Alamo Bowl | Gary Pinkel's team prevails

SAN ANTONIO — Chase Daniel threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin in overtime and Missouri rallied to beat Northwestern 30-23 in the Alamo Bowl on Monday night.

After the 25th-ranked Tigers scored on the opening possession of overtime, their defense delivered, too.

Missouri's Sean Weatherspoon, a junior linebacker, sacked a backpedaling C.J. Bacher, forcing a fumble that left Northwestern with fourth-and-goal from the 32-yard line.

Bacher's desperation heave into the end zone was knocked down, and Daniel rushed off the sideline with teammates to celebrate.

The win gave Missouri (10-4) double-digit victories in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history.

Tigers coach Gary Pinkel is a former Washington offensive coordinator.

The No. 22 Wildcats (9-4) fell to 1-6 in bowl games, with their win coming in their first bowl appearance in 1949.

Playing his final college game, Daniel overcame three interceptions to lead the Tigers back from a three-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Jeff Wolfert made a 37-yard field goal with 2:49 remaining to tie it 23-all, but he missed a 44-yard attempt that could have won the game for Missouri as time expired.

Daniel, who finished fourth in 2007 Heisman Trophy voting, was 27 of 44 for 200 yards and two touchdown passes.

It was Daniel's first overtime game since leading Missouri to a 27-24 victory over Iowa State as a freshman, when he took over midgame after an injury to Brad Smith.

Daniel had played sparingly at the end of a couple of games before that, but never when it counted.

"Never had an overtime game the rest of his career and he ends his career with an overtime win," Pinkel said. "Pretty awesome."

The speedy Maclin, a first-team All-American as an all-purpose player, returned a punt 75 yards for a TD that tied the score at 10 with a minute left in the second quarter.

Bacher threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns, going 27 of 43 passing. The three TD passes matched an Alamo Bowl record.

"They made more plays than we did on that [last] drive," Bacher said. "That's why they're sitting over there Alamo Bowl champs and we're not."

His 23-yard scoring toss to Ross Lane gave the Wildcats a 23-20 lead in the third quarter.

Earlier in the week, coach Pat Fitzgerald shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't mind that Northwestern was considered "the other team down here" at the Alamo Bowl as a 12 ½-point underdog.

The Wildcats referred to themselves as the "Redeem Team," trying to make up for an embarrassing 49-point 2000 Alamo Bowl loss to Nebraska and the rest of Northwestern's bleak bowl history.

But thanks to Daniel's clutch TD pass to Maclin, in overtime, Pinkel could scream to the Mizzou fans on hand at the end.

"How 'bout them Tigers," Pinkel yelled over the public-address system. "I'm so proud of my football team.

"How about an M-I-Z?"

Even the fans who gave him that and the answering Z-O-U seemed drained.