My Missouri Tigers squeaked out a win last night against the Northwestern Wildcats in the Alamo Bowl. The Wildcats dominated the majority of this game, they led or was tied until the 3rd quarter. Looking at the statistics, Northwestern dominated those too. They had more passing yards then Missouri (believe it or not) and more total yards in the game. Northwestern even had a +2 ratio in turnovers during the game! After being dominated for 60 minutes by Northwestern, Missouri got a clean slate in overtime.
Northwestern won the toss and deferred, so Missouri started with the ball. After three run plays, QB Chase Daniel stood in shotgun, bobble the snap, then gunned the ball to his man, Jeremy Maclin for a 9-yard touchdown. 30-23 Missouri. Now it was Northwestern’s turn. Northwestern quarterback C.J. Bacher bullied Missouri’s 117th ranked pass defense all game with 3 touchdowns and 304 yards. However, Mizzou’s defense stepped up forcing a 4th and goal for Northwestern from their 31 yard line. In a desperation attempt, Bacher’s pass into the end zone fell short and Missouri won.
This game was played and won by the star players of each team. Northwestern was led by C.J. Bacher who just out-played Chase Daniel. Tyrell Sutton of Northwestern ran hard all game for 114 yards, despite not having played in last 4 games. The Player that impressed me the most on the Northwestern side was
DE Corey Wootton who pressured Chase Daniel all game and intercepted one of his passes. Unfortunatly, Wootton’s went down with a non-contact knee injury in the 4th quarter, my prayers go out to him and his career.
Missouri won this game with tough lay from their star players. No thanks to Chase Daniel, WR Jeremy Maclin (2 touchdowns) and TE Chase Coffman carried the offense. On defense, linebackers Sean Weatherspoon and Brock Christopher held a good Northwestern team to only 23 points. Weatherspoon was credited with the play of the game, where he sacked and forced a Bacher fumble in overtime.
Needless to say, Missouri escaped with a win in the Alamo Bowl. After being just man-handled for 60 minutes by a very good Northwestern team, they fought hard and stayed in the game. But, that’s what good teams do. Good job, good season Mizzou. Mizzou should be proud of the season they had as well as what they are building toward. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald over at Northwestern is building a good program, look out for them in the years to come.
The World of Sports from the Seat of the Couch by Pierce Courchaine 