mizzou

JASON WHITLOCK COMMENTARY
Mizzou leaves no doubt about which team is No. 1
The Missouri Tigers stated their case for No. 1 Saturday night, and only the clueless left Arrowhead Stadium unimpressed.

Oh, fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes and West Virginia Mountaineers might contend that the mother-of-all-border wars exposed previously undefeated Kansas as a fraud, and there may be a teeny kernel of truth in that sentiment.

But that reality doesn't eliminate what Saturday's showdown told us about the Tigers:

They're worthy of college football's No. 1 ranking. They're legitimate national-title contenders. And they're ready for their rematch with Oklahoma in next weekend's Big 12 title game.

In beating the Jayhawks 36-28, the Tigers removed much of the drama in Armageddon at Arrowhead, the most hyped, anticipated and significant game ever played inside the home of the Chiefs. Mizzou scored first, led 21-0 in the third quarter and controlled this contest from start to finish.

The victory secured the Tigers their first-ever Big 12 North crown, which gives Mizzou, 11-1, a chance to erase the lone blemish on its record, a 10-point road loss to the Sooners. If the Tigers beat Oklahoma, they'll likely play in the BCS title game in New Orleans.

I believe they'll knock off the Sooners.

Saturday night, the Tigers certainly looked like the most complete team in the Big 12, if not the nation.

No team in the country has a better pure passer than Chase Daniel.

Daniel's precise passing shredded a Kansas defense that had bullied 11 previous opponents. After a slow, two-punt start, Daniel and the Tiger offense found a rhythm that the Jayhawks simply couldn't break.

Daniel completed an amazing 40 of 49 passes for 361 yards and three TDs. Only penalties and dropped passes slowed the Missouri offense. Tony Temple carried the ball 22 times for 98 yards, giving Mizzou a dangerous run-pass option.

We knew the Missouri offense would be lethal. What really impressed Saturday night was the Tigers' defense. For three quarters, Mizzou's defense throttled the normally high-scoring Kansas offense, holding the Jayhawks to seven points.

The Tiger front seven made Kansas' offense one-dimensional, shutting down running back Brandon McAnderson. The Jayhawks' leading rusher never found consistent running lanes. He managed 41 yards in 14 carries. McAnderson's ability to run the ball was supposed to be Kansas' big advantage. It never materialized, which put more pressure on quarterback Todd Reesing.

Reesing, who came into the game with just four interceptions, cracked under the stress.

He underthrew an open receiver in the second quarter, and Missouri's William Moore picked off the pass. In the third quarter, Reesing threw behind an open receiver, and Castine Bridges grabbed the deflected ball and took it the other way.

Reesing was off the entire game. His balls lacked zip. He tossed several passes into the dirt for no reason. By the end of the game, he had happy feet and was anticipating a Missouri pass rush.

Yes, the Jayhawks performed like a team that had never been tested by top competition. The Tigers, having played and lost to Oklahoma on the road earlier this season, seemed more prepared for the big stage than the Jayhawks.

Daniel, Temple, Danario Alexander, Tommy Saunders, Jeremy Maclin and Martin Rucker ― Missouri's offensive stars ― seized this moment. Kansas' offensive stars did not. Kansas made it to 11-0 by not making mistakes, by not losing the turnover battle. On Saturday, the Tigers played turnover-free football and stayed true to form in terms of offensive aggression.

Gary Pinkel ran a fake field goal in the first quarter. He went for it on fourth down twice in the first half. The Tigers overcame 14 penalties. It was like they laughed off any and every mistake.

You can do that when you have a quarterback as poised, experienced and skilled as Daniel. You can do that when you have a plethora of NFL-ready offensive weapons.

No matter what happens from here, we know the Tigers are for real. We know they're worthy of being in the national-title hunt.

KANSAS CITY ― By the end of this wonderful night, there were delirious Mizzou fans shivering in sheer delight. They reveled in this wonderful, improbable dream.

This was the end of the best night of their football-loving lives. Armageddon at Arrowhead was ticking down to the final precious seconds, and one side of this stadium that once was full of screaming Kansas fans was now filled with empty orange seats. And here were all these Mizzou fans on their side of Arrowhead, and they were partying like it was 1969.

"We're Number 1!" they chanted. "We're Number 1!"

Missouri 36, Kansas 28. Border War bragging rights to Mizzou. Big 12 North title to Mizzou.

But let's be honest here: That No. 1 chant no longer was about parochial rivalries and bragging rights. The magnitude of this victory was about bigger and better things. This was the most wonderful dream imagined.

No. 1 LSU was knocked off its top perch in the college football rankings, and the third-ranked Tigers had knocked off the previously unbeaten No. 2 team in the land and they did it in front of a national TV audience and 80,537 fans at Arrowhead.

"Quite an evening, huh?" Gary Pinkel said as he strolled into a crowded interview room.

Quite an evening, indeed. The Tigers won their 11th game of the season, ruined Kansas' perfect season and kept alive all the magic of this wonderful season for one more week. They did it in a duel with a major-bowl feel.

So now you do the math. By the end of this Sunday afternoon, words will be uttered, headlines will be written; what they will say is something you never imagined you'd hear in this or any other lifetime.

Missouri's Tigers are the top football team in the land. MORE BURWELL
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By any logical measure of practical logic, the 11-1 Tigers, ranked third in the nation by The Associated Press writers poll and fourth in both the Bowl Championship Series standings and the coaches poll, should convince any skeptic that they deserve the title of college football's No. 1 team.

What everyone saw was Missouri at its best on an enormous stage. We saw that the Tigers have a wealth of offensive talent, as impressive as any in the country.

It just seems that Mizzou overwhelmed Kansas with a wealth of skill-position studs. Redshirt freshman superstar Jeremy Maclin may be the most electric and dangerous player on the field, but he's not the only one who creates offensive juice for the Tigers.

Mizzou QB Chase Daniel took command of this game with another accurate passing display (40 of 49, 361 yards, 3 TDs) that was more than enough to keep him among Heisman Trophy favorites just before the Dec. 6th voting deadline.

Daniel kept making plays just as he always does, chugging around in the pocket, cool and calmly making every big-play pass he needed to throughout the game. Daniel may or may not have done enough to convince the Heisman voters that he's more deserving of the Heisman than Tim Tebow and Darren McFadden, but he might trade that individual recognition for what he and the Tigers now have in front of them.

So would Pinkel. The Tigers' head coach stood there in Arrowhead late Saturday night caressing the Big 12 North championship trophy like it was a genie's lamp. And if Pinkel was rubbing it to have his every wish granted, it didn't take long to discover what his wishes were.

"This one's nice," he said. "And now I'd like to have a round one. Or maybe it's an oval. We have a picture of it in our locker room."

And was that trophy he was dreaming of made of carved crystal and shaped like a football (the BCS championship trophy), he was asked?

"Hey, let's not jump the gun," he chuckled. "I'm talking about