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SAN ANTONIO – Before Missouri's magical season unfolded, Chase Daniel officially shrunk an inch. Went from 6-1 to 6-even. When your physique already has been compared unfavorably with fire hydrants and tree stumps, most quarterbacks wouldn't want to yield any ground on the issue.

Daniel? He just wanted to set the record straight. He was never 6-1.

In fact, he actually grew a quarter of an inch, to 6 feet.

A quarter of an inch, he insisted. And Daniel wanted his due.

Unfortunately, he won't get what a lot of Missouri fans figure should be coming to him. Not after what happened Saturday night in the Alamodome, when Oklahoma ended one of the best stories in a season that had a cliffhanger every week.

Missouri's long-awaited tenure at No. 1 lasted exactly one week. The Sooners stuck to the script that Arkansas wrote last week, when the last top-ranked team lost, and thoroughly made their case in a 38-17 drubbing.

The Tigers can't claim they gave this one to the Sooners as they did after a 10-point loss in October. Oklahoma committed so many penalties Saturday – nine in the first half alone – that when a camera caught Bob Stoops after a particularly egregious personal foul, the Sooners coach appeared to say into his headset, "We're so stupid."

Of course, I'm no lip-reader. Maybe what he really said was, "We're so stupendous." Even with all the screw-ups, he wouldn't get an argument here.

The shame of Saturday's matchup is that both teams weren't playing for a national title shot. If not for a fumble that knocked Sam Bradford out in a loss to Texas Tech, the Sooners might be going to New Orleans next month.

Bradford matched Daniel throw for throw Saturday, providing further proof that ESPN's Mark May wasn't woofing when he said Bradford will be the best quarterback Stoops has had at OU.

But as good as he was, Bradford also had more players around him Saturday than his counterpart did. And that brings up another relevant comparison.

Darren McFadden is the best college football player in the country, and if he isn't, Tim Tebow is. Or that's how my ballot read, anyway.

But if the Heisman were for MVP instead of an award recognizing the nation's most outstanding player, Daniel might win by acclamation.

Name another player who meant more to a top team. Daniel didn't just carry the Tigers this season; he bore decades of Missouri frustration.

He did it in typical style at the Alamodome: When he wasn't darting for hard-earned yards or patiently seeking cracks in the Sooners' rock-solid defense, he was in Curtis Lofton's facemask after a scramble or snapping his skull cap off after a failed drive or barking exhortations to his teammates.

In a game punctuated occasionally by the smack of big hits, he took one in the grill from Lofton on an option keeper and another from Lewis Baker after completing a screen pass. On both plays, as always, he got up.

Daniel's teammates expect something special from him every time he goes out. And it's not just what he can do with a football, either. A Missouri assistant said he saw it the first time Daniel walked on the practice field as a freshman. Todd Dodge, his coach at Southlake Carroll, said Daniel was the loudest guy at practice, always in someone's face, cajoling, confronting, leading. After the victory over Kansas, when Tony Temple ran hard, Daniel said he saw it in his eyes before the game. He also said if he didn't see it from here on out, he'd slap his running back upside the head.

Not many quarterbacks could get away it. Daniel does because he delivers.

Consider a scene before the half, as both teams were leaving the field: After the Tigers gained momentum when a spectacular drive tied the game, a pair of Missouri assistants walked in front, arms extended, palms down, attempting to settle their emotions as the Sooners preceded them.

And Daniel? He flapped his arms, inciting the black-and-gold crowd around the tunnel, trying for all his might to sustain something he'd started.

In the end, he couldn't. But it doesn't take away from all that preceded it this season. Not by a long shot.