Buffs look to Tigers on the road to recovery

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A week after losing to Oklahoma, Colorado isn't exactly getting a breather.

The Big 12's North Division leaders (6-3, 4-1) are wary about today's game at Missouri, which was talking optimistically about bowl prospects before last week's loss at Iowa State. The Tigers (4-5, 1-4) have lost only once at home and have been competitive in all five losses under second-year coach Gary Pinkel.

Colorado coach Gary Barnett is worried about his 18th-ranked team bouncing back from disappointment. Mistakes did in the Buffaloes in a 27-11 loss to Oklahoma, a victory that elevated the Sooners to No. 1.

"This is a scary scenario for us," Barnett said. "We've got to make sure our heads are right and play a much more detailed game than last week."

The Buffaloes had three turnovers, muffed a pooch kickoff and had a field goal blocked in the first half, falling behind 20-3.

"Those kinds of mistakes were the difference in us having a chance," Barnett said. "We had some freshmen who played like freshmen and some guys playing for the first time that played like it.

"Now, we have to just go to work."

Colorado is a half-game ahead of Iowa State in the North standings. The teams play Nov. 16 in Boulder, with the winner holding a tiebreaker advantage in the race for the Big 12 championship game.

For Missouri, it's Week 2 of a brutal finishing stretch. The Tigers lost 42-35 at No. 21 Iowa State last week and have lost 18 in a row to their last three opponents, with a road game at Texas A&M and a home finale against No. 12 Kansas State coming up.

Missouri has dropped three in a row and 15 of the last 17 to Colorado, nine straight to Kansas State and is 0-6 all-time against Texas A&M.

Today's game could be a showcase of top-notch offensive performers. Colorado's Chris Brown leads the nation in rushing with 162.9 yards per game, while Missouri quarterback Brad Smith ranks eighth in total offense at 298 yards.

Oklahoma held Brown to 103 yards on 25 carries, punishing him physically. Still, he was the first back to gain 100 yards against the Sooners in 33 games.

"He took a beating in that game," Barnett said. "Their linebackers played very well."

Smith, a redshirt freshman, is closing in on 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing. He needs 173 passing yards and 144 rushing yards to join Woody Dantzler of Clemson as the only player in NCAA history to accomplish the feat.

Dantzler had 2,360 yards passing and 1,004 rushing last year.

Smith shows no signs of letting up, either, avoiding a wall that new players sometimes hit in the second half of the season. Smith passed for 241 yards and had 15 carries for 77 yards against Iowa State.