COLUMBIA, Mo. – Iowa State (1-8, 0-5 Big 12) played No. 13 Missouri (7-1, 3-1 Big 12) within seven points for much of three quarters, but the Tigers pulled away with a 42-28 victory, in front of 53,386 Saturday at Memorial Stadium. It was a day of big numbers for an ISU freshman tailback and senior quarterback.
Alexander Robinson ran for a career-high 149 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Bret Meyer completed a school-record 33 of 48 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown. Meyer eclipsed 9,000 yards through the air, becoming just the second Big 12 quarterback to do so. Todd Blythe led all Cyclone receivers with six receptions for 54 yards, passing Lane Danielson as the ISU all-time career receptions leader. R.J. Sumrall also pulled in a career-high eight receptions for 44 yards.
Missouri’s Chase Daniel completed 28 of 37 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown. Tony Temple, Jimmy Jackson, and Jeremy Maclin each scored a rushing touchdown and Martin Rucker caught a TD pass for the Tigers. Rucker and Maclin had seven receptions apiece and finished with 67 and 66 yards receiving, respectively.
"I thought the kids played hard down to the end," said ISU head coach Gene Chizik. "I thought that there were major errors at one point that really were inexcusable. Starting with the beginning of the second half, a couple of kickoff returns in a row put us in a hole. I thought it looked like we were just waiting for bad things to happen. But they kept fighting and kept clawing."
The Tigers had little trouble putting the first 14 points on the board, scoring on each of their first two possessions. Daniel completed each of his 11 passes on the two drives for 103 yards. Rushing touchdowns capped both drives, with Jackson and Temple scoring from one and seven yards, respectively.
Freshman defensive back Devin McDowell got the Cyclones on the board, intercepting a tipped Daniel pass and returning it 25 yards to pay dirt at the 9:43 mark of the second quarter. The interception return for a touchdown was the first of its kind for the Cyclones since 2005.
The Tigers responded with a Jeff Wolfert 36-yard field goal before the Cyclones went on a 12-play, 68-yard drive covering 7:05, resulting in a one-yard Meyer touchdown run.
With just 20 seconds remaining in the second half, the Tigers moved into field goal range with the help of a pass interference penalty. Wolfert then connected on a 48-yard attempt as time expired in the first half.
The second half began ominously as Meyer was sacked deep in his own end, forcing a fumble. Missouri's Loren Williams fell on the ball in the end zone for the touchdown. Daniel connected with Will Franklin for a successful two-point conversion.
The Cyclones offensive success continued as Meyer capped another 12-play drive with a one-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Hamilton. The sophomore caught a fade in the right corner of the end zone for his first career touchdown reception, cutting the ISU deficit to 28-21.
Missouri responded once again as Daniel completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Martin Rucker at the 5:57 mark of the third quarter. The Tiger scoring continued with 11:24 remaining in the fourth quarter as Maclin took it in from 17 yards on a double reverse.
Down 21 points, the Cyclones showed little quit. Robinson broke through the line on fourth-and-one for a 37-yard touchdown run with 7:19 remaining in the game to close to within 42-28. The 37-yard scamper is the longest rush of the year for the Cyclones. ISU drove to the red zone its next position with the help of a second fourth-down conversion, but the Cyclones couldn’t move the chains on final fourth down opportunity in the waning moments.
The Cyclones return home to face Kansas State next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at Jack Trice Stadium. The game will be televised on VERSUS.
