CBS SportsLine wire reports
Oct. 3, 1998
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri won by 21 points and walked off the field ready for a tongue-lashing.
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"Games like this, they drive you crazy," coach Larry Smith said. "Everybody thinks you're going to score 50 points."
The game was the first for Missouri (3-1) since losing by an identical 35-14 score to No. 1 Ohio State two weeks ago. Facing Northwestern State (4-1), the Tigers seemed sluggish early and led only 14-0 at halftime.
Although Missouri pulled away, Smith said it never got much better.
"IT WASN'T THE SMOOTH operating machine I would have liked to have seen,"
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Missouri's John Dausman leaps to try and block a punt by Northwestern State's Shawn Grigsby. Missouri partially blocked two punts in the first half of the game.
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That was true even for West, who had zero yards on two carries in the first quarter.
"I think we underestimated that team, and that was the first thing the coaches told us not to do," West said. "I think we started to at the beginning, until they started whipping our butts.
"Then we woke up."
Missouri, which entered the game as the nation's top rushing team with 310 yards per game, gained 260 Saturday as it won for the fourth straight time at home. Northwestern State players were far from unhappy.
"It is pretty much a moral victory," quarterback Warren Patterson said. "I think we played pretty good. In our division, we would have really blown some people out."
NORTHWESTERN STATE WAS Missouri's first I-AA opponent since Marshall, a 44-24 victim in 1992. Northwestern State was a substitute on the schedule after Clemson and Missouri decided to reduce their agreement from three games to two.
"We made a pretty good pay check and the kids had a great experience," Northwestern coach Sam Goodwin said. "They don't get to experience that kind of atmosphere often, if ever."
West, who had 30 carries, scored on runs of 17, 5 and 4 yards and topped 100 yards for the third time in four games. Quarterback Corby Jones fumbled twice and threw an interception in the end zone, but scored two touchdowns and set school records for career rushing TDs (34) and TDs produced (54) with sneaks of 1 and 2 yards.
Jones, hampered by a sprained toe on Missouri's second series, was 6-for-10 for 122 yards and ran for 31 yards on 16 carries. He met reporters after the game with his left foot in a bucket of ice water.
"IT MAKES ME take some of the burden off myself," Jones said. ``I'm forced to say `Here, do this, make this play.'
"I knew I wasn't going to be able to outrun everybody."
Northwestern State had outscored its first four opponents 139-46 and entered the game fifth in I-AA against the run. Patterson was 15-for-27 for 213 yards and a 27-yard touchdown to Chris Pritchett in the fourth quarter.
Patterson said the bomb was the only way Northwestern State was ever going to score.
"They were so much bigger than us," Patterson said. ``Every time we got near the goal line, they'd start bringing their big boys in, and they'd just overpower us."
Missouri was outgained 88-48 in a scoreless first quarter, then scored twice before halftime. West was untouched on a 17-yard run up the middle with 11:56 to go and Jones scored on a 1-yard sneak with 24 seconds left.
THE SECOND SCORE was set up when Northwestern State punter Shawn Grigsby had trouble fielding a low snap and decided to run, giving Missouri possession at the Demons' 28 after a 10-yard loss.
Both teams missed scoring opportunities in the final 24 seconds of the half. Ronnie Powell returned the kickoff 50 yards to the Missouri 32 and Wade Perkins nearly returned a badly underthrown ball for a touchdown on the next play, running into teammate Marquis Gibson on a 61-yard play.
Missouri's Tim Geiger was short and to the left on a 43-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
West topped 2,000 career yards midway through the third quarter and made it 21-3 when he scored on a 5-yard option run with 3:37 to go in the third.