Missouri defends the belt, 52–42, at a neutral site over Illinois.
AP poll, week 1: Illinois No. 20 at Missouri No. 6 · No. 1 that week: Illinois. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Missouri came in 243 days into reign #265, which began with a win over Arkansas, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. Missouri went on to defend it 4 more times before Oklahoma State took it on October 11, 2008, 284 days after the reign began.
For Illinois this was its 14th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before.
This is the only time Illinois and Missouri have met with the belt on the line.
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.
- Derrick Washington's 7-yard touchdown run in Q1 gave Missouri an early 7-0 lead
- Jeremy Maclin's 99-yard kickoff return touchdown in Q2 tied the game and gave Illinois momentum
- Chase Daniel's 17-yard touchdown pass to Chase Coffman with 21 seconds in Q2 extended Missouri's lead to double digits
- Missouri's defense forced Derek Walker's interception return touchdown in Q2 to control the game's tempo
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 13:31 | Missouri | +29 yd | Chase Daniel pass complete to Jared Perry for 29 yards to the Illin 31 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 10:19 | Missouri | +7 yd | Derrick Washington rush for 7 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 10:19 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 6:23 | Missouri | +28 yd | Derrick Washington rush for 28 yards to the Misso 42, Illinois penalty 15 yard face mask accepted for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 1:28 | Illinois | +30 yd | Juice Williams pass complete to Will Judson for 30 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 1:55 | Illinois | +26 yd | Juice Williams pass complete to Arrelious Benn for 26 yards to the Misso 30 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 1:20 | Missouri | +23 yd | Chase Daniel pass complete to Chase Coffman for 23 yards to the Misso 43 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 14:10 | Missouri | +20 yd | Jeff Wolfert kickoff for 65 yards returned by Arrelious Benn for 20 yards to the Illin 25. |
| Q2 14:15 | Missouri | +51 yd | Jeff Wolfert 51 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q2 9:25 | Missouri | +35 yd | Chase Daniel pass intercepted by Derek Walker at the Misso 35, returned for 35 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 9:12 | Illinois | +99 yd | Matt Eller kickoff for 69 yards returned by Jeremy Maclin for 99 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 9:12 | Illinois | +0 yd | Matt Eller extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 9:12 | Missouri | +28 yd | Jeff Wolfert kickoff for 63 yards returned by Arrelious Benn for 28 yards to the Illin 35. |
| Q2 9:12 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 8:57 | Illinois | +20 yd | Juice Williams pass complete to Fred Sykes for 20 yards to the Misso 45 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 6:13 | Missouri | +38 yd | Chase Daniel pass complete to Jared Perry for 38 yards to the Illin 40 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 5:52 | Missouri | +40 yd | Derrick Washington rush for 40 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 5:52 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 3:45 | Illinois | +24 yd | Juice Williams pass complete to Michael Hoomanawanui for 24 yards to the Misso 35 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 0:21 | Missouri | +17 yd | Chase Daniel pass complete to Chase Coffman for 17 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 0:21 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 1:05 | Missouri | +26 yd | Jimmy Jackson rush for 26 yards to the Illin 39 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 12:25 | Missouri | +21 yd | Chase Daniel pass complete to Chase Coffman for 21 yards to the Illin 46 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 10:33 | Illinois | +41 yd | Daniel Dufrene rush for 41 yards to the Misso 18 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 9:33 | Illinois | +0 yd | Matt Eller extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 9:33 | Illinois | +20 yd | Juice Williams pass complete to Chris Duvalt for 20 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 4:43 | Missouri | +4 yd | Chase Daniel pass complete to Tommy Saunders for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 4:41 | Missouri | +25 yd | Jeff Wolfert kickoff for 67 yards returned by Arrelious Benn for 25 yards to the Illin 28. |
| Q3 4:43 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 2:56 | Illinois | +46 yd | Anthony Santella punt for 45 yards, returned by Jeremy Maclin for 46 yards to the Illin 21. |
| Q3 2:50 | Missouri | +21 yd | Chase Daniel pass complete to Tommy Saunders for 21 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 2:50 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 2:25 | Illinois | +30 yd | Juice Williams pass complete to Arrelious Benn for 30 yards to the Illin 48 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 1:17 | Illinois | +26 yd | Juice Williams pass complete to Chris Duvalt for 26 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 1:17 | Illinois | +0 yd | Two-point conversion attempt, Juice Williams pass to Daniel Dufrene GOOD. |
| Q4 13:24 | Illinois | +65 yd | Juice Williams pass complete to Will Judson for 65 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 13:23 | Illinois | +20 yd | Michael Cklamovski kickoff for 60 yards returned by Jeremy Maclin for 20 yards to the Misso 45. |
| Q4 13:24 | Illinois | +0 yd | Matt Eller extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 11:20 | Illinois | +53 yd | Juice Williams pass complete to Will Judson for 53 yards to the Misso 20 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 10:30 | Illinois | +0 yd | Juice Williams pass intercepted by Sean Weatherspoon at the Misso 26, returned for no gain to the Misso 26. |
| Q4 3:18 | Illinois | +35 yd | Juice Williams pass intercepted by Sean Weatherspoon at the Illin 35, returned for 35 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 3:18 | Missouri | +25 yd | Jeff Wolfert kickoff for 65 yards returned by A.J. Jenkins for 25 yards to the Illin 30. |
| Q4 3:18 | Missouri | +0 yd | Jeff Wolfert extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 0:00 | Illinois | +5 yd | Juice 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).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Missouri
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Daniel | 26/45 | 323 | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 62.6 |
Illinois
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juice Williams | 26/42 | 451 | 10.7 | 5 | 2 | 39.9 |
Rushing
Missouri
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derrick Washington | 19 | 130 | 6.8 | 2 | 40 |
| Jimmy Jackson | 5 | 46 | 9.2 | 0 | 26 |
| Chase Daniel | 9 | 46 | 5.1 | 0 | 18 |
| Tommy Saunders | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jeremy Maclin | 3 | 2 | 0.7 | 0 | 2 |
Illinois
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Dufrene | 13 | 75 | 5.8 | 0 | 41 |
| Juice Williams | 19 | 10 | 0.5 | 0 | 14 |
| Jason Ford | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 3 |
| Arrelious Benn | 1 | -5 | -5.0 | 0 | 0 |
Receiving
Missouri
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Coffman | 9 | 120 | 13.3 | 1 | 23 |
| Jared Perry | 5 | 92 | 18.4 | 0 | 38 |
| Tommy Saunders | 6 | 64 | 10.7 | 2 | 21 |
| Jeremy Maclin | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 0 | 10 |
| Andrew Jones | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Derrick Washington | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 |
Illinois
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will Judson | 5 | 177 | 35.4 | 2 | 65 |
| Arrelious Benn | 7 | 92 | 13.1 | 0 | 30 |
| Daniel Dufrene | 6 | 50 | 8.3 | 0 | 17 |
| Michael Hoomanawanui | 3 | 48 | 16.0 | 1 | 24 |
| Chris Duvalt | 2 | 46 | 23.0 | 2 | 26 |
| Fred Sykes | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 0 | 20 |
| Chris James | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Interceptions
Missouri
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sean Weatherspoon | 2 | 35 | 1 |
Illinois
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Walker | 1 | 34 | 1 |
Kicking
Missouri
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Wolfert | 1/1 | 100.0 | 51 | 7/7 | 10 |
Illinois
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Eller | 0/0 | 0.0 | 0 | 4/5 | 4 |
Punt Returns
Missouri
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Maclin | 5 | 56 | 11.2 | 46 | 0 |
| Tommy Saunders | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 |
Illinois
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dere Hicks | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 2 | 0 |
Punting
Missouri
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Harry | 4 | 151 | 37.8 | 0 | 0 | 44 |
Illinois
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Santella | 8 | 336 | 42.0 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
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 282430142) · This game in the downloadable dataset