April 15, 2001
COLUMBIA, Mo.- The Missouri Tigers have three practices remaining until Saturday's Black and Gold Game which will take place at Memorial Stadium at 2:00 p.m. The Tigers will practice on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week before new Head Coach Gary Pinkel leads his team onto Faurot Field for the first time.
The Tigers are coming off of their second scrimmage of the spring this past Friday afternoon. Pinkel was happy with the improvement that his team showed on Friday. The Missouri players seemed much quicker, meaning that they are starting to pick up the new system, both offensively and defensively.
Missouri's top three running backs, Zain Gilmore, Zack Abron and T.J. Leon all had solid performances on Friday, each breaking at least one run of over 10 yards. The Tigers are hoping that the running game will prove to be a strength this coming season behind a veteran offensive line that includes third team All-Big 12 performer Mike Hayes and honorable mention All-Big 12 selection Justin Bland. Sophomore center A.J. Ricker is having a very good spring and seniors Aaron Crittendon and Adrian Cole have done a solid job on the left side of the line.
Junior quarterback Kirk Farmer got off to good start in Friday's scrimmage, completing five of his first eight pass attempts. One of those passes ended up in the hands of junior wide receiver Justin Gage for a touchdown.
Gage was one of three receivers to catch touchdown passes on the day. Redshirt freshman walk-on Clint Matthews scored on short touchdown pass from Farmer, and the play of the day came when walk-on wide-out Josh Moore made a diving catch in the end zone for a touchdown.
Pinkel was also pleased with the kicking of senior Brad Hammerich who enjoyed his best day of kicking of the spring on Friday. Hammerich was perfect in PAT attempts and was able to connect on several field goal attempts.
Defensively, junior linebacker Sean Doyle set the tone early on Friday with two tackles for losses early in the scrimmage. Senior captain Clarence Jones also had his best day of the spring making some big stops along with several big hits. Newcomer R.J. Jones intercepted his first pass in a Tiger uniform on Friday at cornerback. Jones has stepped into the No. 1 cornerback spot with the injury to Terrence Curry.