Among the things on Mizzou receiver T.J. Moe's to-do list: Get a new helmet.

"The old one keeps coming off," he said Saturday. "We've got to do something."

Moe twice got his helmet knocked off by Illinois tacklers in the Tigers' 23-13 win over Illinois in the final installment of the Arch Rivalry game at the Edward Jones Dome. The collisions left him with two sets of stitches, five or six in all, under his chin — one group from the first half, one from the second. (Shaving has just gotten a bit more complicated for Moe.)

That doesn't count the time he got laid out by Illinois' Nate Bussey on a screen pass in the third quarter but kept his hat on. "I wasn't too happy with our tight ends," Moe joked.

It apparently will take more than a little physical mayhem to slow Moe. Playing in front of a hometown crowd about 45 minutes from where he grew up — he pointed out his exit to his teammates as the Mizzou bus headed east on Interstate 70 on Friday — the Fort Zumwalt West High grad made 13 catches in his first college start, for 101 yards and a touchdown. Moe's 13 catches were three off the school record of 16 by Justin Gage in 2002. "Blaine kept throwing the ball to me," Moe said. "I figured I'd catch it."

"T.J. was playing out of his mind," receiver Wes Kemp said.

It was a breakout game for Moe, who becomes the latest in a line of St. Louis high school products to make their marks with big games in their hometown. A year ago, it was quarterback Blaine Gabbert, and in 2007, Jeremy Maclin went wild, scoring on a pass play and a punt return. Moe's success didn't come as a surprise to teammate Carl Gettis, also a teammate of Moe's at Fort Zumwalt West. "You could always tell he'd be a great player," Gettis said. "He has a great work ethic and on the field, he's always focused. I knew he would have a big day today."

Last season, his first as a receiver after playing quarterback in high school, Moe had two catches for 8 yards. Now, he's securely placed as one of Mizzou's top receivers. He won't be a guy that Mizzou goes to deep, as with Danario Alexander or Maclin. Four of Moe's catches were on third down, and while his longest play was for 26 yards, much of that came after he slipped an Illinois tackle.

"He's different than Alexander," offensive coordinator David Yost said. "He's different than Maclin. He's kind of got his own kind of skill set, and what we've got to do is make sure we use those to the best of his ability."

Moe's ability is to hang on to the ball. "Tommy Saunders has taken me under his wing and told me to be a good receiver in the Big 12, you've got to get open, catch every ball and not worry about anything else," Moe said. "Don't worry about the defense. Obviously, I've got to worry more, I got hit 10 times today."

Moe's touchdown catch put those skills to good use. A scrambling Gabbert was running back to his left and he found Moe standing in the back corner of the end zone. In tight quarters, Gabbert got the ball to Moe, who stayed in bounds and cut Illinois' lead to 13-10.

"I just ran to the back of the end zone and stood there," Moe said. "I was open from the start of the play, and Blaine scrambled and I was just standing back there waving my hand. He saw me and I tried to keep my feet in and we got it."