Columbia, Mo. ? With Missouri already down by 10 midway through the fourth quarter, things went from bad to worse when the Tigers’ best player, quarterback Brad Smith, took a hard shot to the head.

Smith was down for a couple of minutes, then walked woozily off the field, a teammate’s arm around his back, as freshman Chase Daniel replaced him.

Some freshman.

Daniel led two late scoring drives to tie the game at 24, then he passed and ran Missouri to the Iowa State nine-yard line in overtime, setting up Adam Crossett’s 26-yard field goal for a 27-24 victory.

Missouri (4-2 overall, 2-1 Big 12 Conference) beat Iowa State in overtime for the second straight season. The Cyclones (3-3, 0-3) are defending co-champions of the Big 12 North but have fallen on hard times since an early season win over Iowa.

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel praised the confidence of Daniel, his prize recruit.

“I don’t know if he lost any games in high school – this guy’s used to winning,” Pinkel said.

Actually, he lost once in two seasons as a starter – he was 31-1 and twice was named the Texas Class 5A player of the year. During those seasons, Daniel accounted for 11,252 total yards and 127 touchdowns.

But until Saturday, Daniel had thrown 18 collegiate passes. Against the Cyclones he was 16-for-23 for 185 yards and a game-tying touchdown and rushed 12 times for 26 yards.

“Sometimes I didn’t have an idea where the ball was going,” Daniel said.

Nebraska 23, Baylor 14

Waco, Texas – Zac Taylor threw two touchdown passes and led Nebraska to scores on four of its first five drives, then the defense made it hold up.

On a night the Bears hoped would be their coming-out party, the Cornhuskers (5-1, 2-1) made a statement by matching last season’s win total and moving within a victory of being eligible for the postseason. Nebraska also bounced back nicely from a last-minute loss and won in its first road game.

It wasn’t easy, though, as Baylor (4-2, 1-2) took another step toward respectability even in defeat. Coming off its first-ever Big 12 road victory, over Iowa State, the Bears led 7-3 in the second quarter and were driving for a go-ahead score late in the third quarter after a wild touchdown got them within 20-14.

Texas A&M 62, Oklahoma State 23

College Station, Texas – Reggie McNeal threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score. Jovorskie Lane, taking the place of injured starter Courtney Lewis, rushed for 139 yards and scored three touchdowns to help Texas A&M (4-2, 2-1) shake the unease of an embarrassing 41-20 loss last week at Colorado. Julius Crosslin had two touchdown runs for Oklahoma State (3-3, 0-3), which fell behind again early in its third straight loss.