In a 69-0 victory over Western Illinois on Saturday at Faurot Field, Missouri set program single-game records for points and yards (744) while testing a few more historic marks.
And for the most part, it was all by accident.
Coach Gary Pinkel didn’t want Jimmie Hunt to take Jimmy Costello’s pass 54 yards for a score to make it 62-0. He took no pleasure in E.J. Gaines returning a punt 44 yards for the final score.
For the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, it all just happened.
“Seven minutes into the third (quarter), we were letting that clock run down to about five seconds before we snapped it,” Pinkel said. “We aren’t out to humiliate anybody.”
A shining example of the ease by which the Tigers attained victory Saturday came on the first Missouri possession. On a pass play from the 37-yard-line, sophomore quarterback James Franklin rolled to the right sideline before scrambling back to the left hash mark. He finally spotted receiver Wes Kemp near the left pylon, standing flat-footed with no other player in sight.
Franklin pitched, Kemp caught, and the rout was on.
“I don’t think that’s ever happened,” Franklin said of the play. “The good part is that usually when we’re watching film there’s a guy wide open like that sometimes in the game but we never hit him. This time we did.”
The pass kick-started the night, but the show’s spotlight focused on the running game. Sophomore running back Henry Josey let the world know it was his first start of the season with a near-historic display of 263 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries – all in the first half.
Following Kemp’s inaugural score, Josey was the Tiger crossing the end zone for three of the team’s five touchdowns to follow in the first half. With passing scores to slot receiver TJ Moe and Kemp squeezed in, Josey took runs of six, 21 and 68 yards for scores to extend Missouri’s halftime advantage to 42-0.
Pinkel’s concern for the health of his only remaining scholarship running back was the only factor preventing Josey from running right to the Tigers’ single-game individual rushing record of 319 yards.
“I wasn’t disappointed,” said a smiling Josey, whose first half display gave him the fourth highest single-game rushing mark in school history. “They were really just trying to save me, in case I got a hamstring (issue). It was just smart football.”
Josey was one of many Tigers that received spells as a result of the lopsided score. The play of the last quarter and a half belonged solely to the Missouri backups. For a team nursing a long list of injuries, Pinkel found the opportunity to be valuable.
“We got a lot of guys out when we needed to, to get a chance to get a little bit healthy,” he said.
Even in limited time, multiple Tiger offensive starters joined Josey in collecting eye-popping statistics. Franklin finished his day 18-of-25 passing for 246 yards and three touchdowns. Kemp scored two touchdowns. The Tigers saw seven plays go for 30 yards or more and didn’t commit a single turnover.
It was more than Pinkel could ask for out of his team in preparation for Saturday’s game against No. 1 Oklahoma.
Literally.
