Tigers shut out Buffaloes to remain undefeated

The Tigers capitalized on efforts from the special teams to earn the victory.

By John Montesantos

Published Oct. 9, 2010

The Missouri football team moved to 5-0 Saturday with a 26-0 win over visiting Colorado. The shutout victory came in the fourth-straight home game and the first conference contest for the Tigers.

Missouri continued their recent rout of Colorado with the commanding win; the Tigers have beaten the Buffaloes in the past four years by a combined margin of 175 to 27.

The Missouri offense was slow to start as the sun set on Faurot Field, with their only points through twenty minutes of play coming from a safety and a field goal. It took a run off of a fake punt for the Tigers to get into the red zone and score.

Sophomore punter Trey Barrow was second in rushing for the Tigers with the 26-yard run after the fake.

"I thought it was a really fun play,” Barrow said. “I think I was more excited than nervous because it had been working in practice. It was exciting to get an opportunity to do that.”

After Colorado continued to stall the running game, Missouri finally put together a good scoring drive with time ticking down in the first half. Junior quarterback Blaine Gabbert and company took the ball 97 yards for the score after a punt pinned them deep.

“It was a huge drive,” Coach Gary Pinkel said. “We were struggling. That was a huge momentum drive right before halftime. Score wise that really separated us.”

Saturday’s game fulfilled Missouri’s 2010 tendency of spotty offense and steadfast defense. The defense and special teams shined in the victory, blocking both a punt and a field goal as well as earning the shutout.

Senior linebacker Andrew Gachkar led the red zone stand in the final minutes to keep the shutout.

“We love the goose egg on the board,” Gachkar said. “They came down at the very end of the game and wanted that touchdown. We didn’t like that in our house so we knew we had to stop them.”

At one point in the second half, Gabbert fumbled to give the Buffaloes the ball at the Tiger 13-yard line. The defense forced Colorado backwards into a 40-yard field goal try, which they blocked.

After a stagnant third quarter for both sides, freshman quarterback James Franklin resurrected the Tiger offense. Franklin stepped in for an injured Gabbert who came out with a hip pointer and didn’t return.

Franklin found junior tight end Michael Egnew in the back of the end zone for the first passing touchdown of his Missouri career. The touchdown catch was Egnew’s second of the day to go with his 52 yards on six receptions.

Although it was the first shutout of the season for the Tigers, the inconsistent offense still leaves the team with much room for improvement. Come-from-behind wins over Illinois and San Diego State and a little underachieving against Colorado might leave a bad taste in their mouth going into the meat of their schedule.

But no matter how they get the wins, a No. 24 ranking and the 5-0 record have the Tiger players satisfied.

“Any 5-0 is better than no 5-0,” junior wide receiver Wes Kemp said. “A win is a win, especially when you get into conference play.”

Next up for the Tigers is their first away game at No. 17 Texas A&M on Oct. 16. The Aggies are 3-2 and come off a close loss to Arkansas last week.