Missouri Prepares For Western Illinois
8/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 27, 2000
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Game #1 - Western Illinois Leathernecks (0-0) vs. Missouri Tigers (0-0)
Sept. 2, 2000 - 6:30 p.m. CST -Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field - Columbia, Mo.
THIS WEEK'S GAME AT A GLANCE
KICKOFF: 6:30 p.m.
SITE: Columbia, Mo., Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field (capacity 68,349 - grass).
RADIO: Tiger Network (Mike Kelly/John Kadlec/Chris Gervino), on nearly 60 stations, and the internet at www.mutigers.com. Also available by calling Teamline at 1-800-846-4700, ext. 5755.
TV: none
RANKINGS: Neither team is currently ranked.
RECORDS: First game of the 2000 season for both schools.
SERIES RECORD: First meeting between the two schools.
HEAD COACHES:
Missouri - Larry Smith, 30-38-1 at MU (7th season), 140-118-7 overall (24th season).
Western Illinois - Don Patterson, 7-4 at WIU (2nd season), 4-7 overall (2nd season).
TICKETS: Single game reserved seats are available for $28. Call 1-800-CAT-PAWS or 884-PAWS (locally).
MISSOURI OPENS 110th COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON
The Missouri Tigers will open their 110th collegiate football season this Saturday night when they entertain Western Illinois University of the Gateway Conference.
Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. A crowd of well over 55,000 is anticipated for the Tigers' season opener.
Missouri will be looking to end a current three-game losing streak. On a more positive note, the Tigers are taking aim at their fourth straight season-opening victory. In the last three seasons, Mizzou has defeated Eastern Michigan (44-24), Bowling Green (37-0) and Alabama-Birmingham (31-28).
Under Head Coach Larry Smith, the Tigers are 4-2 in season-openers.
Overall, Missouri is 68-36-4 in season openers, and own a 76-29-4 overall record in home openers.
MISSOURI-WESTERN ILLINOIS TO MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME
This is the first meeting between Missouri and Western Illinois. As a matter of fact, the Leathernecks become just the second ever Gateway Conference opponent of Missouri.
Back in 1923, the Tigers battled Southwest Missouri State in Columbia. The Tigers came out on top 10-0.
The last time Mizzou took on a Division I-AA school was in 1998 when the Tigers defeated Northwestern (La.) State 35-14.
SCOUTING THE LEATHERNECKS
Western Illinois enters the 2000 campaign following a 7-4 season in 1999. WIU went 2-4 in the Gateway Conference and finished in a tie for fourth.
The Leathernecks have enjoyed plenty of success over the last four seasons. In 1998, WIU finished 11-3 and played three games in the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs. In 1997, they finished a perfect 6-0 in the Gateway Conference and went on to an 11-2 record. In 1996, WIU went 9-3 and began a run of three straight years in the NCAA- Division I-AA Playoffs.
Western Illinois Head Coach Don Patterson begins his second season. Patterson served as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa for 20 years under coaching legend Hayden Fry, working as the offensive coordinator the last seven seasons. While at Iowa, Patterson coached current Missouri assistant coach Corby Smith, a quarterback for the Hawkeyes in 1993 and ?94.
Patterson made a smashing debut last season for Western Illinois when he guided his Leathernecks to a 27-21 season-opening victory over Division I-A opponent Northern Illinois.
Western Illinois returns 10 starters from last year's team - six on offense and four on defense.
Offensively, the Leathernecks are led by 1999 Gateway Newcomer of the Year and first team All-Gateway running back Charles Tharp. Tharp led the conference in rushing with 1,311 yards, the third-highest single-season total in WIU history. Tharp averaged 4.6 yards per carry and rushed for 12 touchdowns. He also caught 28 passes for 389 yards and two TDs.
On the defensive side of the football, Western Illinois is led by senior linebacker Edgerton Hartwell. At 6-2, 245 pounds, Hartwell was the Gateway Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1999, registering 165 tackles.
The Leathernecks' roster is full of Division I-A transfers, including 13 new transfers this season.
MISSOURI DEBUTS NEW $13.1 MILLION PRESS BOX
The skyline has changed in Columbia thanks to a new $13.1 million press box that adorns Memorial Stadium. The project, which actually started before the 1999 football campaign, was designed by Ellerbe Becket. The contractor of the project was Walsh Construction while the operation was managed by the University of Missouri Construction Management.
The new press box consists of six levels and stands 110 feet high, 321 feet wide. The structure consists of 35 suites, 418 Tiger Lounge seats and 147 working press positions, doubling the amount of the old press box.
MISSOURI HEAD COACH LARRY SMITH
Larry Smith begins his seventh season at Missouri (24th overall) with a record of 30-38-1. He became Mizzou's 30th head football coach on Dec. 15, 1993. With 18 years as a head coach in NCAA Division I before coming to MU, Smith was the most experienced coach ever hired by a Big Eight Conference school.
He has a 24-year career record of 140-118-7, and coached previously at Tulane (18-27, 1976-79), Arizona (48-28-3, 1980-86), and Southern California (44-25-3, 1987-92). He was out of coaching in 1993.
Smith is one of only two active coaches who have taken four schools to bowl games, along with Lou Holtz (South Carolina) and one of only four who've ever done it (Earle Bruce and Bill Mallory). Smith ranks 11th among active coaches in career victories.
A native of Van Wert, Ohio, Smith is a 1962 graduate of Bowling Green State University. He served as a collegiate assistant coach at Miami (Ohio), Michigan and Arizona before beginning his head coaching career.
THREE NEW COACHES MAKE THEIR MISSOURI DEBUT
Much has been made in the preseason about Missouri's new offensive system. On Saturday night, three new offensive coaches will make their debut under the lights at Memorial Stadium.
Co-offensive coordinator Bill Cubit and offensive line coach Sam Pittman will coach their first games at Missouri. Cubit and Pittman coached at Western Michigan University last year and led an offensive attack that was ranked 11th nationally in passing offense (311.8 yards per game) and 23rd in scoring offense (31.1 ppg).
Cubit spent three seasons at Western Michigan and helped the Broncos to a top-25 ranking in passing offense all three seasons behind quarterback Tim Lester. Last season, Cubit's offense broke 26 school and conference records. In 1998, Western Michigan became just the 14th school to have a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard runner and 1,000-yard receiver. The Broncos repeated that feat last season.
Pittman is no stranger to Big 12 football. Before his stint at Western Michigan, the El Reno, Okla. native spent two seasons as the offensive line coach at Oklahoma. His offensive line helped produce the nation's 18th and 34th best rushing attacks in 1997 and 1998.
Missouri's third addition to the offensive coaching staff is no stranger to the Tigers. Chris Tabor, who spent the last three seasons as the offensive graduate assistant, takes over as the Tigers' running backs coach. Tabor worked mainly with the offensive line and scout teams while a graduate assistant. He spent the 1994 season coaching running backs at Hutchinson Community College under current MU Co-Offensive Coordinator Andy Hill.
TIGERS HOPING FOR 55,000 FANS SATURDAY NIGHT
With season ticket sales having been capped Friday at 34,000 (some additional student season tickets will still be sold), the Tigers on Saturday could have their biggest season-opening crowd of the Larry Smith era.
To do so, there'll have to be more than 55,263 fans in the house at Memorial Stadium. That was the attendance mark for Smith's first game as the Tigers' head coach - vs. Tulsa in 1994.
Nine of the top 15 home crowds Mizzou has had since ?84 have come since Smith took over at Ol' Mizzou.
Another is on tap later in September when the Tigers host Big Ten power Michigan State.
UNLIKE 1999, TIGERS HAVE EXPERIENCE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
On opening day in 1999, 10 players made their first career starts for Missouri against UAB. This season, expect at least 17 players with at least one start under their belt to be in the starting lineup on Saturday night.
Mizzou will have two new starters on the offensive line. Redshirt freshmen A.J. Ricker (center) and Rob Droege (left guard) will receive their first starting assignments and depending on which formation the Tigers begin with on Saturday night, redshirt freshman Brandon Barnes or sophomore Justin Gage will replace the suspended Travis Garvin at wide receiver. Defensively, expect sophomore strong safety Gary Anthony to make his first start as a Missouri Tiger.
JUSTIN SMITH TO CHALLENGE FOR BRONCO NAGURSKI AWARD
In just two seasons, junior defensive end Justin Smith has already become one of the most dominant defensive players in MU history. In 22 games, Smith has recorded 178 tackles and 11 1/2 quarterback sacks, which puts Smith seven sacks away from breaking the career record held by current New York Jets defensive tackle Rick Lyle. Smith tied Lyle and three other players for the single-season sack record last season with eight.
Smith, who will play at 270 pounds this season, bench presses and power cleans 500 pounds. He possesses amazing quickness with 4.5 speed and has a vertical leap of 30.5 inches.
The accolades have begun to mount for the Holts Summit, Mo. native. As a freshman, Smith was tabbed the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and was named first team All-Big 12 last season. Already in 2000, "Smitty" has earned preseason first team All-America honors from Playboy, College Football News, and Football News. Athlon and The Sporting News have chosen Smith to the second team.
"Smitty" was featured in the Aug. 21 issue of ESPN The Magazine in an article by Gene Wojciechowski.
Off the field, Smith was a second team District VII GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American as well as a first team Academic All-Big 12 selection.
MISSOURI SET TO UNVEIL NEW-LOOK OFFENSE
The buzz around Columbia concerning the Missouri football program has been centered around the Tigers' new-look offense. After the offense failed to produce four of the last five games last season, Larry Smith decided make some changes with the offense, the first being the hiring of new co-Offensive Coordinator Bill Cubit and naming wide receivers coach Andy Hill as the other co-coordinator.
Together, Cubit and Hill have revamped the Tiger offense into one that is completely multi-facet, and one that is extremely unpredictable. Gone are the days where the Tigers would line-up in a two-back set and try and run it down the opponents throats. Expect to see an array of formations - from two backs, three to five wide receivers and as many as four tight ends.
Mizzou's offensive motto is "play fast," and not to allow the defense time to adjust. It will be filled with trick plays and formations that maybe not even Bobby Bowden has seen.
Buckle your seat belts and enjoy the ride.
MISSOURI DEFENSE LOOKING FOR A LITTLE RESPECT
Numbers do not lie. Yes, the Missouri defense allowed an average of 51 points per game in the final games of the season in 1999. People that know football and watched those three games understand what can happen to a defense when they are on the field for 65 to 70 percent of the game and consistenly have just 30 to 40 yards of territory to defend against such offensive powers as Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Kansas State.
The fact of the matter is, the Missouri defense has a lot of talent, and the Tigers are anxious to show it off. Everyone knows about Bronco Nagurski candidate Justin Smith. But do people know about junior linebacker Jamonte Robinson, one of 70 players on the Butkus Award list? How about senior cornerback Julian Jones who led the Big 12 with six interceptions a year ago and racked up over 90 tackles while playing the entire season with a bad shoulder.
Smith is joined on the front line by senior nose tackle Pat Mingucci who was off to a terrific start in 1999 before injuring his knee before week five. Mingucci's replacement, Cedric Harden, stepped in as a redshirt freshman and started five games. He recorded 38 tackles, four quarterback sacks and nine tackles for loss and was named to the third team Freshman All-America Team by Football News.
Robinson's partner at linebacker looks to be sophomore Sean Doyle. All Doyle did in his first career start against Texas A&M was record 15 tackles.
Jones is joined in the secondary by free safety Clarence Jones who has been turning heads during the offseason as well as sophomore Gary Anthony, who's play at strong safety has allowed Julian Jones to move to cornerback.
HAMMER-TIME
Junior place-kicker Brad Hammerich is hoping to get plenty of opportunites to kick the football this season. Hammerich led the Tigers in scoring last season with 52 points, a number surely Mizzou hopes to see increase in 2000.
When breaking down Hammerich's numbers from a year ago, it is easy tell why Missouri feels that he is one of the best in the conference. Hammerich was a perfect 25-for-25 in PAT attempts a year ago. He was 9-of-14 in field goal attempts - a perfect 4-for-4 from inside 40 yards, 5-for-9 from 40 to 49 yards and 0-for-1 from beyond 50 yards.
Hammerich's shortest miss was from 40 yards out against Oklahoma. Other than that, Hammericah missed a 45-yarder at Memphis and missed attempts of 49, 55 and 48 on a windy day in Lawrence, Kan.
SPENCER MAY PLAY BOTH WAYS
Do not be surprised to see No. 24 on the field an awful lot on Saturday evening. Not only will junior Eric Spencer play wide receiver and return kicks and punts, you may see the Houston, Texas native on the defensive side of the football as well.
With several injuries in the Mizzou secondary, Spencer has been working out the last two weeks at cornerback. It is not certain whether Spencer will see any time defensively on Saturday, but he will be on call.
HOMEGROWN TIGERS
Missouri's depth chart reveals that 22 members of the two-deep roster are from the state of the Missouri ? 12 on offense and 10 on defense.
TIGERS SCORE AGAINST HUNGER
Again this year, Head Coach Larry Smith and the Missouri Tigers have teamed up with the Central Missouri Food Bank to stop hunger in its tracks. Interested persons can pledge money for every point the Tigers score in 2000. The proceeds help the food bank and more than 120 charities in its 29-county region providing free food to soup kitchens, shelters and food pantries.
For more information, call 1-800-764-3663, or 573-474-1020.
Since the program began six years ago, close to $1 million has been raised and more than 12 million meals have been provided to Missourians in need.
TIGER TIDBITS
Lewis spent three years as an inside linebacker, but was moved to fullback midway through preseason workouts to add depth to that position. With the injury to T.J. Leon, the move has proven to be a good one and Lewis will probably see some playing time at fullback as well as his special teams duties.
Alnutt replaces Curtis Jones who has landed a job with Nike.
Several other former Mizzou football players are helping out the program while earning degrees. Pat Ivey, who played with Alnutt from 1993-95, is the Tigers' new Strength and Conditioning Assistant and just completed his master's this summer in health education.
Missouri All-American Devin West is now the offensive graduate assistant for the Tigers while former offensive lineman Brad Smith is now a graduate assistant in the Tiger strength and conditioning program as he finishes out his degree.
Former wide receiver Jamie Scholten is pursuing a master's degree while working in Missouri's Total Person Program.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
A MIZZOU WIN ...
A MIZZOU LOSS ...
