Tigers start, finish strong in win over Wildcats

Missouri scored its first second half touchdown since Sept. 25.

By Evan Glantz

Published Nov. 14, 2009

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Against Kansas State, Missouri didn’t resemble the team that had gone without a second half touchdown since Sept. 25.

The Tigers built on a solid first half by finding the end zone three times in the third and fourth quarters to knock off the Big 12 North-leading Wildcats 38-12.

“I’m just real proud of our football team,” coach Gary Pinkel said. “That last week was a real tough week around Mizzou football. This game was about a lot of things. To me, this game was a step to preserving what we’ve built here. We’re building a tradition here at Missouri, and what we’ve been doing the past few weeks is bigger than anything. And I’ve stuffed that in my players’ faces.”

Early in the second half, it appeared the Tigers' offense was going to continue to toil after halftime.

On the first drive of the third quarter, following a Kansas State field goal, sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert was almost picked off, and Missouri went three-and-out.

By the end of their second possession of the quarter, the Wildcats had run 22 plays, (resulting in six points) and the Tigers had run three.

Then it all changed. On Missouri’s fourth play of the half, Gabbert and senior wide receiver Danario Alexander connected on an 80-yard touchdown pass, breaking the Tigers’ streak of more than 170 minutes without a touchdown in the second half.

“I think it took a weight off our shoulders to finally come out and get a touchdown in the second half,” Alexander said. “Once that happened, the offense just kept on rolling.”

Alexander had an outstanding day, totaling 10 catches for 200 yards and three touchdowns. His first score came on a 54-yard bomb from Gabbert, during which he leaped over a Kansas State defender to make the catch.

Gabbert said he found that particular catch of Alexander his most impressive.

“Definitely the one where he got behind the defender and made that jump ball catch,” Gabbert said. “He got open all day and made a bunch of plays. When you get him the football, he makes tremendous plays with it.”

A week after struggling in the second half against Baylor, Gabbert rebounded to post excellent numbers throughout the game. He completed 20 of his 27 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns.

“We had our backs up against the wall this week,” Gabbert said. “We had to come out here and show everyone what we’re made of. Last week sucked. I really don’t want to talk about it, but we got a big win here at Kansas State.”

Missouri also saw a boost in its running game. After a pass-heavy first half, the Tigers turned to the ground game as the contest progressed.

Junior tailback Derrick Washington had one of his most productive games of the season, even as he got fewer touches. He ran the ball 13 times for 68 yards and scored twice in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

“Today, we were playing for our pride, we were playing for Mizzou, we were playing for the fans, we were playing for the guys next to us, we had to do it,” Washington said. “We lost a lot of respect last week and we had to come back and earn it this week.”