The largest crowd ever to see a football game in Lincoln, Nebraska – 85,197 – leaves Memorial Stadium happy as the Nebraska Cornhuskers lead from start to finish, beating the Missouri Tigers 34-20.
Nebraska jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead. Wide receiver Maurice Purify passed for one touchdown and caught another. His 28-yard pass to Terrence Nunn gave Nebraska its first major of the day late in the 1st quarter. Early in the 2nd quarter, Purify caught a 7-yard toss from Zac Taylor, who passed for 208 yards on the day, including two touchdowns.
Jeff Wolfert’s 26-yard field goal with 9:58 remaining in the 2nd quarter gave Mizzou its first points of the day. The Huskers stretched their lead to 27-3 before Wolfert struck again, this time from 54 yards out – his career longest – as the 1st half ended.
Mizzou managed a two touchdowns in the 2nd half. Chase Daniel hit Martin Rucker with a 6-yard pass to make the score 27-13. But Nebraska wasted little time regaining its 21 point lead on a 2-yard Brandon Jackson touchdown run that capped a 13 play, 85-yard drive. Mizzou hit paydirt again with 8:10 remaining in the game as Chase Daniel connected on a 19-yard touchdown pass to Chase Coffman to complete an 18 play, 80-yard scoring drive. But that was the end of the scoring, with the Cornhuskers holding onto their two converted touchdown lead.
The loss all but eliminates the Tigers from a shot at winning the Big 12 North. Missouri is now 7-3 on the season, 3-3 in the Big 12. The Huskers and Tigers each have two games remaining. Nebraska (7-3, 4-2) needs any combination of one win or one Missouri loss in those remaining games to secure a spot in the Big 12 title game in Kansas City.
Related web sites:
Missouri Tigers
Nebraska Cornhuskers