Missouri defense clears path for comeback

The next test for the team is Saturday against the Furman Paladins.

By Sean Leahy

Published Sept. 12, 2009, last updated 10:41 p.m., Sept. 21, 2009

The Tiger defense knew its counterparts on offense would find their way. All they had to do was wait for sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert and Co. to get there.

In Missouri's 27-20 comeback win over Bowling Green, the Tiger defense clamped down and allowed no points for the majority of the second half.

"That's how it goes sometimes," junior cornerback Carl Gettis said. "When the offense struggles, we know as a defense we need to pick them up. We knew sooner or later in the second half our offense was going to come along and make some big plays."

When Falcons junior running back Willie Geter charged into the end zone from one-yard out with 9:44 left in the third quarter, Missouri found itself in a 20-6 hole.

With the Tiger offense stalling, coach Gary Pinkel knew it was time for his team to make a stand.

"When it was 20-6 about five minutes into the third quarter, it was a big gut check time for our football team," Pinkel said.

The Tigers answered the call and stopped the bleeding to open a door for a Missouri comeback in the third and fourth quarters.

While Gabbert was busy engineering a charge to take the lead, the Tigers kept Bowling Green off the field and off the scoreboard.

"It just shows the fight this team has," senior nose tackle Jaron Baston said.

After the Geter touchdown, Missouri forced Bowling Green into four straight punts and a failed fourth down pass attempt that sealed the victory.

Redshirt freshman Aldon Smith might have put the exclamation point on the Tigers' defensive surge.

Missouri had just tied the game at 20 with a 33-yard touchdown catch by sophomore wide receiver Wes Kemp with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

With Bowling Green at its own 40-yard line and facing a third-and-seven, Falcon senior Tyler Sheehan dropped back to pass. With no open receivers, Sheehan was flushed out of the pocket by a charging Smith and was sacked for a loss of 18 yards.

The Faurot Field crowd erupted, and Bowling Green, facing a fourth-and-25, was forced to punt.

"That pretty much gave us all the momentum at that point," Gettis said. "After that we were rolling."

Baston recognized the importance of finishing strong at the end of the game.

"You only can win the game in the fourth quarter and I think we played our best football in the fourth quarter," Baston said.

Missouri found itself behind for the first time this season when Sheehan connected with redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ray Hutson for an 11-yard touchdown near the end of the first quarter.

After Gabbert fumbled on a sack, the Falcons took advantage of prime field position and padded their lead to 10-0. Another field goal made it 13-0 Bowling Green before the Tigers got on the board with a field goal of their own.

Baston expected Missouri's foe from the MAC conference would put up a fight.

"We saw all last weekend, teams from those other conferences are coming in and really playing good football against these big conference teams," Baston said.

In the end, Missouri came out with a win and an early-season test of its mettle.

"I thought we responded well," Pinkel said. "I'm proud of our football team for battling and finding a way to win."

The Tiger's next defensive test will come against the Furman Paladins on Saturday at Faurot Field.

The Paladins have lit up the scoreboard on their way to winning the first two games of the season. A week after opening 2009 with a 45-21 scorching of Presbyterian, Furman defeated Chattanooga 38-20 last weekend.

Featuring a balanced attack, the Paladins are averaging more than 200 yards rushing and passing so far this season.

The Tiger secondary will have to deal with Furman lefty senior quarterback Jordan Sorrells, who has completed 71 percent of his passes and racked up four touchdowns this year.