Missouri rallies from 10 points down to beat Illinois 23-13

ST. LOUIS - It took nine years and six season openers, but Illinois finally claimed a lead over Missouri at the end of a quarter.

Not only that, the heavy-underdog Illini rode their new coordinators' new systems to a 10-point halftime lead Saturday at Edward Jones Dome.

But just when you thought the Arch Rivalry had been flipped upside down and rolled into the nearby Mississippi River, both teams remembered who owned this now-defunct series.

Illinois' offense went silent and Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert went wild to lead the Tigers to a 23-13 victory before 58,060. Gabbert threw for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns in the second half as the Tigers scored the game's 20 second-half points.

Meanwhile, Illinois redshirt freshman Nathan Scheelhaase retreated from a sterling first half in his college debut to throw for 42 yards and 2 interceptions after the break.

"We just came out flat in the second half," said Illinois running back Mikel Leshoure, who rushed for a game-high 112 yards. "I don't know why."

While Leshoure's words suggest more of the same ol', same ol' with Illinois, the postgame vibe from the orange and blue was entirely different.

Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino pronounced himself "(peeved) off" that his guys couldn't finish the job.

"You want to win," Petrino said. "I'm mad, frustrated. Obviously, we showed signs of how we can be good, but we've got to go back to work and work harder next week and get our execution down."

Petrino rolled out a slew of formations and looks on Illinois' first drive, which lasted 16 plays and more than nine minutes before settling for a 21-yard field goal.

Scheelhaase added a 13-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Jenkins in the second quarter to give Illinois a 10-3 lead. Then his alert 20-yard scramble out of bounds set up Derek Dimke's 52-yard field goal as the first half expired.

Illinois ran off the field with a 13-3 lead, all the momentum in the Midwest and the ball to start the second half.

But with Missouri's defense stuffing the box and daring Scheelhaase to make plays through the air, Illinois managed just 1 first down on its first five second-half drives.

Scheelhaase ran for 82 yards and threw for 39 in the first half but ran for minus-6 and threw for 42 in the second.

After the game, Scheelhaase maintained his unruffled demeanor. Aside from a fat lower lip, you wouldn't have known he took 2 sacks and three hard shots on running plays.

"Obviously none of us are happy because it's a loss," Scheelhaase said. "But I don't think any of us are down or worried or have any of those feelings going through our minds. I know I don't."

Meanwhile, new Illinois defensive coordinator Vic Koenning dialed up a plethora of disguises and coverages to slow down the rifle-armed Gabbert (34 of 48, 281 yards, 2 TDs) and Mizzou's spread offense.

"I don't know that they really figured out whether we had six or seven or five or four or three (defenders in the box)," Koenning said. "I don't think there was any way they could tell. We just didn't always play the run as well, at times, as we wanted to."

Helped by timely sweeps that kept the Illini from cheating against the pass, Gabbert gradually wore down an inexperienced secondary with short and medium throws before making the play of the game facing third-and-5 early in the third quarter.

With linemen Corey Liuget and Justin Staples in pursuit, Gabbert scrambled to his left and bought just enough time to zip a 7-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Moe in the back corner of the end zone to cut Illinois' margin to 13-10.

Even then, Koenning didn't back down from believing in his guys.

"We've got (Staples) lined up wide to come and contain it, and we didn't contain it," Koenning said. "He had a hard time getting off the block. I'm not going to say he was held or anything, but that one hurt us."

Gabbert delivered the game-winner at the 13:26 mark of the fourth quarter when he pump-faked Travon Bellamy, who moved from safety to cornerback last week, to allow Michael Egnew to go free for a 6-yard scoring strike.

Missouri's four-year sweep over Illinois finished with an aggregate score of 152-98.

"As I told them in the locker room - obviously, this doesn't do anything for anybody," Illini coach Ron Zook said. "But I think it's the best game we've played of the four."

• For more on the Illini, go to Lindsey Willhite's blog at dailyherald.com.