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Daniel, Missouri rout Colorado

Oct 26, 2008 - 5:02 AM COLUMBIA, Missouri (Ticker) -- Chase Daniel and Missouri took out two weeks of frustration on Colorado.

Daniel threw for 309 yards and five touchdowns as Missouri bounced back from two consecutive losses with a 58-0 pounding of Colorado on Saturday.

"I think we have to prove something to ourselves that we can bounce back," the senior quarterback said. "Get everything going and get everything right. It's a good feeling to get back to winning."

The shutout loss for Colorado was its first in 242 games, snapping the nation's third-longest streak. The Buffaloes were last held scoreless in a 7-0 loss to Nebraska on November 12, 1988.

"It was awesome," Daniel said of the defense keeping the Buffaloes off the scoreboard. "Everyone was out there, everyone was yelling. So, we wanted the shutout definitely. The stars tonight were definitely our defense. They are playing at a better level now, hopefully they can keep it going."

Missouri's national title hopes were doused over the last two games against Big 12 South foes. Oklahoma State squeezed out a win in Columbia two weeks ago, 28-23, before Texas ransacked the Tigers, 56-31, last Saturday.

"I think my football team responded to the challenge of getting refocused and I'm very pleased with that," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "It's been a couple tough weeks. I have a bunch of great competitors, good kids. I thought overall it was a good win. All sides of the ball, the kicking game was sound. I'm pleased we got back in the winner's circle."

Daniel and the Tigers (6-2, 2-2 Big 12 North) got back on track in a big way against the Buffaloes.

Daniel completed 32-of-38 attempts and found four different receivers for touchdowns, including 11 completions for 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Jeremy Maclin.

Chase Coffman, Tommy Saunders and Maclin all caught first-half touchdowns as Missouri opened up a 34-0 lead before halftime.

"We were working on that play for five or six weeks now," Daniel said of Coffman's one-handed grab. "We finally got the call. It looked good in practice and a guy like [Coffman] just makes things work. It was a little Tim Tebow action. I try to be like him as much as I can."

The Tigers sit in a tie with Nebraska and Kansas atop the division standings and have hopes of a Big 12 championship within their sights.

Colorado (4-4, 1-3 North) was limited to 198 yards of total offense, nearly half coming in the fourth quarter.

"We got blistered," Colorado coach Dan Hawkins said. "It was a good, good team. We got outplayed and outcoached in a big way. You always do [feel prepared], but at the same time we're kind of fragile in a sense. Certainly when they got up big early that hurt our confidence."