Tigers stun Huskers with 98-yard bomb
The longest pass in Big 8 history toppled the Nebraska Cornhuskers from the undefeated ranks and dashed their hopes of a No. 1 ranking.
Leading Missouri 24-23, the Huskers kicked off to the Missouri 10 yard line. Two plays and one penalty later, the Tigers were pushed back to their own two yard line, and the Black Shirts looked certain to contain Mizzou and lead NU to their sixth victory of the year. However, Missouri quarterback Pete Woods had other plans in mind. Faking a handoff into the line, Woods passed the ball 98 yards to Joe Stewart for a touchdown. A two-point conversion made the score 31-24.
Missouri then held back a struggling Nebraska team to win 34-24.
Surprisingly, Nebraska led Missouri in total yards, 414 to 398. The Huskers amassed much of that yardage in the third quarter, as they churned out 196 yards. After covering all that ground, however, the Huskers scored only three points on the board in the third quarter, a 21-yard Al Eveland field goal.
Vince Ferragamo had an excellent day passing; he completed 13 of 22 for 191 yards.
Jim Wightman led the defense with 14 tackles.
Larry Valasek blocks a Mizzou punt in the first quarter. Kent Smith covered the ball in the end zone for Nebraska’s first touchdown.