FAN VOTE: Help Vote For Mizzou's Best Game Ever as College Football Celebrates its 150th Anniversary
7/31/2019 2:00:00 PM | Football
We're starting with the 2010s - pick from four games below
College Football is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, and in conjunction with that landmark, the Southeastern Conference has asked each member school to submit its top-10 most memorable, historic and/or important games or moments from over the years.
In order to engage Mizzou's fans, we are asking you to help us celebrate the top games in Mizzou Football history. Using social media with polls spread out over the next several weeks, fans can vote on four games from various periods of time. Below is the second batch of games, coming from the 2000-2009. Head to Mizzou Football's Twitter page to vote. Also below are the winners of the first round of voting; A Return for the Ages, and the second round of voting; Armageddon at Arrowhead.
Help Mizzou celebrate the 150th anniversary of college football by selecting the most important and memorable games in Tiger history! This week, we take a look at games during the 1990s. Which of these stands out to you?
1997 at #12 Oklahoma State
Tigers take a big lead, lose it, and post a fierce comeback to force OT, where they score and stop an OSU game-winning two-point conversion attempt for a thrilling 51-50 win in double OT
1997 at Colorado
Tigers claim a landmark 41-31 road win that assured them bowl eligibility for the first time since 1983.
1998 vs. Kansas
Tigers romp to a 41-23 win over rival, thanks to a school-record day from eventual All-American RB Devin West, who ran for 319 yards.
1998 Insight.com Bowl vs. West Virginia
Tigers send transformative senior class including Corby Jones and Devin West out the right way with a 34-31 win…
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Decade 2010-19 Winner: A Return for the Ages - 2010 vs. #1 Oklahoma
On a beautiful mid-October Homecoming weekend, Mizzou and Columbia, Mo., became the center of the college football universe. The 18th-ranked Tigers were 6-0 and drew the undefeated and third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, who also carried the No. 1 ranking with them in the first BCS poll of the season, released earlier in the week. It was enough to draw ESPN's iconic "College GameDay" crew to set up shop in CoMo, and give the program, its fans and community a chance to bask in the nation's spotlight. A GameDay record crowd of over 18,000 showed up on historic Francis Quadrangle in the morning to show the nation that Mizzou loved its football, and all that stood in the way to put a cap on a perfect weekend was a win over the top-ranked Sooners later that evening. Mizzou would do just that, and it was the first play of the game that will be remembered forever in Tiger Football lore. With Memorial Stadium buzzing, the Sooners kicked off to open the game, and a pooch kick bounced into the arms of up back WR Gahn McGaffie, who broke through the initial wall of Sooner defenders and got to midfield untouched. McGaffie outraced the OU kicker the rest of the way for an 86-yard touchdown just :14 seconds into the game to declare the stage wasn't too big for Mizzou. It was an evenly-matched game the rest of the way, with OU taking a 21-20 lead into the final quarter, but the Tigers wouldn't back down. Junior QB Blaine Gabbert led a 72-yard drive that was capped by a 38-yard catch-and-run touchdown reception by WR Jerrell Jackson to give MU back the lead. They would never relinquish it the rest of the way, scoring the next 10 points (16 unanswered in all) for a 36-21 lead with just over six minutes to play. A late OU touchdown didn't change the outcome, and it was celebration time all over Columbia, as Mizzou closed out a 36-27 win, marking the first time the Tigers had ever defeated a team with a No. 1 ranking of any kind.
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Decade 2000-09 Winner: Armageddon at Arrowhead - 2007 vs. #2 Kansas
"Armageddon at Arrowhead" saw the third-ranked Tigers get out to a nice lead and hold on for the 36-28 win that locked up a Heisman invite for QB Chase Daniel…
No one would have guessed it prior to the 2007 season, but the annual game between longtime bitter rivals Mizzou and Kansas would prove to be one of the most important games of the college football season. A perfect storm of events took place that saw both teams begin the season in relative obscurity, only to have both win early and often to rise up the rankings throughout the year. It just so happened that 2007 was the first year of a multi-year agreement between the schools to play their game at Arrowhead Stadium – home of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs – and that distinction added to the flavor of the historic matchup which featured third-ranked Mizzou (10-1 overall, 6-1 in Big 12 play) and second-ranked Kansas (11-0, 7-0). With No. 1 LSU losing in upset fashion the night before, suddenly the winner of this already historic game would move to the top spot in the polls, owning an inside track to the BCS National Championship Game in the coming weeks. Like a heavyweight title bout, the teams took a while to get their sea legs, and the Tigers struck the first of several blows late in the first quarter with a one-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal from QB Chase Daniel to All-American TE Martin Rucker. Mizzou's opportunistic defense held KU's potent offense in check, allowing the Tiger offense to get in rhythm. Daniel and company obliged by driving for another score before half to take a 14-0 lead into intermission, and then tacking on a short TD run by RB Jimmy Jackson in the third for a 21-0 advantage. The Tigers would hold a 28-7 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Jayhawks, behind gritty QB Todd Reesing, wouldn't go away. Reesing rallied the mythical birds with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, and a touchdown keeper of his own, to pull close. Mizzou's offense was kept out of the end zone in the final period, settling for a pair of Jeff Wolfert field goals, and MU clung to a 34-28 lead in the final moments. After a Tiger drive stalled, MU punted and downed the ball deep inside KU territory. That led to a sack of Reesing in the end zone for a safety by DT Lorenzo Williams with :17 seconds left to account for the final score. The Tigers received the free kick and ran out the clock for a win that gave them their first Big 12 North Division championship and a berth in the conference title game. When the polls came out the next day, it was Mizzou atop of them all for the first time since 1960. Daniel was masterful on the biggest stage of his career, throwing for 361 yards and three touchdowns on 40-of-49 passing, with no interceptions. His play in this game undoubtedly led to him receiving an invite to attend the 2007 Heisman Trophy ceremony, where he would eventually finish fourth in the final voting.
