Mizzou Tiger roar hardly scary in win over IllinI

From OWH:
Barfknecht

It might be time for those who voted Missouri as the Big 12 North Division football favorite to ask for a new ballot.

No, the Tigers didn't lose Saturday. They beat Illinois 40-34. Yes, I realize it was the first game of the season. And after 28 years of doing this, I know how dangerous initial impressions can be.

But I wonder how many folks in black and gold left the Edward Jones Dome truly feeling good after seeing a litany of troublesome signs from a team supposedly on the cusp of a breakthrough after 38 years without a conference title.

Needing an interception at your 1-yard line with 51 seconds left to hold off an opponent that was 2-10 last season seems worth a wrinkle line or two.

Of course, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel disagrees, despite saying he was "very disappointed in the comedy of errors we made."

"In my business, you enjoy winning," Pinkel said. "So don't go there with my team."

Senior tight end Martin Rucker had his happy face on.

"To come out against a Big Ten opponent - not some Division I-AA or lower team - and to battle to the end and come out on top after as poorly as we played," he said, "well, that's big."

But Missouri did many things that teams hopeful of winning championships can't do. Let's count them:

1: The Tiger defense gave up 313 yards and 28 points in the second half to an offense being led by a backup quarterback playing his first college game.

Illinois redshirt freshman Eddie McGee, who came in cold for the injured Juice Williams in the second quarter, got hot in a hurry. He finished with 280 total yards and two touchdowns. Overall, Illinois outgained Missouri 435 yards to 429.

2: The Missouri punting game. Cue the circus music. In the first quarter, Illinois blocked a punt for a touchdown. In the second quarter, a high snap forced MU's Adam Crossett to try to kick on the run. His zero-yard punt set Illinois up at the Tigers' 23.

3: Lack of a killer instinct. After building a 24-point lead in the third quarter, MU lost a fumble, went three-and-out, lost another fumble and again went three-and-out, helping Illinois close to 37-34 with 13:48 to play.

4: Pinkel showed midseason form in the category of goofy strategic decisions. After a touchdown that put Missouri up 13-6 in the second quarter, he inexplicably went for a 2-point conversion. The run failed.

As Illinois drove deep into Missouri territory near game's end down by just six points, that decision looked like a potential game-decider. But Pinkel said he made the call according to a 2-point chart he has used for 35 years and would make the call again "and I wouldn't have lost a bit of sleep over it."

5: More frustration trying to run the ball near the goal line out of the shotgun spread, something that cost Missouri dearly last season in losses to Oklahoma and Iowa State.

The Tigers showed one new wrinkle with a direct snap to the 6-foot-6, 255-pound Rucker, good for runs of 4 and 7 yards. But twice Missouri ended up passing when down deep - on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1 and third-and-goal at the 2. (Note that both resulted in touchdowns.)

The good news for Missouri is that strong safety Pig Brown became a glory hog and wideout Jeremy Maclin decided to show off for the home folks.

Brown, who says his "government" name is Cornelius, blocked an extra point in the first quarter; recovered fumbles on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter, returning one 100 yards for a touchdown; and intercepted Illinois' last pass at the goal line.

"He won the game for us," Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel said. "He made two game-breaking plays."

So did Maclin. The suburban St. Louis kid, expected to play last season as a true freshman before blowing out a knee in the preseason, showed he hasn't lost much of his 4.3-second speed.

In the third quarter, he grabbed a 25-yard touchdown pass from Daniel, then returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown for a 37-13 Missouri lead.

"It felt great to do this in front of my hometown crowd," said Maclin, who will be promoted to a starting spot this week after two Missouri receivers - Danario Alexander (wrist) and Will Franklin (hip pointer) - were injured during the game.

So what's the correct conclusion to draw from this 3 hours and 49 minutes of frenzied football?

Pinkel says the mistakes are correctable and that his team "found a way to make plays at the end to win."

But when the Tigers peek at the box score from Nebraska's 52-10 drilling of Nevada and see some old-fashioned smash-mouth statistics - 233 rushing yards from I-back Marlon Lucky and more than 600 total yards - they can't help but wonder how secure their status is as the North favorite.