By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Up is down. Left is right. Right is left.
There has been considerable talk about the future of a 10-team Big 12 Conference. Some of the discussion centers on the fact that Texas and Oklahoma will become a two-headed monster. A Big Two and a Little Eight, so to speak.
Expect the sun to rise in the West Sunday morning. The Big 12 Conference this season is topsy turvy. Witness Saturday. Iowa State 28, Texas 21 in Austin. Missouri 36, Oklahoma 27 in Columbia. The Longhorns and the Sooners losing conference games on the same day? Never in a month of Saturdays.
But it happened. And it proved that parity in the Big 12 is just like the parity in college football. For the third consecutive week, a team with "No. 1" to the left of its name lost.
"Just look at what happened today," Missouri athletic director Mike Alden said after the Tigers recorded perhaps the most significant victory in school history. "Any team can beat any other team. It’s not just about the name on the uniform or the reputation of the school."
Iowa State governor Chuck Culver said that the Cyclones’ historic victory – the school had never defeated Texas - means that "Iowa State is a team to be reckoned with."
Oklahoma came into the game ranked No. 3 in the coaches’ poll, No. 4 in the Harris Interactive poll and No. 1 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings. OU coach Bob Stoops had never lost to Missouri. The last two meetings between the teams, OU
Missouri was celebrating homecoming for the 99th time and was the host of ESPN’s College GameDay for the first time. A record crowd turned out for Chris, Kirk, Lee, Desmond and Erin Saturday morning. The students kept the momentum and the noise – "M-I-Z … Z-O-U" – going until a black and gold rush emptied about half the 71,004 on to the Faurot Field turf.
"I’ve never seen anything like this before," Missouri linebacker Andrew Gachkar said as the students swirled around him. "This is what I came to Mizzou for. This is beautiful. We finally beat Oklahoma.
"We wanted it so bad. It’s heart."
Like Iowa State’s stunning victory at Texas, Missouri’s triumph wasn’t a fluke. In losing 19 of the last 20 to OU, the Sooners typically dominated with their running game. The Tigers gained 178 yards rushing two of their three touchdowns from scrimmage came on running plays.
"Give all the credit in world to our offensive line," said quarterback Gabbert, who wasn’t sacked and threw for 308 yards. "Their defense has great athletes, great quickness. We had to hit it quicker in the run game, get it downhill quickly."
Quickly also describes how Missouri started. Sophomore Gahn McGaffie returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown. Instead of starting an avalanche, though, it started a series of plays that saw momentum jump from sideline to sideline every five minutes.
The Sooners had yet to trail this season. They didn’t panic but they did turn it over. An interception by Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith ended one OU red zone trip while a fumble by Mossis Madu short circuited another. And Jimmy Stevens missed a 30-yard field goal in the third quarter that would have tied the game at 17-all.
"You just can’t turn the ball over," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "You have to take things one at a time. We need to focus more on executing our plays."
After Oklahoma took a 21-20 lead late in the third quarter, it appeared that Sooner Magic was still potent.
"We just had trust," Missouri defensive lineman Jimmy Burge said. "Even when they went ahead, nobody panicked. We just had to keep executed. ... I’m speechless."
Missouri regained the lead when Gabbert hit Jarrell Jackson for a 38-yard touchdown with 12:43 remaining in the fourth quarter. Jackson (nine receptions for 139 yards) made the catch and bounced off OU’s Jonathan Nelson and Demontre Hurst, who knocked each other off the play.
Soon after the public address announcer asked the fans not to rush the field, Missouri roared 76 yards in five plays. Freshman quarterback James Franklin, on a first-and-goal from the 3, powered in for a TD and a 36-21 lead with 6:36 remaining.
Dustin Moyer is the uniformed body guard for Missouri coach Gary Pinkel. After the Colorado game, Moyer asked Pinkel, "How do you want me to get you off the field when we beat Oklahoma?"
"I thought he was crazy," Pinkel said. "But he’s organized."
Maybe Moyer has plans for how to handle things after Missouri plays at Nebraska next Saturday. That now becomes a huge showdown for the North Division.
"This is great for the university, great for all the fans," Pinkel said. "This isn’t the national championship but it’s big for our football program. You can talk about a win like this forever, but the bottom line is, you’ve got to do it. We did it. We did it."
Most coaches have a "24-hour rule" – enjoy the victory or suffer the loss for 24 hours but then it’s time to move on to the next game.
"No 24-hour rule," Gachkar said. "I’m already thinking about Nebraska. I wanna play 'em now.”