It wasn’t Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf on display in St. Louis on Saturday night, but there were plenty of fireworks between and last night, much like there were in last year’s matchup.

And, just like last year, Missouri took control in the second quarter, built a seemingly insurmountable lead in the third quarter, and then allowed Illinois to make a game of it before big defensive plays sealed the deal for Tigers in last night‘s 52-42 win.

After nearly squandering a 37-13 lead in last year’s 40-34 squeaker, Mizzou led 45-20 with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter, but it took a little over three minutes for the Illini to score two touchdowns and pull within 45-35 early in the 4th.

On their next drive, Illinois drove into Missouri territory before the defensive hero of the final quarter, linebacker , picked off . Then, with a little over three minutes to go, Weatherspoon ripped the ball away from Illini running back Daniel Dufrene and took it back 35 yards for a clinching score.

Despite all of the déjà vu, there were a couple of differences, the biggest one being Juice Williams’ presence in the proceedings. He was knocked out of last year’s game in the second quarter, and not only did he play all four quarters, but he showed he could do the one thing that people question most about athletic quarterbacks – throw it.

Williams threw for 451 yards and five touchdowns, both career highs, and he hooked up with for 177 yards and two touchdowns on five catches.

But, it wasn’t enough, as had a big game again (26 of 45, 323 yards, 3 TD), and on top of that, new starting running back Derrick Washington ran for 130 yards and two scores to lead a ground attack that accounted for 226 yards – 156 more than last time around.

And, even though Missouri’s defense gave up a lot of yards, they made a lot of plays, especially when it counted. 11 tackles for loss, five sacks, three turnovers, with DE recording three sacks and Weatherspoon finishing with nine tackles and two interceptions.

As much of a concern as Illinois making a comeback might be for , seeing go down with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter is equally as concerning.

Just as he did last year in a breakout debut against the Illini, Maclin made his biggest impact in the return game. After Chase Daniel threw a pick-six to put Illinois up 13-10 in the second, Maclin returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards to put Mizzou up for good, and in the third, his 46-yard punt return set up Daniel’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Saunders that made it 45-20.

Fortunately for Maclin and the Tigers, even if he does have to take it easy for a few games, it’s better that it’s now, with Southeast Missouri State, Nevada, and Buffalo on the horizon before Big 12 play starts.

Though the Tigers did win on Saturday, they can’t afford for the way they did it to be a recurring theme, defensively, at least. Their defense, as last night’s big plays showed, has the ability to be one of the best in the country, and yes, it was the first game of the season, but they can‘t afford to bend too much, because the offense might not always produce 550 yards and a bunch of points.

And while Illinois lost, it’s pretty encouraging to see how well Williams threw it when he needed to, though I don’t think wants him throwing it 40 times a game every week.

All in all, it was an exciting game, and after the series has stopped and started over the years, there’s plenty of reason to keep it going for a while if the games continue to be as wild as they’ve been the last two seasons.

Of course, that means Gary Pinkel will have to make regular appointments with his cardiologist, and the defenses might have to pay for it in practice come the following week, but that’s just a small price to pay, right?

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