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Daniel, Missouri clinch Big 12 North title

Nov 16, 2008 - 5:56 AM AMES, Iowa (Ticker) -- Chase Daniel and Missouri already have fallen short of their preseason objective to play in the national championship game.

But the Tigers still have a chance to achieve one of their goals - the Big 12 Conference title.

Daniel passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns Saturday, leading 11th-ranked Missouri to the Big 12 North title with a 52-20 rout of Iowa State.

"We got another win in November and we are Big 12 North champions," Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel said. "We have a bye week and then we have our big game against Kansas."

"It's awesome," Daniel added. "It's been a long season for everyone involved. We're excited about it. It's one of our goals, and we have some more goals to reach."

Derrick Washington ran for 128 yards and two TDs for the Tigers (9-2, 5-2 Big 12 North), who will face either Texas Tech, Oklahoma or Texas in the league championship game.

Missouri climbed as high as No. 2 in the national rankings before suffering back-to-back losses last month to Oklahoma State and Texas.

However, the Tigers have reeled off four straight victories to secure their second consecutive berth in the Big 12 championship game, which will be played December 6 in Kansas City, Missouri.

"We had high expectations going in and we don't worry about that," Daniel said. "We got some of the media thinking national championship and Big 12 championship, and that's what we want.

"We put ourselves in a position to play for it and now we have to go out and compete."

A preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, Daniel completed 32-of-40 passes. His favorite target was Jeremy Maclin, who hauled in eight receptions for 103 yards and a score.

Daniel completed his first 16 attempts as the Tigers raced to a 31-7 halftime lead.

"Chase is a great quarterback," Iowa State coach Gene Chizik said. "We really didn't do a nice job stopping him all night.

"We gave up too many plays and with Chase, he is going to put the ball about where he needs to put it every time. We didn't play well on defense."

Missouri opened the scoring five minutes into the contest when Daniel found Tommy Saunders for a 3-yard scoring strike.

After the Tigers doubled their lead on Washington's 2-yard TD run early in the second quarter, William Moore made it 21-0 when he intercepted Austen Arnaud and scored on a 17-yard return.

Washington also scored on a 52-yard run in the second quarter, and Daniel hooked up with Maclin for a 43-yard TD pass in the third to secure Missouri's fifth win in the last six meetings with the Cyclones (2-9, 0-8 North).

Arnaud passed for 326 yards and two TDs for Iowa State, which is mired in a nine-game losing streak and has lost its last 13 games vs. ranked opponents.

"It hurts to lose," Arnaud said. "You look at this conference up and down and the Big 12 is just stacked this year.

We all can fight and we all can put up points. To see where this conference is at this year compared to others is mind-blowing."