Missouri manhandles Illini in season opener

ST. LOUIS - One more year until Illinois gets put out of its Missouri misery.

For the third season in a row, the Illini fell behind early and convincingly in their opener with the Tigers at the evenly divided Edward Jones Dome.

This time, though, Illinois never bothered with the second-half rally that characterized the previous two Arch Rivalry games.

All-American receiver Arrelious Benn and starting running back Jason Ford suffered ankle injuries on Saturday's opening drive and were lost for good.

Not long after that, the rest of the Illini were done as well.

First-time Missouri starter Blaine Gabbert riddled a mistake-prone Illini secondary for 319 yards and 3 scores to lead the Tigers to a 37-9 victory before 64,215.

And to think, the Illini entered the game as a touchdown favorite and at No. 27 in the Associated Press poll.

"They know they're not as good as they think they are now," Illinois coach Ron Zook said.

The Illini hadn't lost an opener by so many points since 1993 - and there's just one more chance to knock off Missouri during this four-year, neutral-site contract.

"Got our butt whipped. Unbelievable," said co-defensive coordinator Dan Disch. "We had a good week of practice. We really felt we were prepared. Turns out we weren't. It's kind of inexplicable, to be honest."

Missouri defeated Illinois in every relevant statistical category - the Tigers piled up 442 total yards without a turnover - but at least the Illini led the way in injuries and self-inflicted wounds.

The list of indignities began on the season's third play when Benn hurt his left ankle blocking for Ford.

Benn stayed in for one more play (and caught a 9-yard pass from Juice Williams) but left for the locker room and didn't return. Ford left shortly thereafter. Zook doesn't know whether either will play in Saturday's home opener with Illinois State.

While the Illini offense sputtered, Gabbert moved the Tigers at will against a nickel defense with five guys who didn't start a game last year.

Missouri took a 10-0 lead with 3:02 left in the first quarter when Gabbert found Wes Kemp along the sideline for a decent gain that became a 49-yard score when senior safety Donsay Hardeman took a bad angle after the catch.

Then Illinois' offense put together two marches that ended in disaster.

Late in the first half trailing 13-3, Illinois marched to Mizzou's 20 and faced a fourth down with a half-yard to go.

Juice Williams never got to run the play, though, because left guard Randall Hunt stepped on his foot after the snap and Williams tripped backward for a 4-yard loss.

Missouri kicked a field goal to end the half, then Gabbert picked on Hardeman again for a 4-yard touchdown pass to wideout Jerrell Jackson to make it 23-3.

As the Illini defense repaired to the sideline, defensive tackle Corey Liuget and Hardeman exchanged words and the coaches benched Hardeman for two series to allow him to cool off.

"If you're upset, you want to go calm down before you hear somebody nabbing at you," Hardeman said. "A little tough love, that's all that was."

Illinois finally earned its first touchdown on sophomore Mikel Leshoure's 1-yard blast with 13:19 to go. Leshoure and Troy Pollard led the Illini with 38 yards apiece.

Williams finished 18 of 28 for 179 yards and accounted for no touchdowns for the first time since - last year's season-ending loss at Northwestern.

"You try to avoid having all those negative thoughts creeping through your mind," he said. "I haven't lost any of my confidence in this team or this season."