COLUMBIA, MO. —As befits a game that featured a near-total lack of offense, the most exciting plays in Mizzou's 27-12 loss to Nebraska on Thursday at Faurot Field were the punts.

Every time the teams went back to kick in the pouring rain, anything was possible. One punt attempt led to a safety. Nebraska dropped three in the first half and recovered two but pinned themselves deep by forsaking the return each time. The only touchdown in the first half was the result of the only significant return. The way Nebraska was handling punts, when Mizzou's offense couldn't move, sometimes the Tigers would have been better off kicking on third down.

The teams combined for 11 punts in the first half, six by Mizzou, five by Nebraska. Mizzou punter Jake Harry IV kicked six times in the first half; no Mizzou receiver had more than four catches in the first half.

Late in the first quarter, a punt by Harry gave Mizzou a 44-yard gain, in effect the longest offensive play of the first half for the Tigers. His kick bounced off a Nebraska player's back and was recovered by Mizzou's Andrew Gachkar at the Nebraska 32.

In a trend that would continue throughout the game, Mizzou moved the ball backward and Henry punted from his own 49 on fourth and 29. Nebraska called for a fair catch at its own 11, one of the few times it handled a punt successfully in the first half.

For a long time, it looked as if the next punt attempt would be the game's deciding event. Three plays had produced no yardage for the Cornhuskers and Nebraska's Alex Henery stood in his own end zone for the punt on fourth down.

The snap was high, and Henery had to leap to catch it. He began to run to his right as he felt Mizzou pressure. He slipped ever so slightly, and then he figured he was in real trouble as Trey Hobson bore down on him. Fearing the worst, Henery tossed the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

And 2-0 was how it stayed until the last play in the first half, though that didn't make the punts any less interesting. Mizzou punted on its next possession and the ball went right through the hands of returner Niles Paul. It looked as if Gachkar would recover that one, but he somehow missed it and Nebraska fell on it at its own 26.

Two possessions later, Harry punted again and Rex Burkhead, who had replaced Paul on returns, dropped it but immediately fell on it.

Harry finished the first half with six punts for an average of 42.2 yards, including three inside the 20. It was in sharp contrast to Henery, whose five punts were for an average of 35 yards with just one inside the 20.

All season long, Harry has been a difference maker for Mizzou, with his punts leading to significant changes in field position.

"Field position is huge," Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel said Sunday. "He has punts where all of a sudden, the whole field changes. Stop our offense, typical punt, you're thinking 30-35 yards and good field position. All of a sudden, the ball is on the opposite 14-yard line, a 67-, 68-yard punt. So he's really doing some great things about the position. It's about field position, every aspect of it."