Missouri vs. Colorado Notes

10/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football

Oct. 31, 2009

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Missouri at Colorado

1st Quarter

OFFENSIVE STARTERS (2009 Starts/Career Starts) - RG Kurtis Gregory (8th / 36th), C Tim Barnes (8th / 22nd), LT Elvis Fisher (8th / 22nd), RT Dan Hoch (8th / 8th), LG Austin Wuebbels (8th / 8th), WR Jared Perry (8th / 24th), WR Danario Alexander (8th / 11th), TB Derrick Washington (8th / 22nd), QB Blaine Gabbert (8th / 8th), WR Wes Kemp (8th / 8th), WR Jerrell Jackson (3rd / 3rd)...

DEFENSIVE STARTERS - LB Sean Weatherspoon (8th / 36th), CB Carl Gettis (8th / 32nd), NOSE Jaron Baston (8th / 22nd), CB Kevin Rutland (8th / 8th), LB Andrew Gachkar (8th / 8th), DT Dominique Hamilton (7th / 7th), S Jasper Simmons (7th / 7th), DE Aldon Smith (7th / 7th), DE Brian Coulter (5th / 6th), S Jarrell Harrison (3rd / 3rd), LB Will Ebner (2nd / 2nd)...

The Tigers got the opening kick and drove 80 yards on 11 plays (4:27 TOP) to take a 7-0 lead on Derrick Washington's 1-yard TD run. It marked the first time this season that Mizzou has scored a TD on its game-opening possession, and only the 3rd time in 8 games in which it's tallied points on its initial drive. See sidebar on page 10 of MU game notes for a game-by-game breakdown...

Washington had 5 rushes for 30 yards on the opening drive, and the TD was his 4th of the season and 22nd of his career. Mizzou converted 2-of-2 on third downs on the drive...

After allowing game-opening TD drives to opponents in 3 of its last 4 games, the Tiger defense forced a CU punt after one first down...

The Tigers made it a 14-0 lead just 3 plays later when Gabbert hit WR Danario Alexander on a 73-yard TD pass on a 3rd-and-3 from its own 27 yardline. On the play, Alexander moved into 7th place on the MU career receiving yardage list, with 1,783 after the play. He entered the game with 1,698 career receiving yards, which put him 9th on the chart coming in. The TD reception was the 14th of Alexander's career, which moved him into a tie for 5th alltime at MU with former great Mel Gray. See sidebar on page 13 of MU game notes for details...

The TD pass was the 14th of the season for Gabbert, and it was the first time MU has had a TD pass in the 1st quarter since game #3 vs. Furman (Gabbert had 2 to WR Jared Perry in the 1st quarter of that game). It was the 1st 1st-quarter TD pass against a FBS opponent since game #1 against Illinois (Gabbert-to-Kemp)...

Shortly thereafter Gabbert hit Alexander on a 2-yard TD pass at the 2:40 mark to make it 21-0. It was a complete 180 from the previous week when the Tigers faced a 21-0 1st-quarter deficit to Texas. It also marks the 2nd straight year that Mizzou has held a 21-0 lead against Colorado...

Mizzou had scored only 33 total points in the 1st quarter in its previous 7 games this year...

2nd Quarter

Alexander eclipsed the 100-yard mark with a 14-yard catch early in the quarter. That gives him 4 100-yard receiving games for the season. Other 100-yard games in 2009 for Alexander included 132 vs. Illinois (10 catches), 170 at Nevada (9 catches, 2 TDs), and 180 at Oklahoma State (9 catches, 1 TD)...

PK Grant Ressell added a 29-yard FG with 8:42 to play for a 24-0 lead. The FG came after DE Jacquies Smith recovered a CU fumble. It marked MU's first points off turnover since game #4 at Nevada. The Tigers had gotten three opponent turnovers in the last three games, but scored no points off of those takeaways...

The defense pitched in again when it sacked CU's Tyler Hanson in the endzone for a safety to make it 26-0 with 8:32 to play. It was a 7-yard loss and S Jarrell Harrison and LB Zaviar Gooden combined for the QB sack (1st career sack for both)...

The safety marked the first non special teams safety recorded by Mizzou since 2007, when Lorenzo Williams sacked Kansas' Todd Reesing for a safety. Since then, MU had recorded two safeties (2008 vs. Buffalo, 2009 vs. Nebraska), but both were on punting plays...

The lead grew to 33-0 with 4:03 left when DE Jacquies Smith took a shovel pass from holder Forrest Shock on a fake field goal and rambled 24 yards for a TD. It was the 2nd TD that Smith has scored this season, the other coming on a 43-yard interception return for a TD against Furman. It was the first pass attempt of Shock's career...

CB Kevin Rutland had a nice sequence of plays when broke up a pass in the endzone and then came free for his first QB sack that pushed the ball back to the MU 31-yardline on 3rd down. The Buffs had to settle for a 48-yard FG attempt, which they made with 1:07 left to make it 33-3...

The FG by Colorado broke a string of 139 consecutive points scored by MU in the series. The Tigers scored the final 48 points of the 2007 game in Boulder (a 55-10 win), all 58 points in Columbia in 2008 (58-0 win) and the first 33 points today. That marked a stretch of 136:03 in clock time between allowing CU scores…