COLUMBIA Nebraska fans have a reputation for being polite to visitors, no matter what the situation is on the field. But nicer fans doesnt necessarily mean the playing environment is any easier.

“Its hard to go into a place like that when youve got 85,000 or 90,000 screaming fans,” Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel said. “Even though all of them are really nice, theyre the greatest fans Ive ever (encountered) except ours, its pretty frightening.”

As the Missouri Tigers found out in 2006, the Cornhuskers famed “Sea of Red” is a very intimidating foe and an important ally for its team.

“(We were) not very good,” Missouri defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus said of his defenses 2006 performance against Nebraska. “We didnt play very well, we didnt execute very well, and, obviously, we were very disappointed in our team.”

In that last trip, the Tigers struggled on both sides of the ball in the first half and found themselves down three touchdowns after 30 minutes. Missouri outscored Nebraska in the second half, but it was too late to matter.

Daniel attributed that problem to youth on the 2006 team, and he admitted that he was shaking and scared when he last played in Lincoln.

“Even though I was a sophomore, it was the sixth or seventh game I had started,Benfica shirt,” Daniel said.

Inexperience shouldnt be a problem for Missouri for this trip to Lincoln. Fourteen of the Tigers 22 starters played in the 2006 game at Nebraska and know what to expect from the Cornhuskers crowd.
Eberflus said he hopes that will make a difference.

“You learn from those things, try to focus and get better,” he said. “I think weve hopefully matured from those experiences.”

Safety William Moore,Valencia shirt, who is expected to return after missing two nonconference games, thinks thats exactly the case.

“The players that weve got now (are the difference),” Moore said. “If you look back at the players we had, they werent bad guys, but when it came down to it, sometimes theyd (be) double-guessing themselves. The guys weve got now, theyre fighters. Were competitors, and thats why were where were at right now.”

How much the Tigers have matured has yet to be seen in 2008. Missouris trip to Nebraska will be the first time this season that it has either played a true road game or left its home state.

“Thats true, and I dont know what to tell you,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “Hopefully, we can handle that. I think you embrace it; I think you like to play it. I think if youre a competitor, you like being in that environment.”

Thats a perfect description of how linebacker Sean Weatherspoon views this trip.

“I think itll be fun,” he said. “We havent been on the road yet this year, so I think itll be a great experience for our team. Itll definitely help us later on down the road, and I think we can go out there, focus and dont worry about the crowd.”

But the crowd could be a big issue for the Tigers defense. Defensive tackle Ziggy Hood said the defense has struggled with communication this season and given up big plays as a result.

“Weve been working on communication ever since it started happening,” Hood said. “(In this game), we (might) use hand signals or getting really close to each other and talking really loud.”

To help prepare for the Sea of Red,Porto shirt, the Tigers will practice this week with the speakers on to simulate crowd noise. Pinkel said that is standard practice procedure before any road game the Tigers play, whether or not the crowd has a reputation.

But the atmosphere isnt the concern for defensive end Stryker Sulak, who was a sophomore in 2006. He said poor execution on the Tigers part, not intimidation, was what cost them the last time they were in Lincoln.

“I think we handled it all right, (but) we made a lot of mistakes,Lazio shirt, especially on the defense,” Sulak said. “I had a lot of mistakes myself. But as a team, were more mature this time around. I think we can handle it this time, I think well play well under pressure.”