Sunday Night Dessert: Barfknecht Sees Weaknesses In Mizzou

The World-Herald's Lee Barfknecht headed to Columbia to watch Missouri defeat Turner Gill's Buffalo Bulls 42-21 yesterday. I had predicted a big Missouri victory, but the game was fairly tight for most of the first three quarters. Barfknecht wonders whether Gill had found a formula for defeating the Tigers:

Did Buffalo offer any kind of blueprint for slowing down Missouri?

"We'll see," Gill said. "Everybody will look at it and see what is best for their team and their personnel. What was best for us was we wanted to be physical."

Somewhere, Tom Osborne just read that and smiled. Meanwhile, Daniel and Missouri's receivers are grimacing because icepacks are a likely accessory for them today.

Buffalo defensive ends coach Brian Mohnsen, a former Husker player and video scouting director, said the Bulls played almost all base defense Saturday and then tried to clobber people.

To be sure, the game was closer than most folks thought. But before anybody gets too excited, check out Chase Daniel's line for the game: 36 completions out of 43 attempts, 2 touchdowns, and 439 yards. Yeah, his receivers coughed up the ball three times. But Daniel's been solid all season long. It all starts there with Missouri. If Nebraska is going to have any shot of defeating the Tigers, the Pelini brothers need to find a way to prevent Daniel from getting into his usual rhythm. We know from last season that a prevent defense plays right into Missouri's plan. And even Nebraska has a plan, does Nebraska have the horses to implement it?

Question: Are the Tigers the best football team in the state of Missouri, considering the current state of the Chiefs and Rams?

But before worrying about Missouri, Virginia Tech is up first. Tech may have turned the corner late against North Carolina, coming back from a 17-3 deficit to win 20-14 on the road. Tyrod Taylor may have limped off the field with a twisted ankle, but he could have returned after leading the Hokies back into the lead.

In any event, we'll start learning this week what kind of team Nebraska has as the "exhibition season" has ended.