COLUMBIA --- It was 5:55 p.m. Saturday when the announcement came.
Who would be Missouri's starting quarterback?
This was more coveted information than a covert mission in Afghanistan.
The anticipation was palpable. A huddled mass of 71,000 awaited the announcement as they watched the jumbo scoreboard at Faurot Field.
It's like you were watching the O.J. verdict, except there weren't 71,000 people in your family room. Well, I guess there could have been, if you have a really big family room.
Drum roll, please. The starting quarterback is ...
James Franklin.
Phew. You mean we went through all of that for nothing?
Seven minutes later, however, the game started. And Corbin Berkstresser was taking the snaps for the Tigers.
A confusing week had one, last confusing twist. As it turned out, it didn't really matter.
Kenronte Walker made a pair of massive defensive plays in the final 3 1/2 minutes and the Tigers held off the Arizona State Sun Devils 24-20 before another sellout crowd of 71,004.
"We're really proud of our football team --- they battled and they had the will to compete," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said.
"It says so much about them as group."
The group knew they were without Franklin.
"They realize some of the issues with our offense," Pinkel said. "That might be the youngest offense I've ever put on the field as a head coach."
This was indeed a game-time decision. Moments before kickoff, Pinkel said Franklin would not play due to an inflamed bursa in his right shoulder.
"He said it hurt when he threw and he couldn't play," Pinkel said. "The medical staff makes that decision, I don't even go there.
"With him out, it changes the game, we all know that. Ask the Indianapolis Colts."
The talk before the game was about Missouri's offense. After the game, it was about Missouri's defense.
The Sun Devils (2-1) had just 22 yards of total offense in the first 25 minutes; they had 93 in the first half; and they finished with 296 total yards.
Most importantly, however, the Tigers forced four turnovers.
"The defense raised their level of play; they just did an outstanding job and I'm really proud of them," Pinkel said. "They knew they needed to have a huge game, and they did."
Offensively, Missouri's game plan was more conservative than Rush Limbaugh.
Berkstresser, a redshirt freshman, completed 21-of-41 passes for 198 yards --- and most of those attempts were shorter than a mid-sized Buick.
"We're kind of watching what we were doing," Pinkel said. "Maybe we were too conservative, I don't know.
"But I thought he did a lot of really good things in that arena and in that type of game."
Missouri (2-1) built a 17-7 lead at the break on a 6-yard run by Berkstresser and a 7-yard scamper by Kendial Lawrence, while Andrew Baggett bagged a 46-yard field goal.
A 1-yard plunge in the third quarter by Lawrence, who gained 62 yards on 16 carries, stretched the margin to 24-7.
That's where it stayed entering the fourth, when some unlikely completions by Taylor Kelly set up two touchdown runs by Marion Grice, and the lead was shaved to 24-20 with 11 minutes left.
"Their quarterback made some plays that most guys can't make," Pinkel said. "They were freak plays."
Down the stretch, Walker was freakishly good for the Tigers. The senior safety saved a touchdown by swatting down a pass on 4th-and-goal from the three with 3 1/2 minutes left.
Walker then saved the game by intercepting a pass in the end zone in the final minute.
"Those were obviously two huge plays," Pinkel said. "It's only fitting that the defense won it in the end."
Indeed it was.
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