University of Missouri
Eastern Illinois
Abron's legs, Smith's Arm Overwhelm Eastern Illinois
9/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept 13, 2003
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By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Zack Abron ran for two touchdowns and Josh Hibbets blocked two punts and ran one in for a score in Missouri's 37-0 victory over error-prone Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
Brad Smith added two touchdown passes for Missouri, 3-0 for the first time since 1981. The Tigers shrugged off a slow start against the against the 19th-ranked team in Division I-AA, outgaining the losers 509-212 in total yards.
It was the first shutout for Missouri since a 38-0 victory over Bowling Green in 1998.
Eastern Illinois (1-1) is the fourth Division I-AA school to play at Missouri since 1998, and the Tigers have won all four of them by a combined score of 163-40. In the first half, Eastern Illinois lost three fumbles, had a punt blocked and botched a field goal attempt with a bad hold.
Two of those mistakes helped Missouri break a scoreless tie at the end of the half.
Jason Simpson recovered Andre Raymond's fumble at the Eastern Illinois 36 to set up Abron's 5-yard run with 1:41 to go and Sean Coffey caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Brad Smith with 17 seconds left in the half. The latter play was set up when Hibbets got a piece of Tom Schofield's punt to give Missouri possession at the Eastern 27 with just under a minute to go.
Hibbets, a redshirt freshman who's a third-string free safety, blocked another punt late in the third quarter and ran it in himself from 14 yards to give Missouri a 27-0 lead.
Abron had 91 yards on 16 carries and has 33 career touchdowns, passing Bob Steuber (1940-42) for second on the school career list. He scored untouched on a 25-yard carry, his longest run of the year, on 4th-and-1 earlier in the third as Missouri began to pick up steam.
Smith showed no effects from a concussion sustained in the first half last week at Ball State, going 26-for-33 for 236 yards and adding 35 yards rushing on five carries. He added an 11-yard touchdown pass to Thompson Omboga early in the fourth quarter.
Omboga caught seven passes for 71 yards.
Andy Vincent was 23-for-36 for 154 yards and an interception for Eastern Illinois, which had last week off after beating California, Pa., 27-0 in its opener. Andre Raymond, who had 110 yards rushing in the opener, was held to 26 yards on nine carries.
At halftime, Missouri retired the No. 27 jersey worn by Brock Olivo, the school's career rushing leader with 3,026 yards.
