Missouri routs Arkansas in Cotton Bowl.
Darren McFadden and Chase Daniel were supposed to be the headliners,
Temple ran for a Cotton Bowl-record 281 yards and four touchdowns to lead Missouri (12-2) to 38-7 rout of McFadden and Arkansas (8-5) to a 38-7 victory.
Temple ran for touchdowns in each quarter - 22 yards in the first, 4 yards in the second, 4 yards in the third, and a 40-yarder to cap off his big day in the fourth.
While Temple was having a huge day, McFadden was held to only 105 yards on 21 carries and Arkansas’ lone touchdown, which came late in the third, a three-yarder on a fourth-down play. His compatriot in the Razorbacks’ backfield, Felix Jones, was held to 45 yards on 10 carries, as Missouri’s defense backed up Temple’s big effort with a great performance of their own, which included a pick-six by William Moore that made it 28-0 before the Razorbacks were finally able to dent the scoreboard.
It’d been an up and down year for Temple, who ran for more than 1,000 yards this season, but entered the bowl game with 758. He must have had 1,000 on his mind, as he went over 1,000 with his performance, and bested his 1,036 yards from last year by three.
The senior has a knack for big performances in bowl games, as his previous career-high came in last season’s Sun Bowl, when he ran for 194 yards and two touchdowns in a 39-38 loss to Oregon St.
Temple is a senior, but due to an injury late in his freshman season in 2004, he’s reportedly trying to apply for a medical redshirt to get that year back, but if he’s not able to, he certainly helped his draft stock with a tremendous performance, which looks even better considering who his opposite numbers were.
As for the other Big 12 team that was in action early today, Texas Tech just completed an amazing comeback to win the Gator Bowl in the waning moments. The Red Raiders were down 28-14 late in the fourth, but scored 17 points in the final 3:31, benefiting from a crucial fumble by the Cavaliers that allowed Texas Tech to tie the game at 28, and then after a big defensive stop, Tech drove down the field for a game-winning 41-yard field goal by Alex Trlica with two seconds left. I’ll have more on that game later.
The Big 12 is now 4-2 in the bowl season, with Oklahoma’s Fiesta Bowl matchup against West Virginia coming up Wednesday and Kansas going up against Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl on Thursday.
Tags: Alex Trlica, Arkansas Razorbacks, Cotton Bowl, Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Gator Bowl, Missouri Tigers, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Tony Temple, Virginia Cavaliers, William Moore