Missouri's passing game delivers win against Nevada
Chase Daniel broke two school passing records in the 69-17 blowout.
Sept. 13, 2008
Sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Maclin celebrates in the endzone after scoring an 80-yard touchdown during Saturday's game against Nevada at Faurot Field. Maclin scored three touchdowns against the Wolf Pack.
Sophomore running back Derrick Washington attempts to avoid the tackle of Nevada junior linebacker Dain Lutz on Saturday at Faurot Field. Missouri defeated Nevada 69-17, tying a school record for points in a game.
Junior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon dives towards Nevada sophomore running back Vai Taua during Saturday's game at Faurot Field. Weatherspoon contributed nine solo tackles and three assists to Missouri's 69-17 win.
Senior tight end Chase Coffman runs the ball down the field on Saturday against Nevada. Coffman wore No. 25 jersey in memory of Aaron O'Neal.
Senior quarterback Chase Daniel said that the Missouri offense was worried about the Nevada defense before this game. It didn’t show, as the Tigers racked up 651 yards of total offense in a 69-17 victory against the Wolf Pack.
On just the fourth play of the game, sophomore tailback Derrick Washington ran 59 yards for a touchdown, and Missouri never looked back.
“(That play) set the tone because it put pressure on the defense since they know that we can not only pass, but we can run the ball as well,” Washington said.
On Missouri’s next drive, Daniel hit sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Maclin for an 80-yard touchdown. On that pass, Daniel became Missouri’s all-time passing leader, passing for a career total of 8,846 yards, breaking Brad Smith’s old record of 8,799. After Saturday's game, Daniel now has 9,153 career yards.
“It means a lot,” Daniel said. “That’s a big, big thing for me. I’m very honored to be able to do it. There’s been a lot of very good quarterbacks that have played here. I’m very honored to be in that class of quarterbacks and hopefully still have a long way to go.”
On the last play of the first half, Nevada sophomore quarterback Colin Kaepernick hit senior wide receiver Marko Mitchell for a 42-yard hail mary touchdown.
“I was disappointed in the last play of the second quarter,” coach Gary Pinkel said. “We gave up that big play, which was really disappointing, but I thought we played pretty good in the second half.”
In the third quarter, holding a 45-17 lead, senior kicker Jeff Wolfert lined up for a 49-yard field goal. Instead of kicking the field goal, senior wide receiver Tommy Saunders shovel-passed the ball to senior tight end Chase Coffman, who then took it 37 yards for a touchdown.
“We were watching them on film and they were doing some stuff that we liked for that fake (field goal),” Coffman said. “The first couple of extra points and field goals, they were doing that same stuff.”
Dating back to the game against Southeast Missouri State, the Tiger offense has scored on their past 13 drives with Daniel at the helm, 12 of those scores being touchdowns. Against Nevada, Missouri had five straight scoring drives.
“He (Daniel) is the genuine article and he is special in their offense, and he does a great job of handling their offense,” Nevada coach Chris Ault said. “Their offensive scheme is terrific and Daniel runs it well.”
Daniel set a school record for completion percentage in a game, completing 82.1 percent of his passes. The team also broke a school record for passing yards in a game, with 519 total passing yards.
Four Missouri players broke their personal highs for receiving yards in a game, including Maclin, Coffman, Saunders, and junior wide receiver Jared Perry.
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