MISSOURI'S TONY TEMPLE EARNS OFFENSIVE MVP

As Missouri senior tailback Tony Temple crossed the goal line for his fourth touchdown of the game, chants of “Tony! Tony! Tony!” rained down from the thousands of appreciative Tiger fans in the Cotton Bowl crowd. Two grateful teammates immediately scooped up the 5-foot-9, 205-pound senior and carried him off the field, treating Temple to arguably the sweetest victory ride of his collegiate career.

With 281 yards on 24 carries, Temple had just become the all-time leading rusher in the history of the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, picking up the record as he scampered and spun his way into the end zone for 40 tough yards and his final score against Arkansas on the first day of 2008.  More importantly, he had helped lead his team to a convincing 38-7 victory over the Razorbacks in the 72nd installment of the legendary New Year’s Day bowl, a distinction that earned Temple the Sanford Trophy as the Outstanding Offensive Player of the game.

“You can’t even dream about games like this,” the Kansas City, Missouri native said during the post-game interview, as the gleaming trophy rested on the table beside his right elbow. “So many players talk about being in the zone. I think I was in the zone and just lost track of everything.”
In particular, Temple lost track of the pain from the hamstring strain he had suffered just prior to his history-making touchdown run at the 8:33 mark of the fourth quarter. Team trainers checked the running back’s injury and told Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel it was up to Temple whether he could return to the game.

“I asked him ‘Do you think you can go?’ and Tony said, ‘I’ll let you know,’” Pinkel recalled afterward. “When one of the assistant coaches said he only had about 30 yards for the record, Tony told me ‘I think I can go, Coach.’

“And I told him, ‘Well, you just better hang onto that doggone ball,’” Pinkel added with a laugh.

All day long, Temple did just that, banging out yard after yard to pave the way for Missouri’s 12th victory of the season. It was a job the senior particularly took to heart, especially after hearing rumors that Arkansas wasn’t expecting much out of the Tigers’ running game.

Not with Heisman Trophy finalist and pass-happy quarterback Chase Daniel calling the plays for Missouri. When the Tigers’ passing game proved less-than- effective against Arkansas, however, Daniel came up with the perfect game plan.

“I told the coaches, ‘Let’s just keep feeding Tony the ball,’ and it really paid off today,” Daniel said.  “I mean, everyone was talking about [Arkansas running backs] Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Peyton Hillis. No disrespect to those guys, but I wouldn’t trade my back for anything. “

“It was Tony’s day today, and I had so much fun watching him run.”

So did the delighted Missouri fans among the estimated Cotton Bowl crowd of 73,114. Perhaps no one received a better view of Temple’s record-breaking runs than the Tigers’ formidable offensive line, a unit that opened up hole after hole for the overly appreciative running back.

“They’ve been supporting me and helping me this whole year,” Temple said. “I saw the intensity in their eyes today, and I just kept looking at them and saying, “Let’s go! Let’s go!”

With his 281 yards rushing in the Cotton Bowl, Temple eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season, the first Missouri back in the history of the program to earn that distinction. Temple’s 2007 stats are particularly note-worthy, considering he missed the better part of three games with an ankle injury.

The All-Big 12 honorable mention running back also played his final game at Missouri’s Faurot Field with a heavy heart, following the death of his grandmother. Even without his parents to walk him out on the field during Senior Day against Texas A&M on November 10, Temple bravely rushed for 141 yards and one touchdown. “I did it for my teammates,” he said after the 40-26 victory over the Aggies.

In the 72nd AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, Temple stepped up for his teammates once again. He scored the first three touchdowns of the game, including a 22-yard scoring romp in the first quarter, to set a dominating tempo for the rest of the day.  Temple accounted for the majority of Missouri’s 323 rushing yards, while breaking the Cotton Bowl’s all-time rushing record (previously held by Rice’s Dicky Meagle, who rushed for 265 yards against Alabama in 1954) and the mark for touchdowns with four.

“He did a heck of a job running the ball today,” said Arkansas’ McFadden, who along with Daniel, was one of the four finalists for the 2007 Heisman Memorial Trophy and the overwhelming recipients of most of the pre-game hype leading up to the 72nd AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.

That is, until Temple came along and stole all the thunder … and the records.

“What a prestigious record,” Pinkel said of the all-time rushing mark.  “Of all the great running backs who have played in this bowl game—Herschel Walker and Jim Brown among them—that kind of record is just so outstanding.”