Big 12 Sports Blog by Big 12 Fans

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.

In last night’s Insight Bowl, Oklahoma St. got out to a huge early lead and capped off their 2007 with a winning record by defeated Indiana 49-33. Zac Robinson had a monster game, going 24 of 34 for 302 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and adding 70 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Freshman Dez Bryant caught nine passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns, and two OSU seniors closed out their careers with solid outings, as running back Dantrell Savage ran for 100 yards and a touchdown, and receiver Adarius Bowman caught six passes for 74 yards and a score.

Just as impressive as their offensive output was the fact that the defense held Indiana receiver James Hardy, one of the country’s top receivers - and biggest at 6′7, to only five catches for 50 yards and no touchdowns.

As we kick off the New Year, a couple of Big 12 teams are in action already. Missouri has put in a tremendous defensive performance in holding Arkansas running back Darren McFadden to only 86 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, and Tigers running back Tony Temple is showing that McFadden and Felix Jones aren’t the only top-notch backs at the Cotton Bowl, as Temple has run for 261 yards and three scores to help Missouri to a 31-7 lead in the fourth. Chase Daniel has had an off-day, going only 11 of 29 for 127 yards and an interception, but thanks to the great game by Temple and the great defensive effort - Arkansas didn’t get on the board until late in the third, when it was already 28-0), Missouri’s looking at a 12-win season.

It’s not going as good for Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl, as they’re down 21-7 to Virginia at halftime. The Cavaliers have done a great job in shutting down Tech’s high-powered offense, outside of the Red Raiders’ second drive of the game, which they scored on to take a 7-0 lead. Since then, Virginia has scored 21 straight points, and have moved the ball well on Tech’s defense, and got a couple of big plays, one on defense in a safety on an intentional grounding penalty on Graham Harrell, and the other on a 96-yard touchdown run by Mikell Simpson. One bright spot for the Red Raiders is that they’ve held Virginia defensive end Chris Long without a sack thus far, though Harrell has been sacked twice.