'Comedy of Errors' leaves game in doubt until end
Published Sept. 2, 2007
ST. LOUIS - No team with goals of going to a conference championship lets a 2-10 team challenge them until the final minute of the game unless they make an abundance of mistakes. Missouri did just that in their opener against the Illinois Fighting Illini and barely escaped with a 40-34 win in front of 62,352 at the Edward Jones Dome. Tigers coach Gary Pinkel said he was glad his team won but noted there was a lot to improve on before next Saturday's game at Mississippi.
"I'm very disappointed with the comedy of errors we made," he said. "There are a lot of things that need to be corrected."
Those errors included a blocked punt returned by Illinois for a touchdown, another Adam Crossett punt that was shanked off his foot for no yards, as well as two fumbles.
"When you make errors, this is the kind of game you will have," Pinkel said.
Up 37-13 in the third quarter, Missouri let the Illini rally after MU sophomore wide receiver Donario Alexander fumbled MU senior tailback Tony Temple's handoff on a reverse. Illinois senior Antonio Steele recovered the ball, and Illinois freshman quarterback Eddie McGee connected with junior wide receive Kyle Hudson for a touchdown on the next play.
"It was just one of those things," Temple said of the fumble. "It was not a good exchange at all, and things like that happen."
On the next drive, MU junior quarterback Chase Daniel fumbled right before he could throw a pass, and Illinois junior lineman Derek Walker recovered the ball at the Tigers' five-yard line. Two plays later, junior running back Rashard Mendenhall ran four yards for a touchdown, and the Tigers led just by three points, with a score of 37-34. Daniel said Illinois' pressure threw him off balance.
"[Illinois'] line was great," he said. "They got to us and made us fumble."
Illinois scored its first touchdown thanks to a blocked punt off the foot of MU's senior punter Adam Crossett, who stood near the goal line. Nobody on the Tiger line picked up sophomore defensive back Vontae Davis, who cleanly blocked Crossett, and dove on the ball for a touchdown.
"It was a typical punt set up," Pinkel said. "Four-on-four on each side and we just didn't execute."
In the second quarter, Crossett was pressured off a high snap on a punt, ran to his right and badly clubbed a punt off the side of his foot that went out of bounds at the line of scrimmage. Crossett said he was rushed and made the mistake of not setting himself.
"I just got hurried and didn't focus," he said. "I definitely wish I could take that one back."
But, despite their mistakes, the Tigers still are 1-0 headed to Oxford, Miss., next week. Pinkel said he's still going to enjoy the win against Illinois.
"In my business, you enjoy a win," he said. "[The players] had better enjoy it too." Crossett said he didn't feel lucky to come out of St. Louis with a win, noting that Illinois benefited from all of the errors and still lost. "Conversely, you could say they were lucky," he said. "Weren't they lucky to be in it as long as they were?"
Senior tight end Martin Rucker said over the course of a season, every good team has games like the one Missouri had Saturday. "You're not going to win every game by 30 points," he said. "And considering how poorly we did play, to still win is encouraging in a lot of ways."