Tigers try to recover after Sun Bowl loss

EL PASO, Texas -- Missouri knows exactly how South Carolina felt last year.

Last December, the Tigers exited their season with a feeling of euphoria after Brad Smith led the biggest comeback in school history. Down 21 points, Missouri rallied to beat the Gamecocks 38-31 in the Independence Bowl.

On Friday, the Tigers experienced heartache and disbelief after No. 24 Oregon State, given the opportunity to consider its options after Missouri coach Gary Pinkel called a timeout to dispute the Beavers' go-ahead touchdown with 22.7 seconds to go, went for the two-point conversion that meant the difference in a 39-38 Sun Bowl victory.

The Tigers needed an extended cooling-off period to digest what had happened to their seemingly insurmountable 14-point lead with 12 minutes to go.

"We had a good year, and unfortunately we didn't finish it the way we wanted to," Pinkel said. "We really wanted this bad. I wanted it real bad for our seniors."

In Tony Temple's case, he also lost the game's MVP award and the Sun Bowl rushing record. Temple rushed for a career-high 194 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns, and his 65-yard scoring run was one of seven plays of more than 29 yards for an explosive and inventive offense that generated 561 yards.

"We did a lot of good things out there, a lot of positive things," Pinkel said.

Missouri averaged 8.4 yards per play, a Sun Bowl record. Tight end Chase Coffman threw a touchdown pass off a lateral and running backs took direct snaps.

Temple had 198 yards, one more than the record set in 1977 by LSU's Charles Alexander, before losing 4 yards on his final carry.

Oregon State's Matt Moore, who threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth, grabbed the MVP hardware instead.

"Obviously it's disappointing," Temple said. "Sometimes things don't work out your way. We did all we could do."

Not quite.

Three touchdowns in the space of about one quarter appeared to put the game under wraps with a 38-24 lead, but Missouri mustered little on its next two possessions. The Tigers' defense put up little resistance while Oregon State needed only 3:14 to score its last two touchdowns.

Two key plays down the stretch: On third-and-9 from the Oregon State 33, near field goal range, Chase Daniel was sacked for a 9-yard loss, and Missouri punted the next play. Missouri had to punt again from midfield on its next possession, and Adam Crossett angled the ball to a corner of the field, but Sammie Stroughter eluded the coverage with a 39-yard return to the Oregon State 46 to jump-start the Beavers' winning drive.

"I'm just extremely disappointed in how we played in the fourth quarter," Pinkel said. "We've got to do the things necessary to win, and we didn't. We've got to make more plays, and we've got to coach better."

The net result: another late-season setback for a program that had been riding an historic high. Missouri started 6-0 for the first time since 1973 and was 7-1 for the first time since 1969.

Pinkel has taken the Tigers to bowls three of the last four years and earned a nice upgrade this year in the Sun Bowl, which has a $1.9 million payout to participating teams compared with $1.1 million for the Independence.

Better competition in Big 12 play contributed to the late-season troubles, demonstrating there's still work to do before Missouri is ready to compete for the conference championship.

The Tigers' offense appears to be in good shape, considering most of the skill position players will return. Tight end Martin Rucker may opt for the NFL draft a year early but that's probably Missouri's strongest position with Coffman, a sophomore who also caught a touchdown pass Friday, an emerging star.

They'll have to replace two players on the line, including all-conference guard Joel Clinger. The only other senior starter was wide receiver Brad Ekwerekwu, and that position appears deep with former highly-touted recruit Jeremy Maclin rehabbing from a knee injury and freshman Danario Alexander catching 11 of his 15 passes in the last four games, including a 74-yard scoring grab in the Sun Bowl.

There will be more turnover on defense, which had six senior starters for the finale and lost its best pass rusher when end Brian Smith broke his hip against Kansas State in the eighth game of the season. All-conference linebacker Marcus Bacon led the team in tackles.

Next year's non-conference schedule might be more challenging, with Missouri beginning a four-year, neutral-site series against Illinois in the opener. Two weeks later the Tigers will play Western Michigan, which is 8-4 heading into the inaugural International Bowl on Jan. 6.