People expected greatness in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, and Tony Temple delivered as nobody else could Tuesday.

The Missouri senior improbably stole the spotlight from Darren McFadden and Chase Daniel and claimed the record of a bowl legend. If the Tigers' 38-7 win over Arkansas was Temple's last college game – he had requested another year of eligibility – then it was one to savor after a career plagued by nagging injuries.

Temple ran for 281 yards on 24 carries, breaking the 54-year-old single-game rushing record of Rice's Dicky Maegle. In the process, Temple ran for four touchdowns, setting another Cotton record.

"Everything came into place today," Temple said. "I'm very happy. I couldn't ask for anything better than this."

Missouri proved it didn't need to rely on amassing enormous passing numbers from its bleeding-edge spread offensive. The Tigers turned to the running game and a hard-hitting defense that contained Arkansas and forced five turnovers.

McFadden, the two-time Doak Walker winner as the nation's top running back, had a quiet 105 yards on 21 carries and Arkansas' only touchdown.

From his home in Houston, Maegle had pretty much the same reaction as everybody else about Temple's performance.

"I had never heard of him," Maegle said of Temple, "but I was familiar with Missouri based on the play of their quarterback. Honestly, I thought if anyone had chance of breaking the record, I would have thought it would been one of the Arkansas running backs."

Instead, Temple had more yards at halftime (159) than McFadden and Jones totaled in the game. Combined.

The record came with a flourish. Temple missed part of the fourth quarter as his hamstrings tightened.

On his first carry after returning, he raced 40 yards and into the record book. Three Arkansas players missed tackles, with Temple eluding one with a 360 spin.

"He's talented," Pinkel said. "It's amazing. Here's Chase Daniel, the thrower. And the great runners and they are phenomenal. ... And all of a sudden our running back does some things that makes you say, 'Holy ...'"

Temple was the first to acknowledge the blocking of his line led by senior center Adam Spieker. Usually, he was five yards past the line of scrimmage before encountering Razorbacks.

Arkansas interim coach Reggie Herring had a different view of damage that Temple inflicted on his defense. He was at a loss to explain why a team that had beaten No. 1 LSU in its regular-season finale look so lost in its 11th Cotton Bowl appearance.

Herring suggested that Temple was "running on air." Or against air.

Yes, he was a good back and did a good job. But Arkansas had faced lots of good backs all day, let alone McFadden and Jones every day in practice, Herring said.

"I'm not used to seeing our defenders dive at ankles. OK?" Herring said. "And I saw a lot of guys diving at ankles today, for whatever reason. We just didn't tackle well. We didn't come to play. It's as simple as that."

Arkansas players had talked in the days leading up to this game about the need to contain Missouri's passing game. Temple, who ran for 758 yards and missed two games, was far down the list of concerns.

"Obviously, that was the best thing a running back could hear," Temple said.

The Razorbacks actually achieved their primary goal. Daniel completed 12 of 29 passes for a season-low 136 yards. But there was a trade-off.

"They gave us the run," defensive tackle Lorenzo Williams said. "He took it and ran with it."

It probably was Temple's last game at Missouri. He played one game late in the season as a freshman in 2004, losing his red-shirt season. Missouri is appealing to the NCAA, hoping it grants Temple one year of eligibility.

Temple didn't win the game alone. William Moore, voted the game's outstanding defensive player, contributed 13 tackles.

The Tigers led 14-0 at halftime. After Temple scored his third touchdown on a 4-yard run, Moore intercepted a Casey Dick pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.

Missouri set a school record with 12 wins, while making its first New Year's Day bowl appearance since 1970. The Tigers, ranked No. 1 before a Big 12 title game loss to Oklahoma, felt snubbed when they were left out of a BCS bowl.

"Initially, we were upset for about a couple days after we heard," tight end Martin Rucker said. "But we knew the Cotton Bowl was a great bowl. It was nothing against the Cotton Bowl. We just felt that we deserved, that we had earned to be in a BCS game."