April 10, 1999
COLUMBIA, MO - Eric Spencer continued his impressive spring showing Saturday as Coach Larry Smith scrimmaged the Missouri Tigers football team for the second time.
A sophomore wide receiver from Houston, Texas, Spencer caught seven passes for 126 yards. That raised his spring scrimmage total to 17 receptions for 246 yards.
"He's a young guy who was thrown to the wolves last fall as a true freshman," Smith said. "Now he's got confidence and he makes plays. He's got the speed to take a short pass and take it a long way. That comes from his quarterback days. He ran the option in high school and is used to running the football."
His final reception came during the two-minute drill when he did just that. He caught a quick out from Ryan Douglass, made cornerback Carlos Posey miss, and dashed 41 yards down the field.
Spencer was one of the players mentioned by Smith as pleasant spring surprises. The others were junior Pat Duffy - "He's doing an excellent job at bandit" - and redshirt freshman cornerback Antoine Duncan - "For the most part, he's done a real good job."
As the Tigers enter their final week of spring practice, Smith said the defensive front was the story of Saturday's scrimmage. "The defensive front with the first unit pretty much dominated the scrimmage," Smith said. "They put tremendous pressure on the quarterbacks."
Spring drills draw to a close with the annual Black-and-Gold Spring Game, April 17. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. The annual Funfest, with games, entertainment, food and beverage, starts on the east side of Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field at 10 a.m. Admission to the game is $3.00, or three cans of food to benefit the Central Missouri Food Bank's "Score Against Hunger" campaign.
MISSOURI SPRING FOOTBALL Scrimmage Stats, April 10, 1999Scoring Plays Zain Gilmore 1 run (Brian Long kick) FG Alexander St. Peter 42 John Dausman 19 pass from Jim Dougherty (kick failed)
OVERTIME SCRIMMAGE Jim Dougherty 3 run (no kick attempted)
Passing Leaders Jim Dougherty 9-19-1, 115 yards, 1 TD Kirk Farmer 9-16-1, 102 yards Ryan Douglass 7-13-0, 93 yards
Rushing Leaders Zain Gilmore 20-58, 1 TD DeVaughn Black 12-53 Ricardo Rhodes 11-21
Receiving Leaders Eric Spencer 7-126 John Dausman 4-47, 1 TD Kareem Wise 4-31 Travis Garvin 2-23 Arty Johnson 2-22 Kent Layman 1-34