Iowa outlasts Missouri at Insight Bowl

TEMPE, ARIZ » Fill-in freshman Marcus Coker ran for 219 yards and two scores, and Micah Hyde scored on a meandering, 72-yard interception return in the fourth quarter to help Iowa beat Missouri 27-24 in the Insight Bowl last night.

Undermanned due to injuries and suspensions, Iowa (8-5) turned to Coker, who had 403 yards and a touchdown as Adam Robinson’s backup during the regular season. The bruising freshman had no trouble taking over with Robinson gone to a suspension, setting school records for yards and carries (33) in front of an Insight Bowl-record 53,453 fans.

Missouri (10-3) had its way with Iowa’s once-stout defense most of the night, rolling up 512 yards, including a school-bowl-record 434 passing by Blaine Gabbert.

INSIGHT BOWL

IOWA 27, No. 14 MISSOURI 24

Iowa–Coker 1 run (Meyer kick)
Mo–FG Ressel 23
Iowa–Coker 62 run (Meyer kick)
Iowa–FG Meyer 34
Mo–Josey 10 run (Ressel kick)
Iowa–FG Meyer 21
Mo–B.Gabbert 7 run (Ressel kick)
Mo–Egnew 3 pass from B.Gabbert (Ressel kick)
Iowa–Hyde 72 interception return (Meyer kick)
A–53,453

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Missouri, Lawrence 6-40, Moore 6-32, Josey 2-12, Franklin 1-2, Moe 1-(minus 1), B.Gabbert 13-(minus 7). Iowa, Coker 33-219, Stanzi 2-9, Team 2-(minus 3).

PASSING–Missouri, B.Gabbert 41-57-2-434. Iowa, Stanzi 11-21-2-200.

RECEIVING–Missouri, Moe 15-152, J.Jackson 9-129, Egnew 7-64, Kemp 7-61, Gerau 1-10, Lawrence 1-9, McGaffie 1-9. Iowa, Sandeman 4-44, Reisner 3-50, McNutt 2-63, Nordmann 1-38, K.Davis 1-5.

49ers interview Softli for GM spot

San Francisco 49ers team president and CEO Jed York interviewed Tony Softli yesterday as the first known candidate to fill the team’s vacant general manager position, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press.

Softli, a former personnel executive with the Carolina Panthers and St. Louis Rams, met yesterday with York. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the matter. York fired coach Mike Singletary late Sunday after a 25-17 loss at St. Louis eliminated the 49ers (5-10) from playoff contention for the eighth straight time.

Mavs’ Nowitzki day to day

Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki has a sprained right knee and missed last night’s 84-76 home loss to Toronto.

Team spokeswoman Sarah Melton said an MRI revealed the sprain and Nowitzki is day to day.

Nowitzki was injured in the second quarter of Monday night’s 103-93 victory at Oklahoma City. He came up limping after falling awkwardly when he was fouled. He had 13 points when he left the game.

Bucks’ Boykins suspended

Milwaukee Bucks guard Earl Boykins has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for making intentional contact with a referee.

Boykins was issued a technical foul, but not ejected after bumping Brian Forte with 5.3 seconds left in the third quarter of the Bucks’ 95-80 home loss to Atlanta on Monday.

SOCCER

Newcastle coach upset about tweet

LONDON » The social network is proving a tangled web for one English soccer coach.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew had hoped that an injury to defender Jose Enrique wouldn’t be disclosed until right before yesterday’s Premier League game against Tottenham.

But more than 4 hours before kickoff, the Spanish defender wrote in broken English on Twitter: "Sorry lads i have a test this morning and we decide is better dont play. … Im so hungry because this game is nice to play. … My hamstring is so stiff today."

Pardew, whose team lost 2-0, now wants his players to withhold such revelations from social networking accounts.

Pardew acknowledges, however, that "it’s difficult to police" and he won’t impose an outright ban.