Missouri Post-Game Notes
9/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 7, 2002
- Columbia native and junior Michael Matheny made his first start as the kicker for Missouri on Saturday night.
- Ball State's field goal with 6:28 left in the first quarter, which gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead, marked the first time the Tigers had trailed in a game in the 2002 season (65:32).
- Missouri's Antwaun Bynum forced his third fumble of the season when he hit Ball State's Tallmadge Hill at the Cardinal 1-yard line in the first quarter. Bynum also recovered the fumble, his first of the year.
- Missouri's Zack Abron scored his third touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run with 6:28 left in the first quarter which gave Mizzou a 7-3 lead (PAT by Matheny was good).
- Missouri's Brandon Barnes recorded his first career fumble recovery with 11:06 left in the second quarter. Sophomore James Kinney caused the fumble when he hit Marcus Merriweather at the Missouri 46-yard line.
- Missouri's Brad Smith broke for a career-long 39-yard touchdown run (2nd of his career) with 13:08 left in the third quarter to extend Mizzou's lead to 14-6 (PAT by Matheny was good).
- The Tiger defense caused its third fumble of the night when Sean Doyle hit Ball State's Marcus Merriweather at the BSU 41 yard line and knocked the ball loose and then recovered the fumble with 12:01 left in the third quarter.
- After a 1-yard score in the first quarter, Abron scored from three yards out to run the Tiger lead to 20-6 (PAT by Matheny no good).
- The Tigers' first four scoring drives of the game averaged 2.5 plays, 27.0 yards and took an average of just over 36 seconds per drive.
- The Tiger defense was busy on Saturday night as it forced its fourth fumble of the night with 10:19 left in the third quarter when Missouri's C.J. Mosely forced the fumble and James Kinney recovered his second fumble of the season.
- Missouri's Zack Abron barreled in for a career-high third touchdown with 9:51 left in the third quarter to give Mizzou a 27-6 lead (PAT by Matheny good.).
- Missouri's Brad Smith reached the 100-yard rushing plateau for the second straight contest when he ripped off a 34-yard run late in the third quarter.
- Smith threw the first touchdown pass of his career with 1:15 left in the third quarter when he hit Justin Gage on a 2-yard touchdown strike. It was Gage's first touchdown grab of the season and the 10th touchdown catch of his career (13th overall).
- The Tigers exploded for 27 points in the third quarter. The 27 points were more than the Tigers scored in seven of their 11 games last season.
- Missouri's Brandon Barnes recorded his first career interception with 12:09 left in the fourth quarter at the Missouri 42 yard line and returned the turnover to the Ball State 39.
- The Mizzou defense caused five turnovers on Saturday night and has forced eight total in Mizzou's first two games. In comparison, the 2001 squad had only 15 takeaways in 11 games last season.
- Mizzou's Gary Anthony recorded the first sack of his career in the fourth quarter with 8:50 left on the clock.
- Missouri's back-up quarterback Kirk Farmer connected with Darius Outlaw for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 4:07 left in the fourth quarter. The touchdown pass gives Farmer 26 in his career, tying him for third on the all-time list with Corby Jones.
- Former Missouri quarterback Darius Outlaw caught his first career touchdown pass on his first career reception, a 27-yard catch and run from Kirk Farmer. He totaled 3 catches for 49 yards in the game.
- Mizzou reached 437 total yards of total offense for the second consecutive game (the Tigers also had 437 total yards against Illinois). To make matters more interesting, the Missouri defense slipped -- ever so slightly -- this week: The Tigers allowed 313 yards against Illinois, and 314 on Saturday against the Cardinals.
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