COLUMBIA | Missouri had this one. The Tigers just knew they did. Perhaps it wouldn&rsquo;t be a dominating, unquestioned triumph, the way the last three here against Nebraska had been.</p><p>Certainly not the kill shot delivered last year in Lincoln.</p><p>But with the Missouri defense on its way to throwing its first shutout of Nebraska since 1961, the dozen points that Missouri had scored heading into the fourth quarter looked good enough.</p><p>That it wasn&rsquo;t, that the Cornhuskers scored 27 consecutive points, all in the fourth quarter of a 27-12 Nebraska comeback that one Cornhusker proclaimed the &ldquo;comeback of the century&rdquo; as he left Memorial Stadium &hellip;</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to lie,&rdquo; said MU defensive back Trey Hobson. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a shock. It&rsquo;s a shocker.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to stay focused the whole game. I think we learned our lesson.&rdquo;</p><p>Too late, perhaps. Missouri lost not only a game but, if needed, a tie breaker with Nebraska that could keep the Tigers from what now seems an improbable third straight Big 12 North Division title.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got our backs against the wall a little bit,&rdquo; Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said.</p><p>Missouri seemed in control 12-0 as play opened in the fourth quarter, despite sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert being hampered by a sore ankle that he had injured early in the night.</p><p>But then Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee &mdash; only 14 of 33 passing for 158 yards on the night &mdash; hit Niles Paul over the top of the Missouri defense for 56 yards and a touchdown with 13:56 left in the game.</p><p>Two straight Nebraska interceptions &mdash; the first two of Gabbert&rsquo;s season and career at Missouri &mdash; set up two more Lee TD tosses.</p><p>The second came with 12:59 to play, a 13-yard fade pass to Paul. Nebraska went for two and failed on a pass attempt. But the Huskers led 13-12.</p><p>After the second pick &mdash; and while going down on an apparent sack by MU&rsquo;s Will Ebner &mdash; Lee managed to find Mike McNeill open just short of the goal line for an 8-yard touchdown toss with 10:34 still to play.</p><p>Three touchdown passes in 3 minutes and 22 seconds.</p><p>No. 24 Mizzou is suddenly 4-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12. And headed out of the top 25.</p><p>No. 21 Nebraska is now 4-1 and 1-0 and, with a favorable schedule the rest of the way, seemingly riding the rail to at least a share of the Big 12 North crown.</p><p>The offensive fireworks erupted unexpectedly as a game-long rain finally began to abate.</p><p>In a reflection of what kind of first half it was, the most valuable players for both teams were the punters.</p><p> An early second-quarter safety gave Missouri a 2-0 lead, the only points of the first 30 minutes, until Gabbert scored what will most likely be a long-disputed touchdown on fourth and goal from the Nebraska 1 on the final play of the half.</p><p> Replays in the press box appeared to show that Gabbert&rsquo;s knee had gone down before the football crossed the goal line. A review of the play upheld the touchdown call and MU led 9-0.</p><p> Until then, one of the biggest plays of the half had come with 14:01 left in the second quarter on a heady play by Nebraska punter Alex Henery.</p><p> Henery chased down a wild snap while punting from the Nebraska end zone with Missouri&rsquo;s Hobson in pursuit. Rather than risk a fumble and a possible MU recovery for a touchdown, Henery flipped the ball out of the back of the end zone.</p><p> Missouri 2-0.</p><p> Before and after, a prime star for Missouri was Jake Harry IV. Nebraska muffed two of his rugby-style, running punts, and another hit a Nebraska player and resulted in a Missouri recovery.</p><p> Rain fell through the entire half, as it had all day. That made for tense moments with every exchange of the football.</p><p> One of the most tense came on a gamble by Pinkel. On the fourth and goal at the Nebraska 1, Gabbert faked a handoff to tailback Derrick Washington and then bulled across right tackle for the touchdown.</p><p> That capped the only successful offensive drive for either team in the first half.</p><p> It came at the end of a seven-play, 44-yard drive covering 48 seconds by Mizzou, the big play being Gabbert&rsquo;s 38-yard pass to Jared Perry to the Nebraska 6.</p><p>MU linebacker Andrew Gachkar recovered two of Nebraska&rsquo;s five fumbles. And like Hobson, after three quarters, Gachkar said, Missouri thought it had this game won.</p><p>&ldquo;You look at the scoreboard and you&rsquo;re thinking, &lsquo;We&rsquo;ve got this game in the bag,&rsquo; &rdquo; Gachkar said. &ldquo;Obviously, we didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;