Mizzou snaps five-game losing streak

AMES, Iowa (AP) -- With a kick and a pick, Missouri knocked Iowa

State out of the Big 12 championship game.

Adam Crossett kicked a 25-yard field goal in overtime to give

Missouri the lead and A.J. Kincade intercepted a pass in the end

zone to preserve a 17-14 victory for the beleaguered Tigers on

Saturday.

Making just enough plays to salvage a sweet ending to a

disappointing season, Missouri (5-6, 3-5 Big 12) broke a five-game

losing streak and kept Iowa State from winning the Big 12 North

outright.

"It's been a very difficult five or six weeks and the football

team has worked very hard," said Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, who

has taken much of the heat for the Tigers' struggles. "It's just

very rewarding for me to see them smiling, laughing, feeling good

about themselves."

Iowa State (6-5, 4-4) can take some consolation in getting a

bowl bid for the fourth time in five years. But the Cyclones, whose

last football championship came in 1912, had so much more within

their grasp.

Bret Culbertson missed a 24-yard field goal attempt that could

have won it regulation and Iowa State couldn't convert in overtime

on first-and-goal from the Missouri 3.

The Cyclones tied Colorado for first place in the North, but the

Buffaloes advance to the conference championship game next Saturday

against No. 2 Oklahoma in Kansas City because of their 19-14

victory over Iowa State on Oct. 16.

"It makes you want to throw up," said linebacker Erik

Anderson, his eyes still red from crying. "It's a sick feeling. We

fought all day. There wasn't any lack of effort or lack of

intensity or passion. Everyone came to play, everyone came to win.

"There's a lot sick guys in the locker room right now."

Missouri got the ball first in overtime and drove to the Iowa

State 7. Pinkel then summoned Crossett, a freshman who took over

the place-kicking only a week ago and had been 0-for-2 on field

goals.

He split the uprights from the left hash mark, putting the

pressure on Iowa State.

On the Cyclones' first play, tight end Ben Barkema sneaked into

the secondary and was wide open at the 7, but Bret Meyer threw the

ball behind him and Barkema couldn't hold on. Then on second down

from the 7, Stevie Hicks broke through a hole and seemed on his way

to a touchdown, but was tripped up by Shirdonya Mitchell's ankle

tackle.

Still, the Cyclones had a first down and were just 3 yards from

the division title.

"I was definitely excited," wide receiver Todd Miller said.

"But it's never over until the fat lady sings and I guess the fat

lady hadn't sung. But I was expecting to score."

Three players later, Meyer tried to lob the ball to Jon Davis in

the end zone, but Kincade picked it off.

"I didn't even hear the (defensive) call," Kincade said. "I

just said, I'll stick with this man, just go with him. The ball was

up. I just had an opportunity to make the best of it."

Brad Smith accounted for 251 of Missouri's 358 yards. He carried

21 times for 101 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown run, and

completed 13 of 24 passes for 150 yards with one interception. But

his biggest play was a touchdown-saving tackle after a Missouri

fumble.

Iowa State's Nik Moser knocked the ball from receiver Thomson

Omboga, Steve Paris picked it up at the Missouri 34 and sprinted

down the left sideline. Smith bumped Paris out of bounds at the

Missouri 15, then was slow to get up and had to be walked off the

field by two trainers.

The Cyclones ran three running plays before calling on

Culbertson, a walk-on freshman who wasn't even on the team when

practice started in August. He had been 7-for-8 on field goals

since winning the job but missed the chip shot wide right, leaving

the crowd of 40,626 in a gloomy silence that matched the gray,

overcast sky on this raw, blustery Midwest afternoon.

"I just pushed it," Culbertson said. "Once I made contact, I

knew it. I didn't even have to look up."

Though Missouri had nothing to play for, the Tigers came up with

a spirited effort on a day that started with the wind chill at 22

degrees and a northwest wind howling at 25 to 35 mph.

The Tigers took a 14-7 lead in the third quarter when Smith

caught Iowa State in a blitz and sprinted 36 yards to the end zone

through a big hole in the right side of the line. Iowa State tied

it on Hicks' 2-yard touchdown run with 8:58 left.

Meyer's 13-yard TD run on an option keeper tied it at 7 in the

second quarter, right after Missouri's Marcus Woods had capped a

94-yard, nine-play drive with a 5-yard TD run.

"The main thing was after these last few losses we had, people

were starting to say we were quitters," Kincade said. "We just

wanted to come out here and make a statement that we weren't giving

up in this last game of the season."