Oct. 10, 2002
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TIGERS LOOK TO REBOUND AFTER CLOSE CALL VS. OKLAHOMA
The Missouri Tigers (3-2 overall, 0-1 in Big 12 Conference play) look to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss to #3 Oklahoma as they travel to Lincoln, Neb., where they'll take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-2, 0-1).
The Tigers fell last Saturday at home in their Big 12 opener, 31-24 to Oklahoma, in a game that MU led with 10 minutes remaining. Mizzou used a scintillating performance by freshman sensation QB Brad Smith to nearly pull the upset in front of 60,578 at Faurot Field. Smith amassed a personal-best 391 of MU's 449 yards of total offense against OU's highly-touted defense.
Nebraska broke a two-game losing streak with a commanding 38-14 home win over McNeese State last Saturday. Husker QB Jamaal Lord had his own impressive day, rushing for 217 yards and 3 TDs as NU rushed for a season-high 444 yards.
COACHES:
Missouri: Gary Pinkel (Kent, '75), 7-9 at MU (2nd year) and 80-46-3 overall (12th year). Pinkel is 0-1 vs. Nebraska and Frank Solich.
Nebraska: Frank Solich (Nebraska, '66), 46-11 at NU (5th year) and overall. Solich is 4-0 vs. Missouri and 1-0 vs. Gary Pinkel.
MU-NEBRASKA SERIES NOTES
Missouri and Nebraska will meet for the 96th time when they take the field Saturday in Lincoln. Nebraska holds a 60-32-3 lead in the series, thanks to its current 23-game winning streak over the Tigers - the longest string any team has held over Mizzou.
Prior to the Huskers' current mastery over the Tigers, the series used to be one of the most hotly-contested in the old Big Eight Conference, as the series stood deadlocked at 32-32-3 after MU's last win over the Big Red.
Missouri's last win in the series came in Lincoln back in 1978, when the unranked Tigers upset #2 Nebraska, 35-31. The game came one week after Nebraska defeated #1 Oklahoma, and eventually forced the infamous rematch of OU and NU in the 1979 Orange Bowl.
Saturday's game will be one of historical significance. That's because it will mark the first time since 1967 that Mizzou will face an unranked Husker squad.
Perhaps even more eye-popping is the fact that this will mark the first time since 1981 that Nebraska has not been ranked in the top 10 while facing the Tigers.
Missouri has had some good fortunes playing in Lincoln, relatively speaking. The Tigers are one of only two schools to win more than one game in Lincoln since 1974. Oklahoma is the other. Mizzou had a string of three consecutive wins in Lincoln from 1974 to 1978, winning 21-10 (1974), 34-24 (1976) and 35-31 (1978).