Fourth Quarter Rally Lifts No. 21 Nebraska Over No. 24 Missouri 27-12

NFL News - October 9th, 2009 - Written by Scott

What was sure to be a shootout between No. 21 Nebraska and No. 24 Missouri turned out to be a sloppy game thanks in part to mother nature. There was a steady downpour throughout the entire game and penalties and turnovers plagued both teams during the night. In the fourth quarter, Nebraska would find a way to come from behind and beat Missouri 27-12. Trailing 12-0 going into the fourth, the Nebraska Cornhuskers scored four touchdowns to seal the victory. Sloppy conditions hindered both teams, especially in the first half, where both teams totaled 9 penalties and six fumbles. Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel refused to use the weather as an excuse for his team's fourth quarter meltdown.

"I'm not going to blame the weather on any of this," he said. "If you want to win a championship ... you have to play in any conditions. That's no excuse at all."

After a scoreless first quarter, Missouri got on the board first with a safety and then quarterback Blaine Gabbert scored on a 1 yard run as time expired in the second half to give the Missouri Tigers a 9-0 lead heading into halftime. Missouri would score again late in the third quarter on a 33 yard field goal by Grant Ressel to give the Tigers a 12-0 lead.

Nebraska (4-1) came alive in the fourth quarter. After gaining only 103 yards in the first three quarters, the Cornhuskers would erupt for 160 in the final quarter and more importantly, 4 touchdowns. Nebraska got their first touchdown early in the quarter on a 56 yard touchdown pass from Zac Lee to Niles Paul, his first of two touchdown receptions on the night. On Missouri's next possession, Nebraska intercepted a pass attempt by Gabbert who finished the game with 134 yards and two picks. Lee would find Paul once again on a 13 yard touchdown pass, but the two point conversion failed and the Cornhuskers went ahead 13-12. Once again, on Missouri's next possession, Gabbert threw his second interception and Nebraska returned it 40 yards down to the Tiger's 10 yard line. Lee would then find Mike McNeill from 8 yards out for his third touchdown pass of the night to give Nebraska a 20-12 lead with 10:34 remaining in the game. Roy Helu would add a 5 yard touchdown run with :56 remaining in the game to give Nebraska a 27-12 victory.

It was a sloppy game the entire night and costly turnovers by Missouri would play a huge part in Nebraska's win. The 2 interceptions by Gabbert were the first in his career. Missouri lost their first game of the year and now gives them a 0-1 record in the Big 12. The road doesn't get any easier for Missouri as they travel to play No. 15 Oklahoma Sate next Saturday. Nebraska will next host Texas Tech.

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