We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Author: Dave Riggert

Kansas-Oklahoma State football game to kick at 2:30 PM on FSN

Posted on

For the second time this season, Kansas will have a home game televised nationally on Fox Sports Net. The Big 12 Conference announced Monday that the Jayhawks’ Oct. 13 matchup against Oklahoma State will feature a 2:30 p.m., kickoff and will be broadcast on FSN cable stations across the country.

This marks KU’s second FSN game at 2:30 p.m., as the Sept. 8 contest against Rice was also played on the network in the same time slot. Since 2009, KU has played 14 games on FSN.

Kansas will be hosting the Cowboys for the first time since the 2010 season, when Oklahoma State claimed a 48-14 win over the Jayhawks on Senior Day. OSU holds a slight 30-29 edge in the series history, which also includes three ties. The Cowboys are 17-15-1 all-time against the Jayhawks in games played at Memorial Stadium.

A portion of all tickets sold to the game will be donated to the Jayhawks for a Cure program. The Jayhawks for a Cure fund supports cancer treatment and prevention at the KU Cancer Center and Lawrence Memorial Hospital. For every ticket sold until Friday, Oct. 12, $5 will go directly to the Jayhawks for a Cure fund.

Tickets are available for purchase at the Kansas Athletics Ticket Office, which is located on the southeast corner of Allen Fieldhouse. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling 1-800-34-HAWKS or online by visiting www.KUAthletics.com.

The Jayhawks travel to No. 8 Kansas State on Saturday for their second road game of the season. The Sunflower Showdown is scheduled for an 11 a.m., kickoff and can be seen on FX.

— KU Sports Information —

Big 12 hands our weekly football awards

Posted on

Geno Smith (West Virginia), Cornelius Douglas (Texas Tech) and DJ Monroe (Texas) have been named Big 12 Football Players of the Week, as selected by a media panel. Smith (offense) picked up his second award this season while Douglas (defense) and Monroe (special teams) were recognized for the first time.

Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week
Geno Smith, West Virginia, QB, Miami, Fla.

Geno Smith passed for 656 yards and eight touchdowns in West Virginia’s 70-63 victory over Baylor. The senior quarterback completed 45-of-51 passes, had no interceptions, and tied a Big12 record with his eight scoring tosses. Smith’s passing yards (656) and completions (45) were both school records. He had a long completion of 87 yards that went for one of his touchdown throws. Three of Smith’s receivers had 100 or more receiving yards in the game. He was named Walter Camp Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week
Cornelius Douglas, Texas Tech, CB, Lawton, Okla.

Cornerback Cornelius Douglas returned to the Texas Tech lineup after missing a game with injury and helped lead the nation’s top-ranked defense to a 24-13 road win at Iowa State. The senior compiled three tackles, but it was his two interceptions that were the keys to victory. His last interception helped set up Tech’s final touchdown drive of the night as the Red Raiders took a 21-13 lead. Douglas ran the interception back 40 yards to give the Texas Tech offense the ball on the Iowa State 9-yard line. He is the first Red Raider to grab two interceptions in a game since DJ Johnson did so in last year’s Big 12 opener at Kansas.

Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week
DJ Monroe, Texas, KR, Sr, Angleton, Texas

With the game knotted at 14-all, DJ Monroe fielded a kickoff in the end zone, eventually broke two tackles and sprinted down the sidelines 100 yards for a touchdown to give the Horns a 21-14 first quarter lead at Oklahoma State. Texas ended up winning the game 41-36. It was Monroe’s third career kickoff return for a score, eclipsing the UT career record he shared with Fozzy Whittaker. He also had a 20-yard return to gain 120 yards on two kickoff returns and rushed three times for 24 yards to lead UT with 144 all-purpose yards.

— Big 12 Press Release —

Western soccer loses to Northeastern State, 3-1

Posted on

The Missouri Western women’s soccer team finished their third straight home game Sunday afternoon, losing to Northeastern State 3-1.

Without goalkeeper Kelly Voigts, Rayelin Garcia received the start for Missouri Western, her first career start for the Griffons.
The game was tightly contested for the first part of the game. Both teams played physical without gaining an edge. In the 39th minute, Kelsey Sheldon broke the 0-0 tie with a penalty kick, scoring on the left side.

The RiverHawks added to their lead with a goal from Elizabeth Cudjoe right as the whistle sounded to end the half.

The Griffons came out of the half ready to make a comeback, as midfielder Sydney Andrews scored on a penalty kick in the 48th minute. Before Missouri Western could continue its comeback, Northeastern State again made a goal, this time by Emily Voges in the 51st minute, marking the score 3-1.

Garcia finished with six saves in the game. MWSU also lost defender Emily Hoffmann and goal-leader Katie Kempf in the match, as both went down with injuries in the first half.

Andrews’ goal was her first of her young career. RiverHawks goalkeeper Maggie Kloza finished with 1 save and recorded her first win, and Northeastern is now 7-2 on the season, 3-1 in the MIAA. The Griffons are 3-6 and 1-3 in conference.

MWSU returns to the field Friday, October 5 at Washburn at 6:00 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Chiefs commit six turnovers in loss to San Diego

Posted on

Norv Turner was asked Sunday whether he could remember facing a more generous opponent, and the Chargers coach sifted through more than three decades worth of memories in vain.

“I can’t,” Turner said finally. “I’m sure we have at some point.”

The Chargers certainly took advantage of their hospitable hosts. The Kansas City Chiefs committed six turnovers, five of them in the first half, and San Diego rolled to a 37-20 victory and sole possession of first place in the AFC West.

Philip Rivers threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns, Jackie Battle burned his former team with touchdowns rushing and receiving, and the Chargers (3-1) rebounded from a letdown against Atlanta to improve to 8-2 in their past 10 games against Kansas City.

Matt Cassel threw for 251 yards and two touchdowns for the Chiefs (1-3), but he had three first-half interceptions. Jamaal Charles, who followed his big game last week at New Orleans with touchdowns rushing and receiving, also fumbled twice.

San Diego turned the Chiefs’ six turnovers into 24 points.

“It was like turnover after turnover after turnover in that first quarter,” said Chargers safety Eric Weddle. “A lot of times it’s just guys making good hits, tipped balls. There’s stuff to improve, but we came back after last week, when we didn’t play well.”

Just about the only bright spot for Kansas City was wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who had seven catches for 108 yards and a touchdown that came far too late to matter.

The regular officials were back on the field Sunday, and both teams kept referee Bill Leavy’s crew busy. They combined for 15 penalties for 150 yards.

The Chargers wasted little time in getting into the end zone, something they failed to do last week.

Rivers capped off a 76-yard drive that was helped along by two pass interference calls on Chiefs safety Eric Berry with a short TD pass to Eddie Royal for a 7-0 lead.

Then the cacophony of errors truly began for Kansas City.

Cassel’s third pass of the game was intercepted by Weddle, giving San Diego the ball at the Chiefs 28. Four plays later, Nick Novak’s 25-yard field goal made it 10-0.

On the Chiefs’ next possession, Charles was stripped of the ball by Takeo Spikes on the first play after a false start. San Diego took over at the Chiefs 5, and Battle pounded forward twice to give the Chargers a 17-0 lead — all before Kansas City had run five offensive plays.

The Chiefs have been outscored 41-6 in the first quarter this season.

“We’ve got to solve it and we’ve got to solve it quick. Turnovers have been killing us,” Cassel said. “We talk about it, but we obviously have to go out there and do a better job.”

Charles fumbled again midway through the second quarter, but this time the Chargers gave it right back. Rivers underthrew Robert Meacham, and Brandon Flowers made the interception.

Kansas City managed to go 85 yards in just five plays, Charles providing the highlight on an electrifying 37-yard touchdown run. But the momentum was squandered on the its next possession, when Cassel threw well behind Tony Moeaki, and Chargers linebacker Donald Butler grabbed hold of the deflection and waltzed 21 yards untouched to give San Diego a 27-6 lead.

Cassel threw his third interception deep in San Diego territory near the end of the half.

“It starts with me,” Cassel said. “I have to do a better job of protecting the football and putting us in position to be successful.”

The Chiefs put together a long drive to start the third quarter, and Charles’ 13-yard TD catch with 8:40 left gave the hardy Kansas City fans still sticking around reason to believe that yet another big comeback could be at hand.

But after rallying from a franchise-record 18 points down to beat New Orleans last Sunday, the Chiefs couldn’t stop giving away their chances of getting back in the game.

They went three-and-out on two straight series, and Shaun Draughn fumbled on the next.

The Chargers put a tidy bow on an easy if underwhelming victory by going 49 yards for another touchdown, this time with Rivers finding Battle out of the backfield for the score.

“It was a total team effort, basically, in not playing very well,” Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel said. “It was bad football. You could see it was bad football. But we have a game to be played next week and we have to stay together and not point fingers. … We’re going to see if we can get better somehow, and play better versus good football teams.”

— Associated Press —

Hochevar, Royals get destroyed by Cleveland

Posted on

Asdrubal Cabrera knew a fastball was coming.

He hit it for a grand slam.

Cabrera capped a 10-run fifth inning with his second career grand slam and the Cleveland Indians routed the Kansas City Royals 15-3 Sunday.

”It was a fastball and I was not surprised,” said Cabrera, who had three hits and scored three runs as Cleveland improved to 2-1 with interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr.

”They pitched me the same way every time this series,” Cabrera said. ”First pitch, curveball, then a changeup and then fastball. So I hit it.”

Zach McAllister (6-8) benefited from the Indians tying a season high in runs and hits, 19. It was their ninth double-digit hit total in 10 games. They’ve won six of them, including a 15-4 victory in Kansas City a week ago.

McAllister pitched five-hit ball over 6 2-3 innings, allowing three runs.

”It was nice to have all those runs,” said the right-hander, who won for the first time in nine starts since beating Boston on Aug. 11. The rookie started 4-1 with a 3.17 ERA in eight starts after being called up from Triple-A Columbus. Then he was part of Cleveland’s second-half struggles.

”It’s been a big learning year, both good and bad,” said McAllister, who has yielded three runs or fewer in 16 of 22 outings. ”Today, I didn’t have my best stuff, but got through it.”

The Indians are 5-2 after a disastrous 12-41 stretch dropped them out of the AL Central race and cost manager Manny Acta his job. General manager Chris Antonetti will interview Alomar and former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona soon for the fulltime position and expects a few other candidates to be in the search process.

The 10-run inning was Cleveland’s first since doing it in Kansas City in a 19-1 win on May 16, 2011. The Indians had not scored 10 in an inning at home since an 11-run first inning against the Royals on Aug. 13, 2006.

Cleveland went 9 for 20 with runners in scoring position after stranding 20 men on base in a 7-6 loss in 14 innings on Saturday.

”That’s baseball,” Alomar said. ”We took what they gave us and kept the line moving, tried not to do too much.”

Royals starter Luke Hochevar (8-16) was tagged for nine runs over 4 2-3 innings.

”It got away in a hurry,” manager Ned Yost said after the Royals’ seventh loss in eight games. ”A 10-run fifth is not good for your business.”

Lou Marson’s two-out RBI single put Cleveland ahead 1-0 in the second.

Cleveland broke it open in the fifth. Shin-Soo Choo doubled to start the rally and later had a two-run single. Jason Kipnis and Jack Hannahan each had RBI doubles. Other runs scored on a forceout by Casey Kotchman and when Jason Donald was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Cabrera had a bunt single in the midst of the rally before connecting for his slam off lefty reliever Everett Teaford.

”The third baseman was playing back, so I took it,” Cabrera said of the bunt. ”I just wanted to get on base and keep it going.”

Hochevar dropped to 1-7 in 11 starts since beating the Indians on July 31. The right-hander gave up nine hits and three walks in his final start of a wildly inconsistent season. In 21 outings, he had a 2.88 ERA. In 11 other starts, he lasted only a total of 48 innings and had a 13.88 ERA.

Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer, his 13th, in the sixth for Kansas City. Tony Abreu’s RBI single made it 11-3 in the seventh.

Matt LaPorta had a two-run double in the Indians’ seventh and Cord Phelps a bases-loaded RBI single in the eighth when another run scored on a wild pitch by Louis Coleman.

— Associated Press —

Northwest soccer ties No. 18 Central Oklahoma, 1-1

Posted on

The Northwest Missouri State women’s soccer team fought hard Sunday as they finished with a 1-1 draw against No. 18 Central Oklahoma in two overtimes at Bearcat Pitch.

The first half of play pitted two strong defenses against one another. Neither team could capitalize on open shots as the Bronchos edged the Bearcats with one extra shot, 6-5 in the first period.

Central Oklahoma put in the first goal of the game in the 80th minute looking to extend their winning streak to five games. UCO entered the match with a perfect 4-0 mark in league play and had only been held to a single goal three times in 2012.

However, the Bearcats answered back late in the second half as Amanda Bundrant put her third goal of the season in the back of the net during the 87th minute. Anna Calgaard added her second assist of the season on the goal.

The first overtime period saw a key save from Kelsey Adams to keep the game tied, but neither team could convert as the second overtime remained scoreless.

With the tie Bearcats move to 5-3-2 overall and 3-1-1 on the season as UCO fell to 8-1-1 overall and 4-0-1 in MIAA play. Northwest will travel to Emporia State Friday as they continue MIAA play. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Beltran homers twice to lead St. Louis past Washington

Posted on

The Cardinals closed in on the NL’s second wild-card berth while the Washington Nationals failed to make progress toward the NL East title.

Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate for the ninth time in his career and drove in five runs, leading St. Louis over the Nationals 10-4 Sunday.

”We’re one step closer, but there’s still a long way to go,” said Mike Matheny, who took over as manager from Tony La Russa after the Cardinals won last year’s World Series. ”We’ve got to keep playing and playing well. The guys came out pushing today against a very good team.”

St. Louis (86-73) took a 7-0 lead by the third inning and holds a two-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers (84-75), who beat Colorado 7-1.

Washington (96-63), already assured of the capital’s first postseason baseball since 1933, saw its magic number for clinching the NL East remain at one over second-place Atlanta (93-66).

”We’ve had rough outings before,” manager Davey Johnson said. ”We’ve bounced back. It’s better to clinch it at home anyway.”

Beltran hit a pair of two-run homers, connecting right-handed off Ross Detwiler (10-8) in the second and left-handed against Chien-Ming Wang in the fourth. Beltran has four multihomer games this season and 34 in his career. He improved to 32 homers with 97 RBIs in his first season with St. Louis.

”Sometimes it happens where you feel from both sides, but most of the time you feel good from one side,” Beltran said. ”But it’s always good to have a day like today where you have a good at-bat on the left and the right side.”

Beltran entered in a 1-for-14 slide that had dropped his batting average to .265.

”As ballplayers, you’re going to go through good stretches and bad stretches,” Beltran said. ”I try not to focus on that. I try to focus on the work that I do, come to the ballpark and prepare myself.”

Matheny knows Beltran has been working hard.

”It’s great to see for him,” Matheny said. ”The guy cares so much and it sometimes isn’t translated in such a workmanlike attitude. It’s really been bother him that he hasn’t been able to step up. Days like today remind us of good he is.”

Lance Lynn (18-7) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, improving to 5-0 with a 2.10 ERA in his last five appearances.

”We won. That’s all that matters,” Lynn said. ”You try to win series right now and do everything you can to win every game possible.”

Pete Kozma was 3 for 3 with three RBIs, raising his average to .338.

Rookie Bryce Harper hit his 22nd home run for Washington, a solo shot. Danny Espinosa also had a two-run homer for the Nationals.

Detwiler, a St. Louis area native making his first start in his hometown, allowed seven runs – three earned – four hits and five walks in 2 1-3 innings. He set season highs for fewest innings and most walks.

”I just didn’t throw any strikes,” Detwiler said, who threw 43 of 81 pitches in the strike zone. ”You walk five people in two innings, you won’t have much success doing that.”

St. Louis took a 5-0 lead in the second after Yadier Molina and David Freese walked, and second baseman Danny Espinosa booted Daniel Descalso’s grounder, loading the bases. Kozma hit a two-run double down the right-field line, with Descalso thrown out at the plate on Espinosa’s relay from Jayson Werth. Jon Jay’s one-out single made it 3-0, and Beltran homered.

Harper’s homer, Ian Desmond’s RBI double and Espinosa’s two-run homer cut the deficit to 7-4 in the fourth, but Beltran connected off Wang in the bottom half, and Beltran hit an RBI single against Zach Duke.

”The offense did great today,” Lynn said ”I was able to do my job, except for the fourth inning.”

— Associated Press —

Griffons pull away late against Central Oklahoma to stay unbeaten

Posted on

No. 7th ranked Missouri Western welcomed Central Oklahoma to Spratt Stadium Saturday night, and continued its undefeated season, defeating the Bronchos 45-23. The Griffons scored twice in the final two minutes of action to improve their record to 5-0 overall and 5-0 in MIAA action. The 5-0 start is the best start under Partridge, they also did it in 2009.

The Bronchos, who recently upset No. 9 Washburn last week, brought plans to stage another upset on a top-10 team, but MWSU’s defense had other plans.

The Griffons started out playing good defense against the Bronchos. After the Bronchos took the ball deep into Griffon territory, the drive stalled out when Broncho quarterback Adrian Nelson through an interception at the 14-yard line.

Ben Jackson picked off his first pass of the season, taking it 30 yards the other direction to halt Central Oklahoma. Michael Hill fumbled on the ensuing play, however, giving the ball back to the Bronchos.

Missouri Western’s defense continued playing strong forcing UCO to give the ball up on downs on the ensuing drive. Defensive end David Bass stepped up to stop the play, tackling Joshua Birmingham for just a 1-yard gain, forcing the Bronchos to turn the ball over for the second time in the first quarter.

MWSU ended the first quarter with a 7-0 lead, didn’t give up a score in the first stanza for the fifth time in as many games. To start the second quarter, the Griffons drove the football down field, and Travis Partridge connected on a short pass to Hill moving the football into Broncho territory.

Five plays later, MWSU took advantage of the opportunity. The Griffons ran a reverse to wide-out Tyron Crockom, as he shook past two Central Oklahoma defenders on his way to a 22-yard touchdown run.

The Bronchos again started to move the ball down field, but once again failed to convert. They were forced to punt after moving the football to the MWSU 34-yard line.

A couple penalties along with David Bass’ fifth sack of the year, Central Oklahoma moved out of field goal range, giving the Griffons the ball back.

On the next drive, MWSU moved the ball effectively down field, and Reggie Jordan caught a 3-yard touchdown pass, his 4th touchdown reception of the season, putting the Griffons ahead, 14-0.

Less than three minutes later, Partridge scored on a 17-yard run making the score 21-0 with 8:18 to play in the half. The score would stay still through halftime as the Griffons gave up just 105 yards of offense during the first two quarters.

Hill rushed for 71 yards on 13 carries in the half while Partridge completed 12-of-18 passes for 129 yards and one touchdown. Ben Pitser had five tackles with one sack in the first frame.

The Bronchos were led by Birmingham with 62 yards on 10 carries while Devoris Dozier had six tackles.
After the break, Missouri Western added to its lead. After a holding penalty pushed the ball back to the Griffons 45-yard line, Partridge faked a run to Hill, and went through the middle of the Bronchos defense on his way to a 45-yard rushing touchdown, his second of the game.

Central Oklahoma answered with its own touchdown – a 6-yard run by Birmingham making the game 28-7 with 8:17 to play in the third quarter.

In the fourth, MWSU added on to its lead with a 45-yard field goal by Taylor Anderson. UCO added a late score, a 4-yard run by Birmingham and Nelson completed a two-point conversion to Leroy Travis, Jr., to put the game 31-15 late in the game.

After the Bronchos received the ball again, they drove 9 plays, 69 yards to score a touchdown and added a two-point conversion to draw within one score, 31-23.

Central Oklahoma could not recover the onside kick, giving Missouri Western the ball. The Griffons were able to add to their lead with a 30-yard touchdown run by Hill and a 58-yard interception by Michael Jordan giving the Griffons the 45-23 victory.

The Griffons had 467 yards of total offense with 243 coming on the ground. Hill finished the night with 143 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown while Partridge ran for 50 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle Knox had his best game as a Griffon catching seven passes for 108 yards.

UCO had 244 passing yards with Nelson connecting on 25-of-45 with one touchdown. Marquis Walters had six receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown while Birmingham had six catches for 53 yards. Dozier had 10 tackles for UCO. Central Oklahoma is 1-4 overall and 1-4 in MIAA play.

The Griffons continue to take on the MIAA newcomers next weekend when they travel to Talequah, Okla. to take on the Northeastern State RiverHawks. Kickoff is set for 2:00 pm from Doc Wadley Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcats roll past Northeastern State, 66-6

Posted on

On a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Stadium, Northwest Missouri State football team matched the weather with a near-perfect performance against Northeastern State.

After giving up a touchdown on the first drive of the game, the Bearcats played flawless in coming away with an impressive 66-6 victory on “Family Weekend” at Northwest.

“I was very proud of our team today,” Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said. “We’ve been talking about trying to put a complete game together. I thought we did that today.”

The Bearcats improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA. The loss dropped Northeastern State to 0-5 overall and in conference.

Northeastern State’s record is a bit deceiving. Three of its first five opponents were ranked in the NCAA Division II top 25. The RiverHawks entered the game scoring 20 points in three contests and 21 in the other.

Initially, it appeared Northeastern State was going to give the Bearcats a tough game. The RiverHawks took the opening kickoff and marched 88 yards in 11 plays and took 6 minutes, 25 seconds to score a touchdown on a 17-yard pass from Johnny Deaton.

The rest of the game belonged to the Bearcats.

It started when Northwest blocked the extra point.

On the next play, Tyler Shaw returned the kickoff 64 yards to the Northeastern 16.

“We talked about being special on special teams,” Dorrel said. “We blocked that PAT and then we turn around and get that kick return. It was huge. It just ignited our sideline.

“Just the energy that came out of that blocked PAT and that kick return was just awesome and it was fun to see the kids flying around.”

The Bearcats needed only three plays and 1:03 to score on a 2-yard run by Jordan Simmons.

Northwest defense, which has played well all season, quickly stuffed the RiverHawks and put the ball back in the Bearcat hands. They knew what to do with it.

In just under 2 minutes, Northwest went 58 yards in five plays and scored on a 25-yard run by Simmons, who received a nice block from quarterback Trevor Adams on the play.

Yes, Adams, who missed the previous two games because of an injury, was willing to put his body on the line to help a teammate score.

Northwest went into the second quarter ahead 14-6. The blowout was just beginning. The Bearcats scored 24 points in the second quarter for a commanding 38-6 halftime lead.

There was no let up at the start of the third quarter. Northwest scored two touchdowns in the first three minutes of the second half for a 52-6 lead.

“I thought offensively we did a really good job,” Adams said. “Being out for two weeks, I was just so excited to be back on the field. I thank God for the humbling experience he put me through. It made me really appreciate what we have here as a family.

“I was super excited to get back out there. I thought our O-line did awesome today. Our backs ran super hard. Holding anybody to six points no matter who you are playing is awesome.”

In all, the Bearcats scored on their first eight possessions. The final statistics were eye popping. Northwest finished 654 total yards, rushing for 352 and passing for 308.

Perhaps the best news was Adams played well after being out for two weeks. He finished the game 19 for 27 for 272 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. For the game, Northwest had no turnovers while forcing four.

“I was very proud of Trevor in what he’s been dealing with the last couple of weeks with the injuries, and the way he came back today says a lot about his character as a student-athlete,” Dorrel said.

The defense was equally impressive, allowing only 271 yards of total offense.

“We had a really good week of preparation,” said Northwest junior defensive end Ricky Bailey. “We’ve been preaching all week to get to the quarterback. After the first series, we did a good job of that.”

It was the perfect game for the Bearcats to springboard into an October in which they will play no games at Bearcat Stadium.

“I thought it was very important to play like this going into the next four weeks on the road,” Dorrel said. “I certainly feel a lot better where we are right now because we played a complete game.”

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Mizzou rallies and hangs on to defeat Central Florida

Posted on

Marcus Murphy returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown and James Franklin added an 80-yard touchdown pass as Missouri ground out a 21-16 win over Central Florida on Saturday.

UCF trailed 21-10 before a late score, but following a Tigers punt, Knights receiver Jeff Godfrey’s fumble with 2:26 left allowed Missouri (3-2) to hang on.

UCF (2-2) controlled most of the game, using five sacks and a huge advantage in time of possession to take an early lead.

But miscues on defense and special teams unraveled it all, and the Knights sputtered on offense down the stretch in their bid to defeat their first Southeastern Conference opponent at home.

Coming off a dismal passing performance last week at South Carolina, Franklin was efficient, going 19 for 30 for 257 yards.

Kendial Lawrence added 104 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Tigers.

Knights quarterback Blake Bortles kept his team in the game, connecting on 29 of his 43 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns.

Prior to Murphy’s punt return, the Knights looked to be taking control of the game, leading 10-7 and coming off an interception and fourth sack of Franklin early in the third quarter.

But the slide continued with Missouri capitalizing on a short punt and needing just three plays to take its 21-10 advantage with 9:31 to play in the game.

Offense was plentiful in the first half, with both teams using big plays through the air to reach the end zone.

Missouri had several promising drives stall early before getting on the board via an 80-yard touchdown strike from Franklin to Dorial Green-Beckham. That gave the Tigers a 7-3 lead in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

UCF defensive back A.J. Bouye briefly had Green-Beckham locked up by the legs near the 50 before slipping to the turf. Green-Beckham then sprinted untouched into the end zone.

The play, the Tigers’ longest from scrimmage this season, also was a career-best for Franklin.

The Knights responded on the ensuing drive, with Bortles using a 41-yard pass to Rob Calabrese to set up an 11-yard touchdown pass to Quincy McDuffie.

Following a series of punts, UCF got hot again and drove the ball from its own 12 all the way inside the Tigers’ 10 with less than 2 minutes to play in the half.

A pass interference call on Missouri gave the Knights first-and-goal on the 3. But after a stuffed run and incomplete pass, the opportunity was squandered as Bortles was sacked, and time expired before the Knights could run out their field goal team.

Despite the final miscue, the Knights’ offense had one of their best opening halves of the season with Bortles completing 12 straight passes at one point and 18 for 22 overall for 156 yards. Johnson also averaged nearly 8 yards per carry in racking up 84 yards rushing.

The Tigers were successful at times with their hurry-up offense, but UCF’s defense also helped keep Franklin off balance, sacking him three times in the opening 30 minutes.

— MU Sports Information —

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File