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Daniel, Missouri beat down Nebraska

Oct 5, 2008 - 6:07 AM LINCOLN, Nebraska (Ticker) -- It took 30 years, but Missouri finally heard complete silence at Memorial Stadium.

Heisman Trophy candidate Chase Daniel found Jeremy Maclin for a 58-yard touchdown on the game's opening drive as the third-ranked Tigers never looked back in a 52-17 thrashing of Big 12 Conference rival Nebraska on Saturday night.

Daniel threw three TDs while Derrick Washington ran for two scores and caught another for the Tigers (5-0, 1-0 Big 12 North), who had dropped 15 straight games here dating to a 35-31 upset of the then-No. 2 Cornhuskers in 1978.

"Right now, it means a lot (to win at Nebraska), but I'm sure down the road it will mean a lot more," Daniel said. "We're focused on this game, and it's over with. We'll enjoy this ... but this means a little bit extra."

"You hear about 1978, and these kids weren't even born in '78, but they're still carrying it," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "So, this was about not only winning for this season, which was real important winning this game, but it clears things up a little bit for the players behind them."

Once a perennial national power, Nebraska has taken a back seat to Missouri over the last two seasons, as evidenced by Saturday's setback and the 41-6 beating it endured in Columbia last season. The Tigers used that win as a springboard to the Big 12 North Division title, a 12-2 season and its first New Year's Day bowl win since 1966.

Daniel, who threw for 401 yards in that contest, was 18-of-23 for 253 yards in this one - hitting a streaking Maclin down the left sideline to open the game with bang and temper the excitement of the crimson-clad fans at Memorial Stadium.

"They were pretty loud in the first two series," Daniel said of the crowd. "Then, after that, they stopped. It's awesome to play in front of that. I was talking to (the offensive coordinator) before the game, and where else would you rather be? It's 90,000 fans, a hostile environment. To be able to come out and play like that says a lot about our team."

An electric sophomore wide receiver, Maclin had five catches for 89 yards for Missouri, which took a 31-10 lead at halftime.

Washington, who scored on a 3-yard run to give the Tigers the lead for good with 6:53 left in the opening period, helped his club pile on in the third. He snagged a 7-yard TD pass and romped in from 43 yards out to make it 45-10 before Danario Alexander caught a 26-yard score to cap the scoring for Missouri.

A sophomore, Washington ran for 141 yards on 14 carries for the Tigers, who next will play two straight ranked opponents - No. 22 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Texas.

"I knew (Washington) was going to be real good," Pinkel said. "I knew this before the season started. This guy is an impact player running the football. He's explosive, he's very hard to tackle, he's 220 pounds, he's got great vision. I don't know what to compare his style to - it's his style, it's what he does."

Joe Ganz threw two TD passes for Nebraska (3-2, 0-1), which has shown improvement under first-year coach Bo Pelini, who replaced the unpopular Bill Callahan.

"We're still a very confident team," Cornhuskers receiver Nate Swift said. "We all know our abilities and what we can do. We just had a stretch here of two bad games where we just couldn't get anything going. We've just got to keep our heads up, get things corrected, come back next week and do what we do."

But the program's upswing was not on display in this one, which instead turned into a demoralizing laugher - characterized by the long faces and slumped shoulders from the remaining Cornhuskers' faithful in the stands.