Big 12 Football News

Blaine Gabbert rallied Missouri from a 10-point halftime deficit with two touchdown passes and Carl Gettis made a leaping one-handed interception and downed a punt at the 1 in the fourth quarter of an opening 23-13 victory over Illinois on Saturday.

...(Read Full Article)

Colorado welcomed three new receivers to the field this season, Travon Patterson from USC, Paul Richardson from UCLA and Toney Clemons from Michigan, who was named the preseason Newcomer of the Year after sitting out last season.

So far, they're helping out quarterback Tyler Hansen, who beat out Cody Hawkins to win the starting job this preseason.

Patterson caught an 18-yard touchdown pass that has the Buffaloes up 7-0 in the second quarter against rival Colorado State at Invesco Field in Denver.

Clemons also logged his first catch, an eight-yarder.

Richardson has yet to make a grab from Hansen.

Meanwhile, it's still the same old Scotty McKnight, who has the day's longest catch -- 20 yards -- to extend his streak of making a reception in all 38 games he's played at Colorado....(Read Full Article)

Two more games set to kick off here in a bit. Here's a quick look (all times ET):

No. 5 Texas vs. Rice in Houston (3:30 p.m., ESPN):
Garrett Gilbert will start at quarterback for Texas, his first action since replacing Colt McCoy in January's national title game against Alabama. Texas has won 10 games in nine consecutive seasons, the longest active streak in FBS football. Saturday marks Texas' fourth game at Houston's Reliant Stadium, an 8-year-old venue. What to watch: Does the Longhorns developing running game dominate?

UCLA at Kansas State (3:30 p.m., ABC):
UCLA has won five consecutive season openers. It's last

loss? Big 12 member Oklahoma State in 2004. The Bruins beat Kansas State in Los Angeles last season, 23-9. The league's leading rusher in 2009, Daniel Thomas, will begin his run for another big year after topping 1,200 yards last season. What to watch: How do Kansas State's two transfer receivers, Brodrick Smith and Chris Harper, look in their debut?...(Read Full Article)

Missouri's offense struggled for the first half, scoring just three points, but T.J. Moe was one of the bright spots, catching four passes for 37 yards.

The sophomore, who had two catches all last season, has added nine more catches -- including his first career touchdown -- in the second half as Missouri has taken a 17-13 lead with a pair of touchdown passes by Blaine Gabbert.

Word out of camp was Moe had become one of Gabbert's top targets for all of preseason camp. His debut couldn't have done more to prove that.

Michael Egnew caught his eighth

pass of the game for the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter. But Moe set up the score after turning a short pass into a 26-yard gain inside the Illini 15.

Moe has 13 receptions for 97 yards.

Three years ago, in the 2007 version of this game, Jeremy Maclin burst on the scene with two touchdowns, one from Chase Daniel and another on a punt return that showcased his speed.

A star was born that day. Last year was Gabbert's turn to introduce himself to Missouri fans, engineering a 37-9 win.

Based on Moe's performance, the Tigers have found another star....(Read Full Article)

Colorado's defense struggled early last season. So did the offense. The result? An 0-2 start that keyed off a frustrating 3-9 season in Dan Hawkins' fourth season at Colorado.

No such problems this year on either side of the ball. With a new quarterback, Tyler Hansen, Colorado's flipped the script against their rivals, jumping out to a 17-0 halftime lead.

A year ago, the Buffaloes never rebounded from a 17-0 hole of their own in a 23-17 loss, made respectable by a late touchdown.

Hansen has completed 10 of 15 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns, including

a 27-yarder to Scotty McKnight, one of the league's best receivers. Meanwhile, true freshman Pete Thomas has thrown two interceptions for the Rams. Colorado intercepted just nine passes all of last season....(Read Full Article)

Missouri already entered Saturday's game against Illinois without running back Derrick Washington. Now, it appears the Tigers have lost another -- at least for the rest of this week.

Kendial Lawrence suffered a shoulder injury and won't return after carrying the ball seven times for 20 yards.

That could provide further opportunity for Missouri's two true freshman running backs who already won't redshirt this year, Henry Josey and Marcus Murphy.

All that depends on the seriousness of Lawrence's injury.

...(Read Full Article)

For the fourth straight season the Missouri Tigers and the Illinois Fighting Illini will open the season against each other. The game will be be played at Edward Jones Dome, the home field of the St. Louis Rams. This will be the sixth time the two teams have squared off since moving to a neutral site, with Missouri winning the previous five games, including a 37-9 blowout win last year. The Tigers head into the 2010 season off a solid 8-5 run in 2009, and will look to take over the top spot in the Big 12 North with

16 starters back. Illinois really struggled to get things going in 2009, as they finished the season 3-9 overall and were just 2-6 in Big Ten play. The Illini have just 12 starters back for the 2010 season, so it will be a big surprise if they are able to finish with a winning record this season. Looking to do some college football betting on the game today? The oddsmakers currently has the Tigers as 11-point favorites over the Fighting Illini, with the total currently sitting at 53.5 points. The Fighting Illini will turn the offense over to red-shirt freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, as they lose one of the most productive quarterbacks in school history in Juice Williams.

That doesn’t mean the freshman won’t have a...(Read Full Article)

Illinois entered Saturday's matchup with Missouri trying to replace two starters, safety Supo Sanni and cornerback Terry Hawthorne.

So far, the Tigers haven't taken advantage, and trail 10-3. Tigers quarterback Blaine Gabbert has looked deep a few times, but hasn't produced any big plays. Jerrell Jackson drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone on one deep ball, but negated it by stepping out of bounds and drawing an illegal touching penalty.

Most of Missouri's success in the passing game has come via slot receiver T.J. Moe, who already has four catches for 37 yards, both game-highs.

Missouri tied the game,

3-3, with a Grant Ressel 33-yard field goal. Ressel missed his first attempt of the season, a 37-yarder, after missing just one field goal all of last season.

Blaine Gabbert will try to run a two-minute drill to close the half. We'll see if he can change the trend developing early....(Read Full Article)