Missouri ramping up Heisman talk for Daniel

By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Chase Daniel for Heisman is beyond the theoretical stage after his latest big day for No. 6 Missouri.

``We weren't going to be campaigning until we did something on the field,'' school spokesman Chad Moller said Sunday. ``I think it's time.

``We aren't going to be buying banners on Times Square, but it's going to be about keeping people informed and taking that next step in linking his name to the Heisman.''

Daniel received a letter from the Heisman Trust last week notifying him he was on a short list of potential invitees to New York for the awards presentation next month. He's the point man for Missouri's first nine-win season since 1969.

Coach Gary Pinkel said he did a lot of interviews last week discussing Daniel's qualifications, and Daniel backed up that talk on Saturday by passing for 352 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-26 victory over Texas A&M in Missouri's home finale.

``I don't know if he's the best quarterback in the country, but somebody's got to show me who's better than him,'' Pinkel said. ``I'm sure there are some real good ones out there and I've seen some good ones.

``But when it's time to play and time to go for a drive, well, you know who's leading this team.''

Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon perhaps is the front-runner, with Florida sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow and Arkansas running back Darren McFadden among the worthy contenders.

The Heisman runner-up last year, McFadden is having another nice season. He rushed for 321 yards last week, but Arkansas is 6-4 after losing to Tennessee on Saturday.

Dixon has thrown 20 touchdown passes with only three interceptions, and has rushed for 549 yards and eight touchdowns. Tebow accounted for seven touchdowns - five rushing - and 424 total yards in a 51-31 victory at South Carolina on Saturday.

Daniel pays attention to the publicity and the competition, but not too much. Missouri (9-1) has at least three games to go starting with next week's game at Kansas State, where the Tigers haven't won since 1989.

After that there's the neutral-site matchup for the Big 12 North title against No. 4 and unbeaten Kansas on Nov. 24 in Kansas City. A win there would put them in the conference title game for the first time.

So, the Heisman is just a nice sidelight.

``That's so far away,'' Daniel said. ``It's so far away and there's so many great college athletes out there that are deserving.

``We've got our hands full next week as well.''

Daniel has 26 touchdown passes and six interceptions while ranking in the top five in the NCAA in at least five major statistical categories: total offense (355 yards), completions (28 per game), completion percentage (69 percent), yards passing (3,306) and yards passing per game (330.6).

Daniel produced a pair of scoring drives in the fourth quarter after Texas A&M twice cut the deficit to five points. He was 27-for-35, with most of the incompletions coming when he threw the ball away rather than force it into coverage.

Missouri and Hawaii are the only schools to score 30 points in every game this season, and dating to 2006 the Tigers have topped 30 points in 12 straight games.

``He plays consistently at a high level and I think that's an understatement,'' Pinkel said. ``I would suggest if we continue to win and he continues to play at that level, I'd like to think he would be considered for that prize.''

Source: ncaafootball.com; Photo Credit: Missouri Media Relations

Rising Missouri gets chance to enter national title picture against No. 6 Sooners

By JEFF LATZKE
AP Sports Writer

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - As the wins keep coming, the stakes are getting raised for No. 11 Missouri.

Off to their second straight 5-0 start and their highest ranking since 1981, the Tigers will face No. 6 Oklahoma (5-1, 1-1 Big 12) on Saturday with more on the line than perhaps any other game in coach Gary Pinkel's seven seasons at the school.

After beating then-No. 25 Nebraska 41-6 in their Big 12 opener last week, the Tigers can establish themselves as a legitimate national title contender by defeating Oklahoma.

History is not on their side.

Missouri has lost 16 straight games in Norman dating back to 1966 and has lost 13 straight road games against ranked opponents, with the last win coming in 1997 at Oklahoma State. The last six of those losses came under Pinkel.

``It's the biggest game we've had here,'' said Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel, who ranks third in the nation in total offense with a 380-yard average.

``It's a big game because it's the next game. As I said last week, we're not approaching it like a do-or-die, it's your life, you better win, if you don't win, you're going to be fired. It's a football game, just go out there, have fun, play hard, do what you can and move the football.''

In a change from the past seasons, the Tigers present the highest-ranked opponent the Sooners will likely face during the regular season. After losing to Colorado to start Big 12 play, Oklahoma bounced back last week with a 28-21 win against then-No. 19 Texas to set up one of only two showdowns between ranked foes this weekend _ the other pitting top-ranked LSU against No. 17 Kentucky.

``After I saw them beat Nebraska, I said, `Man, this is really going to be a big game.' They're coming in undefeated, they're ranked 11th and it's just going to be a big game,'' Sooners guard Brian Simmons said. ``But like I tell everyone, every game's a big game for us. We're trying to get to the conference title, so it's always a big game.''

Little has slowed Daniel and the Tigers' offense so far this season. Missouri ranks fifth in the nation with 556.6 yards per game and 11th in scoring with a 41.8-point average.

But when these former Big Eight rivals met last year in Columbia, the Sooners found a formula that worked. Daniel ran for 75 yards, while the rest of his teammates totaled only 1 yard on the ground in a 26-10 loss.

Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables promised the Sooners ``won't be able to stop the pass'' if Missouri's running game has success.

The Sooners also got a normally unflappable Daniel to throw three interceptions in that game and squelched the possibility of a Mizzou rally by sending the Tigers away with nothing after a first-and-goal opportunity from the 2-yard line in the third quarter. Missouri's next three possessions ended in a three-and-out and back-to-back picks by Daniel.

``You've got to mix it up. That's the biggest thing,'' Venables said. ``Any of those teams with a quarterback of his caliber that sees the field and understands defense - and what they do with the no-huddle concept, so they check with the sideline - you give them a steady dose of one thing and it's difficult to have success on defense that way. You make it awfully easy on the opponent.''

Daniel, who has thrown for at least 294 yards in each of his last eight games, said the main challenges the Sooners present are speed and variety on defense.

``They want to disguise a lot. They're not really, really great at one thing, they're really, really great at a whole bunch of things,'' Daniel said. ``That's what they do, they run a whole bunch of defenses and we have our hands full this week.''

Oklahoma has won nine of the 11 games in the series when both teams were in the Top 25, including the last seven. The Sooners held the higher ranking in eight of those 11 games.

``All those rankings and things don't mean anything, they're just numbers until the end of the season,'' said Missouri senior Martin Rucker, the top receiving tight end in the nation.

``You appreciate that people give you recognition like that, but when you cross the line and strap it up, it doesn't matter who's ranked what.''

Source: ncaafootball.com; Photo Credit: Mizzou Media Relations