Tigers fall flat against Colorado

~ Missouri missed an opportunity to tie for the division lead, losing 41-12 to the Buffaloes.

BOULDER, Colo. -- He's part tailback, part fullback and 100 percent football player.

Lawrence Vickers proved that again Saturday, scoring four touchdowns to help No. 25 Colorado move closer to another division title with a 41-12 victory over Missouri.

Vickers normally does more blocking and pass catching than running, but when the Buffs decided right before kickoff that hurting tailback Hugh Charles couldn't go, Vickers got the call.

He ran for touchdowns of 1, 2, 20 and 7 yards for the Buffs (7-2, 5-1 Big 12) and finished with a career-high 85 yards on 18 carries.

"I was motivated," Vickers said. "I love carrying the ball."

Coach Gary Barnett said he offered Vickers a break from the special teams units he plays on, knowing his "V-back" -- the 'V' stands for "versatile" -- would be getting extra work against the Tigers (5-4, 3-3).

Not surprisingly, Vickers declined.

"He's on punt return but he didn't want out. He's on punt coverage but he didn't want out of that," Barnett said. "He wanted to be in the game every snap, and you love an attitude like that."

Vickers' super game was part of a great all-around performance for the Buffs, one Barnett called the most thorough he's seen this season.

Joel Klatt threw for 253 yards and a touchdown, Mason Crosby hit a 56-yard field goal and CU took a two-game lead over Missouri in the Big 12 North.

If the Buffs win next week at Iowa State, also 3-3 in the conference, they'll secure their fourth trip to the conference title game in the last five years.

Missouri, meanwhile, came into the game also controlling its destiny. But the Tigers fell flat, lost their second straight and still need another win to become bowl eligible.

"Maybe they felt too much pressure. Maybe I did it," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said.

Colorado, as it has in every home game since a three-point win in the opener against Colorado State, took a big lead early and left little doubt about who was the better team.

And when the Tigers briefly tried to make a game of it, the Buffs answered immediately.

Missouri pulled within 24-12 early in the third quarter when Stryker Sulak hit Klatt and forced a fumble, which Jamar Smith scooped up and ran 12 yards for a touchdown.

The Buffs responded with an 80-yard touchdown drive, helped tremendously by a roughing-the-punter call. On third-and-goal from the 6, Klatt rolled to his right, waited for Quinn Sypniewski to shed a defender, then hit Sypniewski with a strike in the back of the end zone to make it 31-12.

That was the lone touchdown pass. The rest of the scores belonged to Vickers, who came one touchdown short of the school record. The Buffs ran for 170 yards after struggling on the ground for most of the past month -- averaging 80 yards over the last three games.

"Coach said the only way we'd have a chance to beat Texas is if we run the ball better," Vickers said. "He called us out on that, and when he calls us out, we had to respond."

The defense was good, too.

Smith got the 5 yards he needed to break Antwaan Randle El's NCAA record for yards rushing by a quarterback (3,895). But overall, he was held in check, throwing for 160 yards and running for 16 more, as the Mizzou offense managed the single touchdown and no other real threats.

"I didn't even know," Smith said of the record. "Winning is the most important thing in the world to me, as far as the game goes."

Crosby, meanwhile, made his 10th career field goal from 50 yards or longer. Last week, he booted a 50-yarder in the final seconds for a 23-20 victory at Kansas State.

This time, after Klatt threw incomplete on third-and-6 from the Missouri 39, Buffs fans actually started cheering, anticipating another long try from the strong-legged kicker. Crosby didn't disappoint. When his kick went over the crossbar, the ball was still above the top of the uprights -- a shot that might have been good from 80 yards in the thin Boulder air.

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COLORADO 41, MISSOURI 12

Missouri6 0 6 0 -- 12

Colorado7 17 7 10 -- 41

First Quarter

Col--Vickers 1 run (M.Crosby kick), 7:27.

Mo--Franklin 18 pass from Bra.Smith (kick failed), 3:26.

Second Quarter

Col--Vickers 20 run (M.Crosby kick), 6:32.

Col--Vickers 2 run (M.Crosby kick), 5:10.

Col--FG M.Crosby 56, 2:33.

Third Quarter

Mo--J.Smith 12 fumble return (run failed), 13:39.

Col--Sypniewski 6 pass from Klatt (M.Crosby kick), 7:37.

Fourth Quarter

Col--Vickers 7 run (M.Crosby kick), 14:48.

Col--FG M.Crosby 43, 8:16.

A--49,196.

Mo Col

First downs 18 24

Rushes-yards 30-59 42-136

Passing 217 260

Comp-Att-Int 27-44-1 24-32-0

Return Yards 4 18

Punts-Avg. 6-43.0 3-46.7

Fumbles-Lost 4-1 1-1

Penalties-Yards 5-65 4-21

Time of Possession 25:25 34:35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Missouri, J.Jackson 4-17, Bra.Smith 13-16, Daniel 4-15, Temple 4-15, Woods 4-6, Ekwerekwu 1-(minus 10). Colorado, Vickers 18-85, Ellis 15-32, Robinson 1-24, Schaub 1-4, B.Jackson 4-(minus 1), Klatt 3-(minus 8).

PASSING--Missouri, Bra.Smith 19-29-0-160, Daniel 8-15-1-57. Colorado, Klatt 23-31-0-253, Cox 1-1-0-7.

RECEIVING--Missouri, Rucker 9-88, Coffey 8-55, Coffman 6-31, Franklin 2-31, T.Saunders 1-8, Woods 1-4. Colorado, Robinson 5-50, Sypniewski 4-49, P.Williams 4-27, Judge 3-73, Sprague 3-38, Klopfenstein 2-9, Vickers 1-6, Charles 1-5, Ellis 1-3.