← The College Football Belt
Reign #261 · Game 1,389 of 1,634
August 31, 2008 Week 1 · Regular Season Neutral site Belt defended

Missouri defends the belt, 52–42, at a neutral site over Illinois.

Home · Defending Holder
Missouri 52
AT
Away · Challenger
Illinois 42
AI-Written

Recap

Missouri's high-powered offense proved too much for Illinois in this belt-defense showdown, as the Tigers held on to their lineal championship with a 52-42 victory in Columbia. The game featured an explosive back-and-forth affair, with Missouri establishing early dominance through Derrick Washington's touchdown runs and Chase Daniel's passing attack, while Illinois kept pace through Juice Williams' aerial assault and a stunning 99-yard kickoff return touchdown by Jeremy Maclin. Missouri pulled away in the second quarter, with Daniel connecting on multiple scoring drives including a 17-yard touchdown pass to Chase Coffman with just 21 seconds left in the half to build a commanding lead. Illinois mounted a third-quarter comeback with a rushing touchdown, but Missouri's balanced offensive attack and three-touchdown performance from Daniel ultimately proved too much to overcome.

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.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score
 MissouriIllinois
Total yards549532
Rushing yards22681
Passing yards329493
First downs2824
3rd down conv.9/177/17
Turnovers22
Penalties–yards3–298–80
Time of possession17:4418:09

Full 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.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play
WhenTeamYardsPlay
Q1 13:31Missouri+29 ydChase Daniel pass complete to Jared Perry for 29 yards to the Illin 31 for a 1ST down.
Q1 10:19Missouri+7 ydDerrick Washington rush for 7 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 10:19Missouri+0 ydJeff Wolfert extra point GOOD.
Q1 6:23Missouri+28 ydDerrick Washington rush for 28 yards to the Misso 42, Illinois penalty 15 yard face mask accepted for a 1ST down.
Q1 1:28Illinois+30 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Will Judson for 30 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 1:55Illinois+26 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Arrelious Benn for 26 yards to the Misso 30 for a 1ST down.
Q1 1:20Missouri+23 ydChase Daniel pass complete to Chase Coffman for 23 yards to the Misso 43 for a 1ST down.
Q2 14:10Missouri+20 ydJeff Wolfert kickoff for 65 yards returned by Arrelious Benn for 20 yards to the Illin 25.
Q2 14:15Missouri+51 ydJeff Wolfert 51 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 9:25Missouri+35 ydChase Daniel pass intercepted by Derek Walker at the Misso 35, returned for 35 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 9:12Illinois+99 ydMatt Eller kickoff for 69 yards returned by Jeremy Maclin for 99 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 9:12Illinois+0 ydMatt Eller extra point GOOD.
Q2 9:12Missouri+28 ydJeff Wolfert kickoff for 63 yards returned by Arrelious Benn for 28 yards to the Illin 35.
Q2 9:12Missouri+0 ydJeff Wolfert extra point GOOD.
Q2 8:57Illinois+20 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Fred Sykes for 20 yards to the Misso 45 for a 1ST down.
Q2 6:13Missouri+38 ydChase Daniel pass complete to Jared Perry for 38 yards to the Illin 40 for a 1ST down.
Q2 5:52Missouri+40 ydDerrick Washington rush for 40 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 5:52Missouri+0 ydJeff Wolfert extra point GOOD.
Q2 3:45Illinois+24 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Michael Hoomanawanui for 24 yards to the Misso 35 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:21Missouri+17 ydChase Daniel pass complete to Chase Coffman for 17 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 0:21Missouri+0 ydJeff Wolfert extra point GOOD.
Q2 1:05Missouri+26 ydJimmy Jackson rush for 26 yards to the Illin 39 for a 1ST down.
Q3 12:25Missouri+21 ydChase Daniel pass complete to Chase Coffman for 21 yards to the Illin 46 for a 1ST down.
Q3 10:33Illinois+41 ydDaniel Dufrene rush for 41 yards to the Misso 18 for a 1ST down.
Q3 9:33Illinois+0 ydMatt Eller extra point GOOD.
Q3 9:33Illinois+20 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Chris Duvalt for 20 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 4:43Missouri+4 ydChase Daniel pass complete to Tommy Saunders for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 4:41Missouri+25 ydJeff Wolfert kickoff for 67 yards returned by Arrelious Benn for 25 yards to the Illin 28.
Q3 4:43Missouri+0 ydJeff Wolfert extra point GOOD.
Q3 2:56Illinois+46 ydAnthony Santella punt for 45 yards, returned by Jeremy Maclin for 46 yards to the Illin 21.
Q3 2:50Missouri+21 ydChase Daniel pass complete to Tommy Saunders for 21 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 2:50Missouri+0 ydJeff Wolfert extra point GOOD.
Q3 2:25Illinois+30 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Arrelious Benn for 30 yards to the Illin 48 for a 1ST down.
Q3 1:17Illinois+26 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Chris Duvalt for 26 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 1:17Illinois+0 ydTwo-point conversion attempt, Juice Williams pass to Daniel Dufrene GOOD.
Q4 13:24Illinois+65 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Will Judson for 65 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 13:23Illinois+20 ydMichael Cklamovski kickoff for 60 yards returned by Jeremy Maclin for 20 yards to the Misso 45.
Q4 13:24Illinois+0 ydMatt Eller extra point GOOD.
Q4 11:20Illinois+53 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Will Judson for 53 yards to the Misso 20 for a 1ST down.
Q4 10:30Illinois+0 ydJuice Williams pass intercepted by Sean Weatherspoon at the Misso 26, returned for no gain to the Misso 26.
Q4 3:18Illinois+35 ydJuice Williams pass intercepted by Sean Weatherspoon at the Illin 35, returned for 35 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 3:18Missouri+25 ydJeff Wolfert kickoff for 65 yards returned by A.J. Jenkins for 25 yards to the Illin 30.
Q4 3:18Missouri+0 ydJeff Wolfert extra point GOOD.
Q4 0:00Illinois+5 ydJuice Williams pass complete to Michael Hoomanawanui for 5 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. Matt Eller 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).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTQBR
Chase DanielMissouri26/453237.23162.6
Juice WilliamsIllinois26/4245110.75239.9

Rushing

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
Derrick WashingtonMissouri191306.8240
Jimmy JacksonMissouri5469.2026
Chase DanielMissouri9465.1018
Tommy SaundersMissouri122.002
Jeremy MaclinMissouri320.702
Daniel DufreneIllinois13755.8041
Juice WilliamsIllinois19100.5014
Jason FordIllinois210.503
Arrelious BennIllinois1-5-5.000

Receiving

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
Chase CoffmanMissouri912013.3123
Jared PerryMissouri59218.4038
Tommy SaundersMissouri66410.7221
Jeremy MaclinMissouri4317.8010
Andrew JonesMissouri11212.0012
Derrick WashingtonMissouri144.004
Will JudsonIllinois517735.4265
Arrelious BennIllinois79213.1030
Daniel DufreneIllinois6508.3017
Michael HoomanawanuiIllinois34816.0124
Chris DuvaltIllinois24623.0226
Fred SykesIllinois23718.5020
Chris JamesIllinois111.001
Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

PlayerINTYDSTD
Sean WeatherspoonMissouri2351
Derek WalkerIllinois1341

Kicking

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Jeff WolfertMissouri1/1100.0517/710
Matt EllerIllinois0/00.004/54

Punt Returns

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Jeremy MaclinMissouri55611.2460
Tommy SaundersMissouri11515.0150
Dere HicksIllinois231.520

Punting

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
Jake HarryMissouri415137.80044
Anthony SantellaIllinois833642.00056

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.