Oct 25, 2003

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Get your Missouri Gear Here!

By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Brad Smith outplayed the nation's leading quarterback.

Smith ran for 291 yards, only 17 shy of the NCAA record for a quarterback, and a school-record five touchdowns as the Tigers left Texas Tech's top-ranked offense in the dust in a 62-31 victory Saturday.

The last three touchdowns came in the fourth quarter as Missouri pulled away after its lead had twice been whittled to 10 points.

"He's still Superman, that's all I can say," offensive tackle Rob Droege said.

Pregame attention was focused on B.J. Symons of Texas Tech, who led Division I in eight statistical categories and was averaging 500.9 yards passing. Symons got his numbers, going 40-for-62 for 408 yards and four touchdowns, but he also threw a season-worst three interceptions.

"The whole game we were on eggshells because they're a great offense," Smith said. "They score so quick. Every time they dropped back to pass, it was a big play that could have come."

Smith's rushing total is the second highest in school history, trailing only Devin West (319 in 1998) and he needed only 19 carries to do it. He fell just short of the NCAA record for yards rushing by a quarterback, 308 by Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois in 1990.

"All I have to do is just follow my guys and get up there and run," Smith said. "So, I didn't do too much."

Smith was elusive on both designed runs and scrambles, scoring on runs of 10, 27, 2, 41 and 61 yards to help Missouri (6-2, 2-2 Big 12) become bowl eligible for the first time since 1998. He added 128 yards passing, going 13-for-24.

"He's a special athlete," coach Gary Pinkel said. "He made a lot of plays throwing, too."

Zack Abron added 139 yards on 25 carries and scored the Tigers' other three touchdowns on runs of 3, 4 and 2 yards, shaking off a sprained left ankle near halftime. He has 38 career touchdowns, tying the school career record set by Corby Jones from 1995-98, and has scored 228 points to tie another Jones record.

Texas Tech (5-3, 2-2) entered the game leading the nation with a 47-point average, but couldn't recover from three turnovers in the first half that led to 17 points as Missouri took a 34-10 lead. Symons was intercepted on consecutive passes in the half, mistakes that led to 10 points.

Two of Symons' touchdown passes went to Carlos Francis. Two of his interceptions were picked off by Brandon Barnes.

"We held them 100 yards below their average," coach Gary Pinkel said. "It's remarkable to say that."

A furious Texas Tech coach Mike Leach made a short statement after the game and refused to make players available.

"We lost this game because I'm not a good enough coach to get our defensive players to believe in themselves," Leach said. "We lost this game because I'm not a good enough coach to get our offensive players to play in control when the other team scores a couple of points."

Missouri finished with 469 yards rushing and had no turnovers. The Tigers entered the game tied for the Division I lead with only five turnovers all year.

Missouri scored on all six possessions in the first half against a defense ranked near the bottom of Division I (113th of 117) after giving up 51 points to Oklahoma State last week. The Tigers also neutralized Texas Tech's pass-happy attack, especially in the first half, by dropping as many as eight players into coverage while still getting pressure on Symons.

Barnes' interception set up Abron's 4-yard run on the first play of the second quarter, putting the Tigers ahead 24-3. James Kinney intercepted Symons' next pass and returned it 21 yards to the Texas Tech 20 to set up a field goal by Mike Matheny that made it 27-3.

Texas Tech capitalized on the Tigers' first two punts of the day, with Symons throwing touchdown passes to Francis and Mickey Peters to cut the deficit to 34-24. Symons and Francis hooked up on a 26-yard score later in the third to again cut the gap to 10 points at 41-31.

Each time, Missouri answered the threat. Abron scored on a 2-yard run to cap a 77-yard drive on the first play of the fourth quarter and Smith scored on a 2-yard run with 11:40 to go to make it 48-31.

Barnes' second interception at the Missouri 10 with 11 minutes to go kept Texas Tech from cutting the gap to 10 again.