Mizzou football returns to St. Louis 13 years after last game. Here's the story

Mizzou football safety Carl Gettis had just hauled in a one-handed pick off Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase in the fourth quarter of the 2010 Arch Rivalry game, and then he delivered a message to the sideline that his teammate and roommate, running back De’Vion Moore, still remembers.

Gettis and Moore were roommates through college. They’re both from the greater St. Louis area. In Missouri’s final scheduled trip to play at the then-Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis — a hiatus set to be broken Saturday after a 13-year break — Gettis single-handedly gave the Tigers a boost, and wanted the rest to finish it off.

“He’s like, ‘alright, I just made my highlight,’” Moore remembers Gettis yelling to the sideline after the spectacular grab. “‘Go make yours.’”

In front of the sellout crowd, Missouri did just that, erasing a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the Illini 23-13 in the Arch Rivalry’s finale.

More than a decade later, a new crop of Missouri (3-0) players — including the 18 St. Louis natives on MU’s team — are heading back to what is now The Dome at America’s Center to face Memphis on Saturday night.

Here’s the tale of the Tigers’ last time in The Lou:

Sept. 4, 2010

Missouri 23, Illinois 13

Kenji Jackson got chewed out for a crucial interception.

The experienced Missouri safety, shortly after Gettis’ pick, hauled one deep in his own half and ran it 32 yards across midfield to keep the Tigers up 20-13.

Great … right?

After getting tackled, Jackson launched his recently acquired ball high into the air, drawing a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. Later, a block in the back call came in, pushing the Tigers back 30 total yards.

Then-MU defensive coordinator Dave Steckel wasn’t pleased.

“I'm thinking I did a good thing you know, I just got a takeaway,” Jackson said. “As soon as I sit down, (Steckel) is just ripping my ass.”

No matter — the Tigers hung on for a win that carried significant weight.

“It was huge because it showed how resilient our team was,” Jackson said. … “We had to come from behind. We had to really fight to win that game.”

An offseason marked with off-the-field drama brought a season filled with questions. Leading running back Derrick Washington had been charged with felony sexual assault. One coach and two players had been arrested on DWI charges.

The discipline that was the cornerstone of Gary Pinkel’s teams was teetering.

Then the Tigers’ high-flying offense came out flat. Scheelhaase, a freshman QB for the Fighting Illini, did not.

But there were no halftime theatrics or motivational speeches. Just a steadfast belief in their coaching and that a result was coming.

“Sometimes football — it doesn’t go according to plan. You’ve just got to be able to respond to adversity” Jackson said. … “Our coaches prepared for moments like that. You know, we didn't start fast like we wanted to, but the game wasn't over.”

If quarterback Blaine Gabbert was nervous in his hometown, he didn’t show it, Jackson said.

Wide receiver T.J. Moe got the comeback started, hauling in a pass on a Gabbert scramble to cut the deficit to three.

Tight end Michael Egnew, now the coach of Father Tolton High School in Columbia, gave the Tigers their first lead on a fake screen that got the Illini defense biting.

Gettis went up for what appeared to be an overthrown ball to the sideline, got his arm extended way up, and came away with the one-handed pick, which Jackson said then-strength and conditioning coach Pat Ivey took credit for because of how many shoulder rotations he’d made the team do.

Jackson followed suit with a second fourth-quarter INT, got his stern talking to, and then helped Missouri stage a second-half shutout.

Grant Ressel kicked a pair of field goals, and …

Game, set, match.

“Coach Pinkel always told us men are going to be determined by the way they approach adversity,” Moore said. “We were in an adverse situation and we came back and we responded accordingly.”

That was the way the eventual 10-3 team in 2010 operated. The comeback win sparked a seven-game winning streak, including a Faurot Field upset over No. 1 Oklahoma.

“I think there was doubt in the air about what we're going to be,” Egnew said. “That game kind of squashed that doubt.”

Meet Me in St. Louis

Moore, in his fourth season at Missouri, was about to make his second start at tailback for the Tigers.

He’d been to the Dome before, when St. Louis-based coach PJ Jones invited Moore and one of his teammates onto the St. Louis Rams’ sidelines on gameday with Missouri star Demetrious Johnson.

Fast forward a few years, and Moore, a Hazelwood Central High grad, was about to play there.

Moore had his parents, his siblings and his cousins coming. His high school coach, John Pukulua, was making the trip, and he was bringing current students with him. All told, “40 or 50” people were coming to watch Moore start in the Dome.

“You could see in a whole section of the stadium where your fans, your support is. You could hear the cheers,” Moore said. “And just being home, it was something special to me as a St. Louis kid.”

On Tuesday, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz mentioned the benefits of playing a game in The Gateway City.

It’s the largest alumni base the Tigers have. If you’ve noticed — see: Luther Burden III — the Tigers have recruited successfully there in recent years.

Sure, there’s that.

But it’s the occasion itself that still sticks out to the former participants.

Jackson, a Mansfield, Texas, native, recalls his freshman year — 2008 — pulling off the highway and toward St. Louis’ downtown, police escort in tow, barely able to exit the freeway for Mizzou fans.

“Even now, I think that's the coolest moment like on gameday,” Jackson said.

Moore remembers sitting in a hotel lobby in his hometown with his family and friends the night before the game before curfew went into effect. They’d chat about his high school days and wish him luck.

That wasn’t the case before every game.

“When you're talking about it being in a local environment or right here in the Columbia area, not all of them can travel the two hours for the game. But many of them can travel the 15, 20 minutes to get to the stadium.”

For one weekend, that’s coming back for the St. Louis natives on the Tigers’ roster.

Current Missouri running back Cody Schrader, a Lutheran South High in St. Louis grad, said he’d received a text message this week saying 80-100 people are coming out to watch him.

Wide receiver Mookie Cooper (Trinity Catholic) said he’s “a little lit” about the game, and, maybe barring Burden, that he’s got the most tickets.

Eli Drinkwitz said the St. Louis contingency of his team has been trying to “beg, borrow and steal from their teammates to get their tickets if they're not using them.”

Freshman safety Marvin Burks (Cardinal Ritter) is still asking around, but he knows “it’s going to be more than 10 people.”

All three current players said they’d been to one Rams game as kids.

It’s not Illinois or the Archway Rivalry anymore. Memphis (3-0) awaits in the Dome

It’s been a long 13 years, but St. Louis is getting the Tigers back.

Moore played in his hometown. He knows what that means.

“Remember that there are some kids that are gonna be out in those stands, there are going to be some people who are watching this game who were, just like several of (the current players) said, were in sixth grade, or 6 and 7 years old watching NFL games in that stadium,” Moore said. “This might be an opportunity for some of those kids that are standing in that stage to really make some impressions. So go out there and represent St. Louis and do so with class.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou football returns to St. Louis 13 years after last game. Here's the story