COLUMBIA, Mo. — Nebraska free safety Blake Tiedtke charged toward Missouri quarterback Brad Smith on an all-out blitz.

Tiedtke hammered Smith to the ground, drawing a roughing-the-passer penalty. The Faurot Field crowd showered Tiedtke with a loud chorus of boos.

Tiedtke disagreed with the call.

“I hit him square,” he said.

Despite Tiedtke’s hit, Smith completed the pass to wideout William Franklin for a gain of 12 yards. With penalty yards tacked on, Missouri received a first down at Nebraska’s 29-yard line, and tailback Tony Temple’s 14-yard touchdown run four plays later finished the scoring and essentially finished the Huskers’ chances.

It was a long day for Nebraska’s defense, which allowed big play after big play in the first quarter, allowing Missouri to bolt to a 21-3 lead.

“At that point, we were making mistakes,” said Tiedtke, who finished with five tackles. “It wasn’t really anything they were doing; we were having too many breakdowns.

“I can’t point to anything specific. I’ll have to watch the films first.”

Linebacker Bo Ruud led the Huskers with 12 tackles.

Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove said he’s confident his defenders will bounce back strong this week against Oklahoma in Lincoln.

“We’re a confident defense,” he said.

Taylor resilient

Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor said he wasn’t frustrated by the Husker receivers’ tendency to drop passes Saturday.

“Guys drop balls, I miss passes sometimes,” he said. “Me and the receivers, we’ll step up and make big plays next week.”

Nebraska redshirt freshman wideout Nate Swift had a career-best day with nine catches for 135 yards and his first career touchdown. However, Swift dropped two passes, and wideouts Grant Mulkey and Frantz Hardy also dropped a pass apiece.

“I think I was thinking about running after the catch and took my eye off the ball,” Swift said of his drops.

At least three of Nebraska’s dropped passes occurred on third-down plays that would’ve resulted in first downs.

Peterson’s big day

Todd Peterson, a redshirt freshman wideout from Grand Island, hauled in a 34-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. It was Peterson’s second career catch, both for TDs. He finished with three catches for 65 yards.

“Coming into the season, I told everybody this young man is going to get better and better,” Husker wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore said.

Peterson — who turned down a scholarship offer from Stanford to walk on at Nebraska — was among a rotation of wideouts Saturday that included neither junior Isaiah Fluellen (sidelined with a hamstring injury) nor senior Mark LeFlore.

Unlike Fluellen, LeFlore made the trip and was in uniform.

“I played the guys I feel give us the best chance to win,” Gilmore said.

Taylor’s grind

Nebraska’s loss marked the fourth straight game Taylor has thrown at least two touchdown passes after having just one TD pass in the first three games combined. Taylor’s 281 passing yards represented his second-highest total of the season.

He also probably absorbed more hits than he had in any game. He was sacked four times and smacked several other times as he released the ball. He admitted afterward that he was “a little worn out.”

“They blitz — that’s what they always do,” he said. “It wasn’t anything we didn’t prepare for. They just executed better than us.”

Familiar play

Missouri’s first touchdown, when Tommy Saunders hauled in a pass that was knocked out of Franklin’s hands, reminded some folks of Matt Davison’s miracle catch against the Tigers in 1997.

Davison, who now works as a sideline reporter for the Pinnacle Sports Network, didn’t see the play when it happened Saturday. But he later remarked to former Husker quarterback Scott Frost, who threw that famous 1997 pass and was standing nearby Saturday, “Something like that’s happened down there before.”

Etc.

 Nebraska recorded four sacks to push its nation-leading season total to 38. … Husker senior safety Daniel Bullocks’ second-quarter punt block was the first of his career. … NU sophomore cornerback Cortney Grixby made the first interception of his career on the final play of the first half. …. True freshman I-back Marlon Lucky returned two kickoffs for 56 yards, including a 38-yard burst in the third quarter. … The victory gave MU coach Gary Pinkel his 100th career victory and evened his record at Missouri at 27-27.