Big 12 Championship: Missouri vs. Oklahoma — December 6, 2008
Missouri has a shot at redemption
In a repeat matchup of last year's Big 12 Championship, the roles that Missouri and Oklahoma play have switched. This year, Missouri is looking to play the role of heartbreaker as the No. 2 Sooners are one win away from the National Championship game.
A year ago, Missouri entered the game as the No. 1 team in the nation, but fell out of a BCS bowl game completely with a 38-17 loss to Oklahoma.
The chances for Missouri winning tonight, seem to be even slimmer than last year. The Tigers are coming off a devastating loss to arch rival Kansas last week and have dropped to No. 20 in the country.
Here's what it comes down to. There's about a 95 percent chance Oklahoma will wipe the floor with the Tigers. The Sooners sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford has been nothing short of remarkable all season long. He leads the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation, averaging over 53 points per game.
But still, there is a very legitimate, yet remote, five percent chance that the Tigers pull the upset of the season tonight. This is still the same team that was considered a National Championship caliber group to start the season.
In order to win, senior quarterback Chase Daniel must be masterful. If Missouri's offense plays to its absolute greatest potential it can score on just about every drive. The Sooners passing defense is No. 98 in the country, averaging about 250 yards allowed through the air per game.
So, if the Tiger's offense plays out of its mind and goes point-for-point with Oklahoma, it's going to come down to a few lucky breaks. That means turnovers and special teams. Missouri must force a fumble, tip passes and have explosion from sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Maclin on kick returns.
This is all very unlikely, but why not hope? Stranger things have happened.
Prediction: Missouri 45, Oklahoma 52
Sooners settle for a field goal
Oklahoma's opening drive was the most efficient Missouri has seen all season. They moved the ball for solid yardage on every single play. The Sooners did nothing spectacular, they just made it look easy. But Missouri's defense did everything it needed to — bend but don't break.
After a 13-play drive Oklahoma had to settle for an ugly looking field goal, that just barely made it through the uprights.Bradford looked smart and composed, but the real story was the offensive line. It allowed Bradford to sit in the pocket, scan the field and make a read without out even knowing that Missouri had a defensive line.
While this seems like a bad sign for the Tigers, we saw how ineffective the blitz was last week, so Eberflus may just be sacrificing the pass rush in hopes of better coverage.
The Tigers MUST get off to a good start offensively. They have put themselves in the exact position that they wanted to. Taking an early lead will establish some broken confidence from last week.
Tiger's defense forces three-and-out
After fluidly moving the ball down the field, Missouri failed to convert on a crucial third and two play, forcing them to attempt a 47-yard field goal that senior kicker Jeff Wolfert couldn't hit. Missouri had an opportunity to take all of the momentum, but handed it right back to OU.
The Missouri defense was able to come up with another huge stop, forcing Oklahoma to go three-and-out. After a personal foul after third down and a shanked punt Missouri has excellent field position starting on the Sooners 41 yard line.
Tigers can't convert offensively
Missouri had no hope of moving the ball on its next drive. Oklahoma's defense was absolutely ferocious, forcing a quick Tiger's punt. MU was able to pin Oklahoma back on its own 10-yard line, but still, trading punts is not going to be enough.
The offense is what can make Missouri great, and if the defense is going to step up against arguable the best offense in the nation, Daniel needs to take advantage of the opportunities early.
On a side note it looks like Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray has some sort of injury on the side lines.
Oklahoma offense gets in the endzone
As a Missouri fan, this could be the most painful way to lose a game. It's absolutely incredible that when the defense comes out and presents, what's supposed to be an explosive offense, with two opportunities to take the lead, they can't get it done.
The Tigers could be winning this game 14-10 if not, by a bigger advantage, but they're not playing well...again. The offensive line can't protect Daniel, so they constantly look confused.
If Missouri's going to go down, it should be in a shootout. Not like this.
Missouri relies on luck for first score
Missouri got into the endzone for the first time via a 27-yard slant to Maclin. The play never should have happened. On a third-and-two around the 25 yard line, Missouri lined up with only a center and two guards. The rest of the line was lined up far to the right. Washington caught a screen pass and didn't convert the third down, but luckily for the Tigers, they were flagged for illegal formation.
For some reason, Stoops decided to push Missouri back five yards and let them try again. That's when Maclin took it to the house. It put Missouri back in the game, but please, that play call was embarrassing. If Missouri wants to be a true Big 12 power house, it must stop running gadget plays in crucial situations. Being Boise State isn't the image it should be going for. It's time for the Tigers to man up and win a game with confidence, not trickery.
Sooners score again
It's not a surprise at this point that Oklahoma is going to get into the endzone just about every time it has the ball. Missouri's defense looked good, but credit touchdown number two to the offensive line. Bradford had time for tea and a quick nap before he found wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias open in the endzone.
From here on out it's going to be up to Missouri's offense to match Oklahoma's. It's like I wrote in the preview, Missouri has a 5 percent chance of winning, and that will be credit to turnovers and special teams. The offense has to keep rolling and take advantage of possible breaks.
This could get ugly
Ballgame. Missouri's offense has proved that it's not capable of scoring at will, and Oklahoma has showed the opposite. With the Tigers trailing by 10 and driving in OU territory, Daniel fumbled the ball on a run for the second week in a row.
Once again, the Sooners moved the ball with ease and now lead 24-7. This is not a team that allows comebacks. It's offense is too dominant to let teams creep back in there.
Maybe Missouri can get it going and keep it in reach, but the likelihood of a win seems to be next to nothing.
Tigers no match for the Sooners
Oklahoma is now cruising in all facets of the game. The offense is unstoppable and the defense is making Missouri look like its practice squad. After Oklahoma took a 31-7 lead, the Tigers responded by turning the ball over once again. This time Daniel gave the ball away on an easy interception.
With a 38-7 advantage going into halftime, we may even see Bradford on the bench at some point in the second half. Who thought there would be scrub time in the Big 12 Championship? It's a sad reality.
Second half snoozefest
With four minutes remaining in the third quarter Missouri now trails 41-14 after an Oklahoma field goal and Daniel touchdown pass to Tommy Saunders.
At this point, whatever Missouri does it's going to be too little too late. The Tigers have put themselves in a hole that's not possible to climb out of.
Plenty of the Missouri fan base knows this as well as the seats on the MU side are beginning to empty.
Tigers wait for clock to strike zero
With Oklahoma now leading 55-21 all Missouri can really hope for now is the clock to run out in a hurry. The Tigers will continue to try and put points on the board to keep some sense of pride.
Tonight was simply Oklahoma's night. The Sooners came out and sent a message that they deserved to play in this game and eventually in the National Championship.
As for Missouri, it's destiny is still unclear. The Tigers will play in a bowl game, most likely the Alamo or Holiday Bowl.
