If anyone could have seen Chase Daniel coming, it was Iowa State.
Long before the Missouri quarterback established himself as one of the nation's best, the Cyclones got a glimpse of his talents.
It happened in Columbia, Mo., back in 2005, when Daniel, then a freshman, came off the bench in the fourth quarter to rally Missouri to a 27-24 overtime victory over Iowa State.
Daniel will face the Cyclones for the final time when No. 12 Missouri visits Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday night in the last home game of Iowa State's disappointing season. Senior defensive back Brandon Hunley still remembers the first time he saw the Missouri star.
"You could tell he was going to be a great quarterback,"
Hunley said. "The things he's doing and has done over the years has not been unexpected at all."
Daniel was pressed into service in that 2005 game after Iowa State's Tim Dobbins knocked the Tigers' starting quarterback, Brad Smith, out of the game with the Cyclones leading 24-14 in the fourth quarter.
Smith would end his career as Missouri's leader in passing and total offense, so you'd think that Iowa State caught a break when he left. ISU wide receiver R.J. Sumrall, then a freshman, knew better, however.
"Once Chase Daniel came in, it was like, oh, man, we should have just left Brad Smith alone,"
Sumrall said. "We felt like that hurt us even more. When Chase came in, that's his offense, so he was already used to it."
It showed.
Missouri faced third-and-10 at its own 25 when Daniel took over with about 8 1/2 minutes left. He promptly completed a 13-yard pass and took the Tigers all the way to the Iowa State 2, where they settled for a field goal to cut the lead to 24-17.
The next time Missouri got the ball, Daniel ran or passed on every snap in an 11-play drive that he finished with a 4-yard touchdown pass to tie it. Then, after Iowa State's Bret Culbertson missed a field goal attempt in overtime, Daniel completed an 8-yard pass and ran three times to set up the winning field goal.
Daniel finished that game 16-of-23 for 185 yards with no interceptions. He also ran 12 times for 26 yards.
Smith came back to finish the season as the starter, but it was pretty obvious that Daniel would be the Tigers' quarterback of the future.
"You could just tell that he was going to do some great things for that program,"
Sumrall said.
Which is just what he's done.
Missouri (8-2, 4-2 Big 12) is 28-8 with Daniel as the starter, including a North Division title and a 38-7 thrashing of Arkansas in last season's Cotton Bowl. Daniel broke Smith's career passing record early this season and is within striking distance of his total offense mark.
For the year, Daniel has completed 76 percent of his passes, going 274 of 360 for 3,264 yards, 28 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
"He just manages the game well,"
Hunley said. "He's a great quarterback. We'll go out and try to have a great plan ready for him. They've also got some great athletes that surround him. They have a lot of weapons. We've got to go out and be prepared to play them."
It's a tall order for the Cyclones (2-8, 0-6 Big 12), who have lost eight straight and haven't been able to slow down anyone in the conference, especially when those teams throw the ball.
Iowa State ranks 114th out of 119 major-college teams in pass defense. The Cyclones have given up 25 touchdown passes, more than any other BCS school. They've also seen opponents complete 67 percent of their passes. Winless Washington (70.7 percent) is the only BCS school allowing a higher percentage.
Colorado, which is last in the Big 12 in offense, burned the Cyclones with four second-half touchdown passes in a 28-24 victory Saturday. Now comes Missouri with the sixth-best offense in the country.
"They're in synch,"
Iowa State coach Gene Chizik said. "And there's very few teams that have gotten them out of synch in the last two years. It's hard to do."
