Tigers to play Oklahoma for anything but revenge

By Ryan Huber

Published Nov. 30, 2007

Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, there have been 133 men's Big 12 titles claimed. Missouri holds none. Perhaps even more unnerving is the fact that Big 12 programs have won 30 national team titles total, while again, Missouri has zero.

With a chance to snap both of these statistics and put Missouri into the national spotlight as a powerhouse in the Big 12, the Missouri Tigers' defense is "over-preparing" for Saturday's Big 12 Championship Game in San Antonio.

"Last time was last time," senior defensive tackle Lorenzo Williams said about the team's loss to Oklahoma earlier this season. "We are a completely different football team now. They are a different football team. So we can't look at last time. We have to look at what we can do now, how we prepare and how we get ready to go."

With so much attention on the Tiger offense, the evolution of the young Missouri defense throughout this season has gone nearly unnoticed. Last week, the Tiger defense held the Kansas Jayhawks, who averaged nearly 46 points a game, scoreless until 7 minutes, 21 seconds were left in the third quarter. They protected the red zone on three separate occasions. During the Tigers first four games, the defense gave up an average of 434.5 yards per game, ranking them 11th in the Big 12. Over the last eight games, though, MU topped the Big 12 with an average of 353.9 yards per game.

"We started out a lot slower than we wanted to," junior linebacker Brock Christopher said. "Even right now and playing as well as we are, we aren't nearly where we want to be. We still want to slow down the run against offenses, and we want to stop the passing. We gave up a lot of passing yards last game, and we can't do that against OU and expect to come with a victory."

OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said he is well aware of the improvements the Tiger defense has made since the clash in Norman, Okla., five weeks ago.

"They have been as consistent as any team at least in our league," he said.

The defense will have its hands full with OU freshman quarterback Sam Bradford. The versatile player leads the Sooners and the nation with a 182.2 passing efficiency rating. Bradford scored in 35 of 36 quarters this year.

"He is really poised in the pocket, especially for a freshman," Williams said. "I know a couple of times last game I was trying to kill him but he was still getting the ball off and making big plays."

OU, for the fifth time in school history, has two running backs who have at least one 100-yard running game each. Williams said it is crucial to stop them.

"Stop the run and get to the quarterback," he said. "Those are the keys to every game we play, but more importantly this week."