Live blog: Missouri vs. Illinois (Sept. 4, 2010) — September 4, 2010
Missouri vs. Illinois: pregame notes
The 2010 football season is almost underway as we are a little over an hour away from kickoff at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
The stakes are raised for two players in the game today. Redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Sceelhaase is making his first career start for the Illini, while all eyes will be on Tiger sophomore tailback Kendial Lawrence as he tries to fill the spot of the permanently suspended Derrick Washington.
The Tigers defeated the Illini 37-9 in the Border Showdown last year.
Follow this live blog for updates throughout the game.
Tigers stall on first drive of the 2010 season
The Tigers won the toss and elected to receive, starting the first drive of the season at the 22-yard line after senior cornerback Jasper Simmons's return.
Missouri went with three straight passes; the first incomplete, then Gabbert connected with Egnew on the sideline for no gain on second down.
The Tigers were then forced to punt after Gabbert scrambled and threw it long and incomplete on third down.
Illinios strikes the scoreboard first with field goal
The Tigers gave up two quick first downs on the first drive for the Illini before stopping them on a third down in Missouri territory. But an unnecessary roughness call on defensive end Jacquies Smith gave Illinois an automatic first down to the Missouri 25-yard line.
Illinois got as close as the MU 3-yard line, but an offside on the offense and some big goal line stops by the Tigers forced them to kick a 21-yard field goal.
The Illini drive featured 12 rushes and 5 passes for a total of 64 yards.
Fumble forced by Illinois to end Tiger drive
The Tigers complete a pair of long passes for first downs and enter Illinois territory. But Gabbert fumbles on a rush up the middle and the Illini take over at their own 35-yard line.
Tigers get it back on second fumble of the first quarter
The Tiger defense gets it right back on a fumble recovered by defensive end Brad Madison. Missouri started their third drive of the game on their own 48.
A quick first down and a rush to end the quarter puts the Tigers on the Illinois 35-yard line with second down to start the second quarter.
Illini lead 3-0 after one quarter.
Ressel misses wide right on tying field goal attempt
The Illinois defense held the Tigers on their first third down of the second quarter, forcing a 37-yard field goal attempt for Missouri.
Junior place kicker Grant Ressel missed wide right and now the Illini take over at their own 20.
Simmons intercepts deep pass from Scheelhaase
Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase threw it deep on third down and the pass was picked off by Missouri free safety Jasper Simmons.
The Tigers start the drive on their own 40.
Tigers tie it up with 34-yard field goal
The Missouri offense posted a 12-play drive from their own 40 to enter Illinois territory.
Grant Ressel then made up for his earlier miss and connected on the 34-yard field goal to tie the score at 3 midway through the second quarter.
Illinois answers with scoring drive, take 10-3 lead
Nathan Scheelhaase capped an 8-play, 82-yard drive for the Illini with a 13-yard touchdown pass to junior A.J. Jenkins. Illinois now leads it 10-3 with 2:10 left in the first half.
Ugly end to the first half for Tigers
The Tigers started an ineffective offensive drive from their own 20-yard line after the Illinois score. After moving the markers on their first set of downs, junior wide receiver Wes Kemp dropped a big second down pass across the middle from Gabbert.
The drive ended with a sack on Gabbert for a big third down loss followed by a punt to the Illinois 30-yard line. The Illini took advantage with a 34-yard drive in just 45 seconds that was capped off by a 52-yard field goal by junior kicker Derek Dimke.
Illinois leads 13-3 at the half.
First half notes
Illinois leads 13-3 at the end of the first half.
The Illini dominated the running game in the first half, racking up 157 yards between tailback Mikel Leshoure and quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase. Missouri ruled the air with 114 yards on 20 attempts from Gabbert.
The Missouri running backs are struggling, with De'Vion Moore leading all Tiger rushers with just 15 yards on four carries.
There were 3 turnovers in the first half, with each team forcing and recovering a fumble and the Tiger secondary getting their first interception of 2010.
Also getting it done for the Missouri defense is defensive end Aldon Smith with a sack and 8 tackles in the first half.
The Illini struck first with a field goal, but the Tigers put themselves in position to tie it up twice, connecting on their second field goal attempt.
But Illinois took the lead back, posting the longest drive of the game with an 82-yard haul for the score. A Missouri three-and-out with under a minute remaining in the half opened the door for a final Illinois drive. The Illini pushed into Tiger territory and connected on a long field goal to make it 13-3.
Missouri capitalizes on first drive of second half
The Tigers finally found the end zone to start the third quarter after forcing an Illinois punt and controlling the ball for the next three minutes.
Gabbert scrambled left on the third-and-five attempt and found T.J. Moe in the corner of the end zone for the 7-yard touchdown connection.
The pass capped off the 10-play, 77-yard drive for the Tigers.
Third quarter update
There was little action from either team in the third quarter following the Tiger's score five minutes in.
The Illini recorded just one first down all quarter after the Missouri score, punting on both of their drives. The Tigers put together a nice drive but were forced to punt around midfield.
The Tigers will start the fourth quarter with the ball at the Illinois 37.
Tigers take the lead to start the fourth quarter
Missouri scored for the second time this half just over a minute into the fourth quarter. Gabbert found tight end Michael Egnew on the left side of the end zone for the 6-yard touchdown pass.
The score capped a 10-play, 69 yard scoring drive. The Tigers have now scored 14 unanswered points and have held Illinois scoreless in the second half.
Big interception from Gettis brings the offense back out
Scheelhaase under threw his receiver down the sideline on second down and senior cornerback Carl Gettis made a one-handed interception to get the ball back for the Tigers.
Gettis returned the ball into Illinois territory where the offense suffered a three-and-out. Gettis made another stellar play on the punt, downing the boot on the Illinois 1-yard line.
Missouri adds three more
Missouri started the drive in Illinois territory and gained nearly thirty yards to put themselves in field goal range.
Grant Ressel connected on the field goal from 27 yards out, making his two-for-three on the day. The Tigers now lead it 20-13.
Kenji Jackson nabs third Missouri interception
Junior strong safety Kenji Jackson grabs the Tigers' third interception of the day and ran it back deep into Illinois territory. But an illegal block and unsportsmanlike conduct put Missouri at their own 32-yard line.
The turnover came with just over five minutes remaining in the game and Missouri leading 20-13.
Last-chance reception for Illinois called out-of-bounds
Down a score with two minutes remaining, Illinois was forced to go for it on fourth-and-ten from their own 21-yard line. Scheelhaase scrambled, avoid a sack and connected with a receiver down the right sideline.
The ruling on the field was that the receiver's foot was out of bounds when he made the catch. His left foot appeared to be just inches out of bounds. The play was reviewed and ruling on the field stood.
The Missouri offense takes over deep in Illinois territory with time running out.
Tigers make it a two-score game late
Missouri ran the clock down to 31 seconds as Illinois was left with no remaining timeouts.
Grant Ressel then connected on the 35-yard field goal to make it 23-13 Tigers with just 27 seconds to play.
Tigers take sixth, final Arch Rivalry game 23-13
Missouri closed out its sixth and final Arch Rivalry game against Ilinois with a 23-13 win. Stay with The Maneater for an in-depth analysis of the game on our website and photos.