Missouri takes the belt, 38–7, at a neutral site over Arkansas.
AP poll, week 14: Missouri No. 1 at Arkansas unranked · No. 1 that week: Illinois. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Missouri took the belt here, ending Arkansas’ run of 39 days and 0 defenses (reign #264) and starting reign #265. It lasted 284 days and 5 defenses, until Oklahoma State took it on October 11, 2008.
For Missouri this was its 6th shot at the belt; it had never held the belt — and this was the day it took it.
This is the only time Arkansas and Missouri have met with the belt on the line.
Recap
Missouri dominated Arkansas from start to finish in this Cotton Bowl matchup to claim the College Football Belt. Tony Temple was the star of the show, rushing for three touchdowns including a 22-yard score in the first quarter that got Missouri rolling early. Arkansas struggled to move the ball consistently, missing two field goal attempts in the first half, while Missouri's defense forced multiple turnovers including a Pick-Six by William Moore in the third quarter that essentially put the game out of reach at 31-7. Though Darren McFadden scored late for Arkansas in the third quarter, Missouri's suffocating defensive performance and Temple's powerful rushing attack proved too much to overcome in the 38-7 victory.
- Tony Temple 22-yard TD rush (Q1 2:29) - set the tone early with Missouri's first score
- William Moore Pick-Six (Q3 7:37) - defensive touchdown that put the game away
- Tony Temple's three total TDs - dominated the line of scrimmage and wore down Arkansas
- Arkansas's five turnovers vs Missouri's three - proved decisive in belt transfer
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 9:26 | Arkansas | +35 yd | Alex Tejada 35 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q1 3:04 | Missouri | +22 yd | Chase Daniel pass complete to William Franklin for 22 yards to the Ark 34 for a 1ST down out-of-bounds. |
| Q1 2:29 | Missouri | +22 yd | Tony Temple rush for 22 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 2:19 | Missouri | +46 yd | Jeff Wolfert kickoff for 57 yards returned by Felix Jones for 46 yards to the Misso 41. |
| Q1 2:29 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 0:46 | Missouri | +22 yd | Tony Temple rush for 22 yards to the Ark 34 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 9:28 | Missouri | +41 yd | Tony Temple rush for 41 yards to the Misso 49 out-of-bounds for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 4:34 | Missouri | +4 yd | Tony Temple rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 6:02 | Missouri | +22 yd | Tony Temple rush for 22 yards to the Misso 42 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 4:38 | Missouri | +38 yd | Tony Temple rush for 38 yards to the Ark 4 out-of-bounds for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 4:34 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 4:25 | Missouri | +33 yd | Jeff Wolfert kickoff for 45 yards returned by Darren McFadden for 33 yards to the Misso 42. |
| Q2 3:27 | Arkansas | +37 yd | Alex Tejada 37 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q2 4:18 | Arkansas | +23 yd | Felix Jones rush for 23 yards to the Misso 19 out-of-bounds for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 13:38 | Missouri | +4 yd | Tony Temple rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 13:38 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 10:57 | Arkansas | +40 yd | Casey Dick pass complete to Felix Jones for 40 yards, fumbled at the Misso 38, recovered by Lorenzo Williams at the Misso 38. |
| Q3 7:37 | Arkansas | +26 yd | Casey Dick pass intercepted by William Moore at the Ark 26, returned for 26 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 7:37 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 3:08 | Arkansas | +3 yd | Darren McFadden rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 3:08 | Arkansas | +0 yd | Alex Tejada extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 14:27 | Missouri | +12 yd | Chase Daniel pass intercepted by Adrian Davis at the Ark 36, returned for 12 yards, fumbled at the Ark 48, forced by Chase Daniel, recovered by Colin Brown at the Ark 48, tackled by Chase Daniel. |
| Q4 12:05 | Arkansas | +20 yd | Casey Dick pass complete to Peyton Hillis for 20 yards, fumbled at the Misso 40, recovered by Marcus Woods at the Misso 40. |
| Q4 10:17 | Missouri | +26 yd | Adam Crossett kickoff for 67 yards returned by Michael Smith for 26 yards to the Ark 29. |
| Q4 10:25 | Missouri | +32 yd | Jeff Wolfert 32 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q4 8:33 | Missouri | +40 yd | Tony Temple rush for 40 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 8:27 | Missouri | +21 yd | Adam Crossett kickoff for 68 yards returned by Michael Smith for 21 yards to the Ark 23. |
| Q4 8:33 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Arkansas
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casey Dick | 19/32 | 197 | 6.2 | 0 | 1 | 35.3 |
| Peyton Hillis | 0/1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.8 |
Missouri
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Daniel | 12/29 | 136 | 4.7 | 0 | 1 | 23.6 |
Rushing
Arkansas
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darren McFadden | 21 | 105 | 5.0 | 1 | 19 |
| Felix Jones | 10 | 45 | 4.5 | 0 | 23 |
| Peyton Hillis | 5 | 20 | 4.0 | 0 | 13 |
| Michael Smith | 7 | 12 | 1.7 | 0 | 5 |
| Farod Jackson | 4 | 8 | 2.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Casey Dick | 3 | -26 | -8.7 | 0 | 0 |
Missouri
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Temple | 24 | 281 | 11.7 | 4 | 41 |
| Jimmy Jackson | 5 | 39 | 7.8 | 0 | 10 |
| Jeremy Maclin | 5 | 26 | 5.2 | 0 | 11 |
| Marcus Woods | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 | 6 |
| Derrick Washington | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chase Daniel | 5 | -31 | -6.2 | 0 | 7 |
Receiving
Arkansas
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Felix Jones | 3 | 65 | 21.7 | 0 | 40 |
| Peyton Hillis | 5 | 52 | 10.4 | 0 | 20 |
| Marcus Monk | 4 | 28 | 7.0 | 0 | 9 |
| Lucas Miller | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 17 |
| Andrew Davie | 3 | 18 | 6.0 | 0 | 8 |
| Reggie Fish | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 |
| Farod Jackson | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
Missouri
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will Franklin | 5 | 77 | 15.4 | 0 | 22 |
| Jeremy Maclin | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 0 | 15 |
| Martin Rucker | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 0 | 11 |
| Chase Coffman | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Interceptions
Arkansas
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adrian Davis | 1 | 12 | 0 |
Missouri
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Moore | 1 | 26 | 1 |
Kicking
Arkansas
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Tejada | 0/2 | 0.0 | 0 | 1/1 | 1 |
Missouri
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Wolfert | 1/1 | 100.0 | 32 | 5/5 | 8 |
Punt Returns
Arkansas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reggie Fish | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 4 | 0 |
| Jerell Norton | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Missouri
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Maclin | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 6 | 0 |
Punting
Arkansas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Davis | 5 | 194 | 38.8 | 0 | 0 | 52 |
Missouri
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Crossett | 6 | 220 | 36.7 | 0 | 0 | 43 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 280010008) · This game in the downloadable dataset