Tigers conclude season in Alamo Bowl against Northwestern

Tigers would have 10 wins if they win in the Alamo Bowl.

By Nick Forrester

Published Dec. 11, 2008

Dec. 7 didn't quite live up to the dreams of Missouri Tiger football fans. No trips to the National Championship were announced and no one was invited to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Instead, it was just the day after a 62-21 loss in the Big 12 title game to the Oklahoma Sooners. It was the day when the Tigers were the sixth Big 12 team selected for a bowl game, accepting a bid to the Alamo Bowl against the Northwestern Wildcats.

"It's disappointing," quarterback Chase Daniel said. "I know fans wanted to see more out of us and, believe me, we gave it our all, and I apologize to the fans that we couldn't get it done."

Going into the Oklahoma State game Oct. 11, the Tigers were 5-0, ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation and seemed to be an unstoppable force.

On Missouri's first drive, the Tigers faced first and goal from the 5-yard line when Oklahoma State stopped sophomore tailback Derrick Washington for a 2-yard loss. Then the Cowboys stopped senior tight end Chase Coffman over the middle. Washington then ran up the middle on third down and was stopped again.

Facing fourth and goal on the 1-yard line, Missouri opted to settle for a field goal. All of a sudden, the big, bad Missouri offense wasn't so intimidating anymore. Oklahoma State forced a Missouri punt on the next series, and the offense's usual swagger no longer existed.

Including the 28-23 loss to Oklahoma State, the Tigers have gone 4-4 since the middle of October. Those three plays dictated what turned out to be a disappointing season. Since then, the Missouri offense hasn't been what it was originally hyped up to be.

Now the Tigers are headed to the Alamo Bowl to play Northwestern, which finished fourth in a struggling Big Ten conference.

"We are excited to be playing in such a quality game as the Alamo Bowl," coach Gary Pinkel said. "Going to a great city like San Antonio is a good reward for our team, which has worked very hard and done some great things this season. This game is extremely important for us and we look forward to playing our very best against a very good Northwestern team."

The Tigers and Wildcats have both faced the Illinois Fighting Illini. Missouri defeated Illinois 52-42 on Aug. 30, but the Wildcats ended their regular season with a 27-10 victory against the Illini.

If Missouri wins, then it would become the first team in school history to have 10 wins in back-to-back seasons.

"If we can get 10 wins, then I think we'll be known as one of the better teams in Missouri history," Daniel said. "We still have a chance to make history and we're excited about that."