On the line

When the Tigers take the field Saturday against Kansas State they will be renewing one of Missouri’s finest traditions, Homecoming. The Tigers are having one of the best seasons in recent school history, while the Wildcats are rebuilding with a freshman quarterback and a first-year coach.

In the 94 years of Homecoming games there have been upsets, blow-outs and close games. The Missourian takes a look at 10 of the most memorable games since coach Chester Brewer called former players and alumni to come home to Columbia in 1911 to cheer on the Tigers against Kansas.

10: Missouri 35, Oklahoma State 28 (OT) Oct. 26, 1996.

Corby Jones and Brock Olivio lead Missouri to its first overtime victory.

Jones rushed for three touchdowns and threw another in regulation. He had 193 yards on 18 rushes, which set a school record for quarterback rushing yards.

Olivio won the game for Missouri in overtime, scoring on a 5-yard run. Earlier in the drive he had a 13-yard run to set up the touchdown. Olivio crediting his blockers for the touchdown.

“My mom could have ran that one,” Olivio said. “I saw the goal line and it’s just one of the those things as a running back where you don’t want to be denied.”

He finished with 84 yards, which made him the sixth Tiger to rush for more than 2,000 yards.

Andre Richardson had a chance to force a second overtime, but the Cowboy couldn’t hold on to a throw from Tone Jones.

The win was the Tigers’ first in the newly formed Big 12 Conference. Since the NCAA made the switch to the current overtime format in 1996, Missouri is 8-3.

The Tigers finished coach Larry Smith’s third year at 5-4.

9: No. 7 Missouri 57, Colorado 0 Nov. 10 1962.

The Tigers stampeded Colorado in the biggest blowout in Homecoming history.

Six different Tigers scored in the game, which today is still the greatest margin of victory against a conference opponent.

Johnny Roland led the way for Missouri, scoring rushing touchdowns of 14-, 10- and 10-yards. The three touchdowns tied a single-game record for rushing touchdowns. Roland also returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown, but it was called back because of a clipping penalty.

Despite resting most of the starters starting in the second quarter and playing third and fourth-sting players in the second half, the Tigers continued to put points on the board. Missouri scored 14 points in the first quarter, 16 in the second, 31 in the third and seven in the fourth.

Other Tigers that scored touchdowns besides Roland were Paul Underhill (9-yard run), Andy Russell (28-yard interception return), Elbert Griffin (6-yard run), Mike Jones (25-yard run) and Larry Kuba (3-yard run).

The 57 points scored was the most by Missouri since a 60-3 victory against St. Louis in 1948, while the 42,500 fans at the game was the largest Homecoming-crowd to that date.

8: Missouri 27, Iowa State 24 (OT) Oct. 15, 2005.

Last year’s Homecoming game gave Tiger fans a glimpse of what to expect of the team this season. Xzavie Jackson and Willie Moore scored defensive touchdowns, just as they did against Texas Tech this season, and Chase Daniel led the Missouri to a come-from-behind overtime victory against the Iowa State.

With about nine minutes left in the game, Daniel replaced Brad Smith, who left the game after being hit in the head. Daniel came in and converted a third-and-10 to Brad Ekwerekwu. The Tigers drove 63 yards to set up at 19-yard Adam Crossett field goal. On the team’s next possession Missouri drove 75-yard drive, scoring on a 4-yard touchdown reception by Sean Coffey that tied the game with 20 seconds left.

In overtime the Cyclones started off with the ball, but failed to score, missing a 43-yard field goal. Adam Crossett won the game for Missouri on a 26-yard field goal.

The Tigers finished the year 7-5, ending it with a 38-31 victory against South Carolina in the Independence Bowl. The Homecoming win was crucial in making Missouri bowl eligible.

7: No. 3 Nebraska 16, Missouri 14 Oct. 30, 1965

A personal foul penalty for “bad language” will forever overshadow what could have been the greatest win in Homecoming history.

With the No. 3 Cornhuskers trailing 14-13 late in the fourth quarter Missouri was called for a personal that advanced Nebraska to the Missouri 17-yard line. Four plays later Larry Wachholtz kicked the game-winning field goal.

After the game Missouri coach Dan Devine said he wasn’t given a satisfactory explanation for the penalty.

“The way I understand it is one of our boys was disappointed because he hadn’t made a tackle and made some comment to himself.” Devine said. “Somebody must have interpreted the remark as being directed at them.”

Missouri quarterback Gary Lane lead the Tigers to touchdowns on the team’s first two possessions of the game. On the first Lane kept the ball for a touchdown, while on the second he handed it off to Carl Reese for a 2-yard score. The Tiger scores were the first time Nebraska trailed in a game that season.

The Cornhuskers eventually scored two touchdowns, but Wachholtz missed the extra point after the second score.

The Tigers ended the season 8-2-1 and were ranked No. 6 after beating Florida 20-18 in the Sugar Bowl.

6: Missouri 3, Kansas 0 Nov. 22, 1913.

Fans can thank Harvey Lee McWilliams’ leg for Missouri’s first Homecoming victory.

In the second quarter of a muddy game that was supposed to favor the Jayhawkers, the Tigers scored the only points of the game. McWilliams returned a punt 20 yards to start the Tigers’ game-winning drive. On the Kansas 25-yard line, he rushed three times for 11 yards. Missouri was then stopped twice and there was a hush in the crowd as fans saw the quarterback line up for a field goal. McWilliams’ kick was good from about 27 yards.

The Tigers almost scored a touchdown on a pass from Herbert K. Thatcher, a ringer who was captain of the track team and could throw the ball 40 yards, to Speelman. The length of the pass is unknown, but Thatcher connected with Speelman in end zone, but the referee said the receiver was out of bounds.

Both teams couldn’t convert on scoring opportunities later in the game. Kansas missed two field goals, while McWilliams missed his second attempt.

The Tigers ended the season with shutouts of Drake, Washington (Mo.) and Kansas on their way to a 7-1 record, becoming Missouri Valley Conference co-champions.

5: Missouri 14, No. 14 Oklahoma 6 Nov. 17 1945

The Tigers accomplished a good amount in the first peacetime Homecoming since 1941.

Missouri clinched a share of the Big Six Conference title with the upset victory against the Sooners, and the Tigers snapped Oklahoma’s 17-game conference winning streak.

Loyd Brinkman put Missouri on the board with a 29-yard touchdown run on a lateral from Leonard Brown in the first quarter.

The Tigers’ used a fake field goal to help the team on its second scoring drive. Place-kicker Jim Kekeris lined up for a kick and swung, but holder Bob Hopkins stood up and threw the ball to Leonard Brown for a first down. Hopkins scored on a run and Kekeris kicked the extra point to give Missouri a 14-0 lead going into halftime.

Oklahoma’s lone touchdown came in the third quarter. Bob Eigelberger blocked the extra point.

The game was coach Chauncey Simpson’s last Homecoming as head coach. Simpson took over for Don Faurot in 1943 when the legendary coach enlisted in the Navy. Faurot returned to Columbia late in the 1945 season.

The Tigers ended the season with a 6-4 record. They were Big Six champions and played in the Cotton Bowl, losing to Texas 40-27.

4: Missouri 3, Kansas 3 Nov. 25, 1911.

Without this game the countdown wouldn’t exist.

In 1911 the Kansas versus Missouri game was played in Columbia for the first time. It was only the second time in the 21-game series that it wasn’t played in Kansas City.

Kansas’ domination of the series, 14-3-3, created a desire to win by the Tigers that brought back famous players to assist coach Chester Brewer and was the start of Homecoming.

“Old students and graduates began to assemble at Columbia the middle of the week, and on Friday night the biggest mass meeting ever held at M.U. took place in the auditorium,” the 1912 Savitar said.

Nine thousand people attended the game, which was tied at 0 through halftime. In the third quarter the Jayhawkers had the ball on the Missouri 2-yard line, but could not get into the end zone. Carl Delaney kicked a 25-yard field from a difficult angle goal to break the tie.

The Tigers tied the game on Glenn B. “Jimmie” Shuck field goal that was about 31 yard.

Kansas had a chance to win the game, but William “Billy” Blees tackled the Jayhawkers captain to save the day.

The Tigers ended the season 2-4-2.

3: No. 12 Missouri 7, No. 5. Oklahoma 6, Nov. 18, 1939.

Special teams led No. 12 Missouri to a victory against No. 5 Oklahoma in one of the few Homecoming games where both teams were ranked.

The Tigers controlled battle for field position thanks to strong punts by Ronald King. Missouri kept the Sooners close to their own goal line, often forcing them to punt from the end zone.

Charles Mosher became the hero of the day when he blocked an Oklahoma punt on a designed block play. Bud Orf caught the blocked ball and dove into the end zone for Missouri’s only score.

Mosher also came up big for the Tigers in the first quarter when he stopped a Sooner back on the five-yard line to stop a potential scoring drive.

The Sooners drove 73-yards to scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Dick Favor missed the extra point.

“That was one of the hardest-fought games I’ve ever seen,” Don Faurot, Missouri’s coach, said after the game.

After the Oklahoma win, the Tigers beat No. 10 Kansas 20-0. The team won the Big Six Conference championship and earned a spot in the Orange Bowl, losing to No. 6 Georgia Tech 21-7. The Tigers were 8-2 for the season.

2: No. 14 Missouri 9, No. 7 Arizona State 0 Sept. 28, 1974.

Missouri used Arizona State’s trash talking to motivate the team to a 9-0 victory in 1974.

The No. 14 Tigers scored on an 18-yard pass from Ray Smith to Mark Miller in the second quarter, capping off a four-play, 64-yard drive. John Labanc missed the extra point.

Missouri later scored on a 21-yard field goal by Tim Gibbons to take a 9-0 lead. The field goal was the team’s first of the season.

The Tigers’ defense was a major factor in the rain-soaked game. No. 7 Arizona State was intercepted four times and Missouri limited Freddie Williams to 58 yards. He was averaging 141 yards-per-game.

The shutout of the Sun Devils was the first in 97 games when Utah State beat them 13-0 in 1965.

Frank Kush, Arizona State’s coach, freely spoke about the upset.

“I think we just got the shit kicked out of us,” he said.

The Tigers win helped avenge a 49-35 loss to the Sun Devils in the 1972 Fiesta Bowl.

Missouri ended the season 7-4.

1: Missouri 20, No. 7 Colorado 17 Oct. 28, 1972.

The goal posts came down in one of Missouri’s biggest Homecoming upsets in 1972 against No. 7 Colorado.

Greg Hill kicked a 32-yard game-winning field goal with six seconds left to beat the Buffaloes who were favorites by three touchdowns.

Hill was lucky to get a chance to kick the game-winner. One minute and 30 seconds earlier he missed a 22-yarder. The Tigers got the ball back thanks to a 10-yard sack by second string defensive tackle Frank Caldwell. Colorado punted and Missouri drove the field for the winning field goal.

The game was Missouri’s second won on a last second field goal. Seven weeks earlier in the season opener against Oregon the team also won 24-22 on a kick with six seconds left.

The Tigers ended the season 6-6 in Al Onfrio’s second year. The win was Missouri’s first against a Big Eight opponent in two years. Unlike this year, Colorado’s mascot Raplhie roamed the sidelines of Faurot Field.

— Sources: Missourian archives and MU Savitar yearbook