COLUMBIA, Mo. — Brad Smith did not stick around to watch the college kids destruct $12,000 worth of school property.

When the goal posts came down at Faurot Field on Saturday afternoon to celebrate Missouri’s 41-24  win against Nebraska, the man who actually made them come down was nowhere to be seen.

“I went to the locker room,” the Missouri senior quarterback said. “I was tired. I just wanted to sit down.”

His legs had worn themselves out, dodging and annoying Nebraska defenders to the tune of 246 yards on 28 carries. Just to show he wasn’t all feet, he also threw for 234 more.

Add it up and it’s enough to make a Nebraska fan want to chuck a Runza at the nearest wall. That’s 480 total yards by Smith, the new  Missouri record holder for total offense in a game.

The first quarter was particularly hurtful to the Husker cause. Smith simply had his way, rushing for 145 yards and passing for 142 more in just 15 minutes.

One time, he ran around the corner for 53 yards. Another time, he muscled away from the grasp of blitzing linebacker Adam Ickes. From there, Smith scooted up the middle 79 yards for a touchdown. That made it 21-3.

There were times, like the play with Ickes, when the Huskers thought they were about to pop Smith something good.

But it always seemed Smith would twirl for five more yards, or just kick his feet into another gear and leave someone seeing the back of his jersey.

“It was there. It was great play-calling, great blocking and execution by everyone out there,” said Smith, who often utilized misdirection to beat a hard-charging defense. “My teammates just got on people and all I did was find a lane and run.”

He ran for three touchdowns and passed for another. He made it look easy.

“He’s smoke and mirrors,” said defensive teammate Lorenzo Williams. “That’s the illusion. He’s right there and then he’s gone. Dude’s great.”

Yet, for all his greatness, Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel pulled Smith from the game after his quarterback had marched the Tigers on three straight touchdown drives to start the contest.

The Tigers have another young quarterback they like named Chase Daniel, a freshman who played quite well in a win against Iowa State a week ago.

But putting Daniel in seemed a woeful decision considering the way Smith was befuddling the Huskers. On his lone full series at  quarterback, Daniel’s team went nowhere and was forced to punt.

Smith came back in a series later, but the damage was already done. Nebraska seemed to gain momentum from its first defensive stop and rallied the troops to tie the game at 24 by halftime.

Asked why he pulled Smith, Pinkel acted like that’s just the way it had to be, even if he was pulling a guy who had 287 total yards of offense in three series.

“It’s important that (Daniel) plays,” Pinkel said. “He isn’t perfect all the time, he struggled today, but that is something that we are going to continue to do.”

While Nebraska seemed to have the momentum going into halftime, Pinkel said there were no Rockne speeches in the locker room.

“It was 0-0,” Pinkel said of the halftime situation. “If you can’t do it in the second half, you won’t get it done. You might as well sack up your pants and go home.”

While Smith was the flavor of the day, Missouri’s oft-maligned defense was his equal in the second half. The Tigers held Nebraska scoreless the last 30 minutes and caused three turnovers.

The biggest one came in the third quarter with the score tied at 24. Jason Simpson caused Husker receiver Terrence Nunn to fumble inside the Tiger 10-yard-line.

Pinkel called it maybe the most critical play of the game.

Smith said, “I think it broke their will a little bit.”

From there, Smith drove the Tigers 97 yards for what proved to be the game-turning touchdown.

The quarterback said there was little talking in the huddle during the drive. At that point in game “it just comes down to heart and guts.”

The drive ended fittingly, with Smith shrugging off NU’s Blake Tiedtke on the way to a 45-yard TD run.

“He looks like he’s jogging out there,” said Mizzou defensive lineman Brian Smith. “I’d hate to see him when he’s running fast.”

Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7438 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.