Huskers were ready to take their first lead of the game when Terrence Nunn and Zac Taylor executed a fourth-and-2 pass that Nunn took to the Tiger 8-yard line. Thanks to a heads-up strip by Jason Simpson, Nunn left the ball at the 8, too, and David Overstreet swallowed it at the 3 to put the home team in business.
“It was (only) third quarter, but we felt really good about where we were,” Taylor said. “We put the ball in the end zone right there we’re in a good situation.”
Instead, 10 plays later, Smith broke free from Blake Tiedtke’s arm tackle on a 45-yard TD run. Talk about your game-changing moments.
“I think it broke their will a little bit,” Smith offered.
It also looked like it affected the Huskers’ ability to concentrate. NU’s fourth possession of the half started with a false-start penalty and ended with Taylor overthrowing a second-and-15 pass to Grant Mulkey that Overstreet picked off and returned to the Missouri 48.
Ten plays later (yes, again), Adam Crossett hit a 31-yard field goal and the Huskers were goners.
“We just came out flat and didn’t capitalize on certain situations when we should’ve, and then when you get down seven points and start turning the ball over, there’s not a whole lot of hope there,” Taylor said.
In terms of lost causes, the Huskers pretty much covered the bases. In addition to Nunn’s fumble, Taylor’s two interceptions, a handful of dropped passes and drive-killing penalties, Big Red managed just 279 yards (including a never-should-happen minus 2 yards rushing).
“I don’t think we took a step backward. You know, you’re not going to play great every day,” Taylor said of the offense’s struggles. “But we should’ve bounced back better in the second half than we did.
“We just didn’t do the things that we needed to do to win the game — turnovers and penalties were a big part of that. Missouri played great, but penalties? That’s nothing Missouri did to us. The turnovers? They did a good job of putting pressure on us, but those are situations I probably just should’ve took the ball and taken a loss.”
The Huskers took a loss, all right. This one, however, was the kind that should make you think Saturday’s home game against Oklahoma will be just as important to their season as all those Miami-or-bust November clashes they used to have with the Sooners.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.