Nebraska football earned no respect from Missouri.
After their eighth-consecutive victory in 1994 at Columbia, the undefeated and Associated Press third-ranked Huskers were set to play second-ranked Colorado in Lincoln.
But they were getting no respect from Missouri, which had lost to Colorado, also at home, 38-23.
Oh yes, did I mention the final score of the Nebraska game? It was 42-7. Missouri didn’t score until midway through the fourth quarter, after the Huskers had scored four touchdowns.
Nevertheless …
“I think it’s totally a Colorado game,” Missouri offensive tackle Trey O’Neill was quoted in the Sunday Journal and Star. “All anybody can think about is how this game could have been 14-7 at the start of the second half, and that would have made this a lot different game.”
Could’ve been 14-7? Seriously? Missouri never got closer to the end zone than the Nebraska 38-yard line during the first half, and that was immediately wiped out by a 5-yard penalty.
The Huskers had 211 yards of offense to Missouri’s 90.
Of course, Nebraska would have an offensive injury issue. Back-up quarterback Matt Turman suffered a shoulder injury late in the game when he was hit as he went out-of-bounds. Turman had replaced Brook Berringer with 4 minutes remaining. Berringer returned for one play, then was replaced by freshman walk-on *Monte Christo, who had been redshirting.
Berringer’s health was of utmost importance with Colorado up next.
Berringer completed 9-of-15 passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns, 1 yard to tight end Mark Gilman, 30 yards to split end Brenden Holbein and 43 yards to split end Reggie Baul.
I-back Lawrence Phillips rushed for 122 yards and the first touchdown, on 22 carries. I-back Clinton Childs rushed for 65 yards on six carries, and I-back Damon Benning ran for two touchdowns.
Phillips tied Bobby Reynolds’ Husker record (1950), rushing for 100 or more yards in eight consecutive games to begin a season, and brought his season rushing total to 1,233 yards, 109 short to Reynolds’ season record for a sophomore.
Nebraska finished with 482 total yards, including 330 rushing, despite not using the option in an attempt to protect Berringer. Without the option, the Husker offense wasn’t really the Husker offense, even without Frazier, a better runner than Berringer — though Berringer had 4.6 speed in the 40.
Berringer was the better passer of the two. Coach Tom Osborne had described him as potentially the best pure passer Nebraska had ever had. “Brook can do it all,” Osborne said. “But we wanted to get through the game without (Berringer) getting hurt. Next week, he’ll have to do it all.”
As for the Blackshirts, they limited Missouri to 198 yards, including 48 rushing. Linebackers Ed Stewart and Troy Dumas led the way with eight tackles each. Cornerback Barron Miles intercepted his fourth pass of the season, and Nebraska sacked Jeff Handy three times.
The Husker defense was without tackle Terry Connealy, who was sidelined with flu-like symptoms.
Nebraska’s “best offense is its defense,” Missouri defensive guard Steve Martin was quoted in the Sunday Journal and Star. “Colorado has a better running game, and they also have passing.”
The Huskers were “not impressive” passing, according to Martin. “All they did was some play-action that caught us looking for the run,” said Martin.
*As you might know, Monte Christo’s son Drew pitches for Will Bolt’s Husker baseball team.
