Tigers drop third straight

LINCOLN, Neb. -- On a day when Cory Ross was about all the offense Nebraska could muster, the Cornhuskers came away from their 24-3 victory over Missouri with sole possession of the Big 12 North lead and a renewed sense of confidence.

Ross's 194 yards accounted for all but 41 of the Huskers' total yards Saturday. Missouri outgained them 328-235 and held a 19-8 edge in first downs.

Nebraska (5-3, 3-2 Big 12) turned to its defense and special teams to deny Missouri its first win in Lincoln since 1978. The Tigers (4-4, 2-3) lost their third straight.

"We needed this because we've struggled so much this year," Ross said. "This time we fought and stayed into the game for four quarters. There have been so many negatives around us. We wanted to make something positive happen."

With Nebraska leading 17-3 late in the fourth, Ross iced the game with a career-long 86-yard run after Missouri turned the ball over on downs deep in Huskers territory.

Otherwise, the two offenses struggled to produce points, combining for 20 punts.

Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said he liked the way his team responded after a 24-point loss last week at Kansas State. Two weeks before that, the Huskers had lost 70-10 at Texas Tech.

Those losses were part of Nebraska's worst seven-game record since 1961.

"It's been a tough season, but it builds character and we showed our true colors today," Nebraska linebacker Chad Sievers said. "We came out there, we balled and we had fun. Everyone is so happy right now, you would think we won the national championship."

Callahan said he kept the game plan simple against Missouri, which came in with the Big 12's top defense.

"It's not about X's and O's. It's about the effort they displayed," Callahan said. "It was great to see our guys go out there and play the way they're capable of playing."

Missouri, playing without suspended running back Damien Nash, rushed for only 51 yards.

Tigers quarterback Brad Smith ran 21 times for a season-low 25 yards, but he completed 24-of-56 passes for a season-high 277 yards. He was sacked four times.

"For my part, as a leader, you have to make more plays," Smith said.

Nebraska's Joe Dailey was 4-of-17 for 26 yards.

The Huskers built its lead with the help of two big special-teams plays by Andrew Shanle.

They broke a 3-3 tie in the second quarter when Shanle blocked Matt Hoenes' punt and Adam Ickes returned it 16 yards for a touchdown.

Nebraska upped its lead to 17-3 late in the third after another Missouri punt attempt that went awry. Hoenes bobbled the snap, sprinted to his right under pressure from Shanle and then whiffed as he tried to kick the ball on the run.

Shanle recovered, and Ross followed with a 15-yard touchdown run.

"To have two kicking errors like that was huge," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "It's not complicated. You can't make errors in your kicking game in a game of this magnitude."

Nebraska drove 52 yards in 10 plays on the game's first series, with Sandro DeAngelis kicking a 41-yard field goal.

Missouri tied it early in the second quarter after Brandon Massey partially blocked Sam Koch's punt. The Huskers' Kellen Huston recovered, then spiked the ball in anger for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that set up Joe Tantarelli's 39-yard field goal.

The Tigers arrived in Lincoln just three hours before kickoff. Their chartered plane went off the runway in wet conditions Friday at the Columbia, Mo., airport. No one was injured.

Instead of having the travel party wait at the airport while the plane was inspected and the Federal Aviation Administration conducted an investigation, the decision was made to fly to Lincoln on Saturday, Missouri spokesman Chad Moller said.

Moller said the Tigers' flight landed at 8:10 a.m. Kickoff was at 11:10 a.m.

Pinkel said the difficult travel was no excuse for his team's performance.