COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Nebraska’s Defense Takes Charge : Big Eight: Offense is no slouch, though, as Frazier accounts for five touchdowns in 57-0 rout of Missouri.

With Nebraska’s offense so often stealing the show, Coach Tom Osborne was especially happy to see his defense record its first shutout.

So what if it came against a struggling Missouri team that is last in the Big Eight in total offense and scoring? The 57-0 victory Saturday was still a dominating performance and the 17th victory in a row against the Tigers.

“There was a good pass rush and they were very sound,” Osborne said. “The only disturbing thing is that they had two or three guys running open and they just couldn’t hit them.”

Missouri had trouble hitting anything. The Tigers, 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Big Eight, lost two of five fumbles, threw two interceptions and finished with 122 total yards. Nebraska moved to 6-0, 2-0.

On 39 carries, the Tigers gained 39 yards with sophomore Brock Olivo held to 10 yards in 11 rushes. He had averaged 101 yards per game.

“This was by far our best defensive game yet,” defensive end Jared Tomich said.

“All last week we heard about how they were going to revamp their offense so we didn’t know what they were going to do . . . but they came up with the same stuff that they did before.”

While Missouri struggled, Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier dazzled. The senior ran for three touchdowns and threw for two as he improved to 26-1 as a starter in regular-season games.

Along the way, he became the school’s career leader in touchdowns with 64, breaking Steve Taylor’s record of 62 from 1985-88.