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 DALLAS
(AP)- Hey, BCS: Still think Missouri isn't good enough?
The guys from the "Show-Me State" made their case for having deserved a
chance in one of the elite bowl games, routing Darren McFadden and
Arkansas 38-7 Tuesday in the Cotton Bowl to cap a magical season with
quite an exclamation point.
The biggest surprise is that the emphasis came from running back Tony
Temple, not quarterback Chase Daniel, a Heisman Trophy finalist like
McFadden.
Temple, a 5-foot-9 senior who is often overlooked in Missouri's
pass-heavy offense, broke longstanding Cotton Bowl records with 281
yards and four touchdowns. Both records fell on his last run, a
spinning, tackle-breaking, 40-yarder into the end zone (video).
Daniel and a lineman celebrated by carrying Temple back to the sideline,
adding to the delight of a black-and-gold throng enjoying the program's
first New Year's Day game since 1970.
Mizzou (12-2) was ranked No. 1 after beating Kansas in the regular
season finale, then lost badly to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game – so
badly that the Jayhawks wound up with an at-large berth into the Orange
Bowl.
The seventh-ranked Tigers claimed to have gotten over the snub, hyping
Dallas as a great destination for recruiting and because it's home to
their second-largest alumni base. Still, their performance suggested a
team with something to prove.
Arkansas, meanwhile, played like a team ready to move on to next season.
The No. 25 Razorbacks (8-5) made a horrible first impression on incoming
coach Bobby Petrino, from the defense allowing the most yards rushing by
a single player to the sloppiness of five turnovers – an interception
that was returned for a touchdown and four fumbles, one by a defensive
lineman and another by a punt returner who tried catching the ball with
his back to the play while inside his 10 yard line.
The final offensive play summed things up: Interim coach Reggie Herring
ran about 20 yards trying to get officials to let him call timeout, but
they didn't acknowledge it and a fourth-down pass was dropped in the end
zone.
Teams with interim coaches are now 0-5 this bowl season, with West
Virginia left to go. SEC teams had been 5-0 until Arkansas' loss.
McFadden ran 21 times for 105 yards and a touchdown, pushing his
single-season total to 1,830 yards and his career total to 4,590, but
didn't play the fourth quarter. Both totals are school records and
second to Herschel Walker in SEC history.
At least the Hogs looked good. They wore all-red uniforms for the first
time, a tribute to outgoing program icon Frank Broyles.
Daniel was 12-of-29 for 136 yards with an interception. It was his
fewest yards of the season and his second straight game without a
touchdown pass.
Then again, the way Temple was running, the Tigers didn't need to throw
it.
He had 159 yards and two touchdowns at halftime, having broken off runs
of 41 yards, 38 and three that went 22. His first TD went 22 yards and
his next two each covered 4 yards.
He was at 241 when he spent several series on the sideline, apparently
slowed by dehydration. He returned for only one more carry, the 40-yard
touchdown that put him into the record books.
Temple broke the Cotton Bowl rushing record of 265 yards set by Rice's
Dicky Maegle in 1954, a performance that's best remembered for him being
awarded a touchdown when Alabama's Tommy Lewis came off the bench and
tackled him on a breakaway run.
Maegle had three touchdowns in that game, as did Texas' Bobby Layne in
1946 and Syracuse's Jim Brown in 1957.
Missouri's solid defensive performance was anchored by safety William
Moore, who pried a fumble by Arkansas' Felix Jones at the end of a
41-yard play when the game was still close in the third quarter and
returned an interception for the touchdown that made it 28-0 (video).
It was his eighth interception of the year, setting a school record.
Broyles led Arkansas fans in spirited chants of "Pig! Sooie!" prior to
kickoff, but that turned out to be one of the few things the folks in
red had to cheer all afternoon.
Freshman kicker Alex Tejada came in 12-of-12 on kicks of 40 yards or
less, but missed badly from 36 on the game-opening drive and later from
37. In between, a successful fake punt was wiped out because someone
called timeout just before the snap; the Razorbacks tried the play again
and lost a yard. Then a squib kick to open the second half backfired,
resulting in Missouri starting in Arkansas territory.
In the fourth quarter, Petrino said on television he was here "strictly
as a spectator," adding that he would announce his coaching staff on
Thursday. Herring isn't likely to be on it, as Mississippi State already
has announced that its defensive coordinator, Ellis Johnson, is taking
the same post at Arkansas.
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Attendance:
73,114
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
MU- Temple 22 yard run (Wolfert kick)
Second Quarter
MU- Temple 4 yard run (Wolfert kick)
Third Quarter
MU- Temple 4 yard run (Wolfert kick)
MU- Moore 26 yard interception return (Wolfert
kick)
UA- Mcfadden 3 yard run (Tejada kick)
Fourth Quarter
MU- FG Wolfert 32
MU- Temple 40 yard run (Wolfert kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
MU- Temple 24-281, Jackson 5-39, Maclin 5-26,
Woods 2-11
UA- McFadden 21-105, Jones 10-45, Hillis 5-20,
Smith 7-12
Passing
MU- Daniel 12-29-136
UA- Dick 19-32-197
Receiving
MU- Franklin 5-77, Maclin 3-32, Rucker 3-19
UA- Jones 3-65, Hillis 5-52, Monk 4-28, Miller 2-19, Davie 3-18
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