March 23, 2000
COLUMBIA, Mo - The learning process of a brand new offense continued on Faurot Field on Thursday afternoon as the Missouri Tigers' football team competed in their first full scrimmage of the spring. The defense recorded 13 quarterback sacks while giving up just three field goals for the only scores of the game.
There were plenty of positives on the offensive side of the football, despite not being able to put the ball in the end zone. Quarterbacks Kirk Farmer and Jim Dougherty both completed over fifty percent of their passes while redshirt freshman running back Zack Abron carried the ball 17 times for 70 yards. Farmer went 17-for-32 for 168 yards while Dougherty completed 14-of-25 passes for 113 yards.
Mizzou's new passing attack was in full swing as five quarterbacks combined for 34 completions on 67 attempts. Five wide receivers caught at least four passes, led by John Dausman (7 catches, 41 yards).
The longest play from scrimmage was a 45-yard connection from Farmer to Travis Garvin during the two-minute drill. Sophomore quarterback Justin Gage completed a 37-yard pass play to walk-on Steve Osiek. Both Farmer and Dougherty had a completion for over 20 yards negated by penalties.
Defensively, all-American candidate Justin Smith recorded three quarterback sacks and two other tackles for loss. His back-up at defensive end, Daryl Whittington, also enjoyed a big scrimmage with 2 ? sacks a fumble recovery, and a tackle for a seven-yard loss. John McPherson had the only interception of the day and returned it 14 yards.
Junior kicker Brad Hammerich was two-for-three in field goal tries, connecting for 27 and 37 yard scores. Alexander St. Peter missed from 53 yards, but booted a 48-yarder.
Punter Jared Gilpin averaged 45.8 yards per punt on six tries, despite having one blocked. Gilpin's first and sixth punts' of the day were for 52 yards.
SCRIMMAGE STATS
RUSHING: Abron 17-70, Gage 4-16, Gilmore 5-5, Davis 3-4, Schauffler 6-(-3), Rhodes 3-(5), Outlaw 4-(-12), Garvin 1-(-13), Dougherty 3-(-24), Farmer 7-(-51).
PASSING: Farmer 17-32-168, Dougherty 14-25-113, Gage 2-5-47, Outlaw 1-4-14, Jost 0-3-0.
RECEIVING: Garvin 4-74, Spencer 4-51, Barnes 4-44, Dausman 7-41, Osiek 1-37, Ford 4-26, Frederick 3-24, Bloomquist 2-18, Blakley 3-10, Baldwin 2-10, Abron 1-6.
QB SACKS: Smith 3, Whittington 2 ?, Joshua 1 ?, Hendricks 1 ?, Mingucci, O'Neal, Lewis, McAboy, Earthly ?.
OTHER TACKLES FOR LOSS:: Smith 2-7, Harden 2-6, Whittington 1-7, Lewis 1-7, Heits 1-7, McPherson 1-4, Gavins 1-1, Duffy 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS: McPherson 1-14. FUMBLE RECOVERY: Whittington BLOCKED PUNT: Caldwell PUNTING: Gilpin: 6 punts, 45.8 avg. (one blocked), St. Peter: 2 punts, 35.5 avg. FIELD GOALS: Hammerich: made 27, 37, missed 41, St. Peter: made 48, missed 53.