Oct. 22, 2001
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THE MISSOURI-TEXAS SERIES
The Missouri Tigers and Texas Longhorns will meet for the 18th time on Saturday afternoon at Columbia. The Longhorns hold a 12-5 lead in the all-time series. Texas is the third-oldest Tiger Big 12 opponent in school history. The Tigers and Longhorns first locked up in 1894, a game won by Missouri by a score of 28-0 in Austin. In fact, the Tigers claimed the first two games of the all-time series, winning again in 1896 down in Austin by a score of 10-0. Texas won the next two games in the series in 1900 and 1901. The last time UT visited Columbia was on Oct. 18, 1997. Missouri snapped a Texas nine-game winning streak in the series with a 37-29 victory. The two teams last met last season in Austin where Texas came away with a 46-12 victory.
HONORING NORRIS STEVENSON
The Missouri Athletics Department will honor MU football pioneer Norris Stevenson in a ceremony this Friday, Oct. 26 at 3:00 p.m. The ceremony, to be held on the west side of Memorial Stadium, will dedicate the University of Missouri's Plaza of Champions in Stevenson's name. Stevenson, who was MU's first scholarship African-American football player, lettered from 1958-60 and played on Missouri's Big Eight Conference championship team of 1960 - Mizzou's last outright title in the sport. The St. Louis, Mo. native was a bruising fullback for Coach Dan Devine, and he ended his career with 1,174 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns. After a brief stint in professional football, Stevenson embarked on a hall of fame coaching career in the sport of track and field, as a coach for nearly 30 years in his hometown for Forest Park Community College and Florissant Valley Community College. MU's Plaza of Champions is an area located outside the west side of the stadium that features nearly 150 bricks which honor the achievements of more than 200 former student-athletes, coaches and teams. Those featured include MU's Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame members, former football All-Americans and other scholar-athletes, and bowl teams, among others. The Plaza opened in conjunction with the new press box facility at Memorial Stadium, prior to the 2000 season opener.
HEAD COACH GARY PINKEL
Head Coach Gary Pinkel is in his first season at Missouri. In 10 seasons at the University of Toledo, Pinkel established himself as one of the most successful head coaches in Mid-American Conference history. He enters Saturday's contest with a career mark of 76-40-3. He is 3-3 as head coach at Missouri. He left Toledo with 73 wins, ranking him fourth among coaches in MAC history. His Toledo teams finished in the top three in the MAC or MAC West Division eight times, including four first-place finishes. Three of those teams advanced to play in the post-season and captured one MAC Championship and three MAC West Division titles.
PINKEL RANKS HIGH ON ACTIVE COACHES WINNING PCT. LIST
Gary Pinkel enters Saturday's contest against Texas ranked 15th among active Division 1-A football coaches in winning percentage. His 76-40-3 career record gives him a winning percentage of .651. Only two current Big 12 coaches rank higher than Pinkel, R.C. Slocum at Texas A&M (6th) and Bill Snyder at Kansas State (10th).
TEXAS, QUICKLY ...
The Texas Longhorns enter Saturday's contest ranked No.7 in the country in both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Longhorns are 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12 Conference. UT's lone loss came at the hands of No. 2 Oklahoma by a score of 14-3 in Dallas. Texas Head Coach Mack Brown is in his fourth season at UT and owns a record of 33-12. Brown spent 10 seasons at the helm at North Carolina and three seasons at Tulane. His overall coaching record is 119-86-1 halfway through his 18th season.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Roy Williams, UT vs. Justin Gage, MU
The Facts: Perhaps the two top receivers in the Big 12 Conference and two of the best in the country. Williams has 37 receptions for 407 yards and 4 TDs. Gage has 45 receptions for 518 yards and 3 TDs. He ranks fourth in the country in receptions per game (7.5). Gage is coming off of a career day last week at Kansas (11 rec., 148 yards, 1 TD).
The Linebackers: Lewis/Johnson, UT vs. Doyle/Robinson, MU
The Facts: Doyle and Robinson are among the top tacklers in the country. Doyle leads the Big 12 with 77 tackles. Robinson is averaging 14.0 tackles per game in Big 12 play and ranks sixth on MU's all-time tackles list. Lewis was named a Butkus Award finalist this past weekend and Johnson is one of the top freshman linebackers in the country.
Dusty Mangum vs. Brad Hammerich
The Facts: Mangum, a freshman walk-on, is 11-for-14 in field goal attempts this season, including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond 40 yards. Hammerich is making a run at first team All-Big 12. He is 8-for-9 in field goal tries this season and 23-for-32 in his career. "Hammer" is perfect in PAT attempts this season (13-for-13) and 53-for-54 in his career.
Battle of the Blondes: Simms vs. Farmer
The Facts: You won't find the slightest tint of brown on either of their heads. Simms is being touted as one of the best QBs in the country. He has thrown for over 1,600 yards already this season. Farmer is getting better and better with each week. Despite throwing two INTs for touchdowns, he still led the Tigers to victory over Kansas last week with 246 yards passing and 82 yards rushing. He also threw 3 touchdown passes.
LAST YEAR: UT 46 MU 12
Texas running back Hodges Mitchell racked up 279 all-purpose yards and Major Applewhite threw three touchdown passes as the Longhorns defeated Missouri 46-12 on a rainy day in Austin. Missouri trailed just 17-12 at halftime, but the UT defense put the clamps down in the second half, shutting out the Tigers while the Texas offense scored 28 second half points. Mitchell rushed for 151 yards, caught seven passes for 47 yards and had 81 yards in punt returns. The Longhorns also scored on two second half turnovers by Missouri. Roderick Babers returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown and Marcus Tubbs recovered a Missouri fumble in the end zone for a TD.
MORE ON MU-UT
LAST TIME OUT
The Missouri Tigers claimed their third straight road victory in defeating Kansas by a score of 38-34 last week in Lawrence. The win was Mizzou's first in Lawrence since 1990. The Tigers battled back after trailing KU 14-0 in the first quarter to take a 21-14 lead by scoring on three consecutive possessions in the second quarter. Zack Abron (17 carries, 100 yards, 2 TDs) scored on touchdown runs of 2 and 1 yards, and Kirk Farmer (19-for-32, 246 yards, 3 TDs) hooked up with Justin Gage on a 15-yard TD pass to give the Tigers the lead. Kansas answered and tied the game just 27 seconds before halftime when Mario Kinsey hit Derick Mills for a 24-yard TD strike to tie the game, 21-21 at halftime. Missouri scored the first two times it had the ball in the third quarter on a 40-yard field goal by Brad Hammerich and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Farmer to Marcus James. Kansas got back in the game after the defense forced KU to punt, an errant pass by Farmer was picked off by the Jayhawks' Carl Ivey and returned 22 yards for a touchdown to bring KU back within four points, 31-27 following a missed PAT. Kansas scored on the its first possession of the fourth quarter to take a 34-31 lead, but Farmer drove the Tigers down the field on a 14-play, 79-yard drive to take the lead. The drive was capped by a 14-yard TD pass from Farmer to Dwayne Blakley to give Mizzou a 38-34 lead. After a defensive stand by the Tigers, the Missouri offense clinched the game with three first downs, thanks in part to Gage (11 receptions, career-high 148 yards, TD), who pulled in two big receptions in the final two minutes.
12-GAGE
Junior wide receiver Justin Gage is among the nation's best wide receivers. He ranks fourth in the country with 7.5 receptions per game and 24th in the country in receiving yards per game (86.3). He has 45 receptions on the season for 518 yards in MU's first six games. Gage has already surpassed his season total from a year ago (44). His 45 receptions currently rank ninth all-time in single-season receptions at Missouri. Last week against Kansas, Gage racked up a career-high 148 receiving yards. It was his fifth career 100-plus performance of his career and his third this season. Playing wide receiver for the first time in his life last season, Gage earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors and was the MU offensive MVP. His 44 receptions ranked 10th among Missouri single-season leaders. His 709 receiving yards rank seventh in school history. The 6-4, 208-pounder is perhaps the Tigers' best overall athlete. A former quarterback, Gage has completed 16 passes in his career, two of them for touchdowns. Gage has also been a key reserve each of last two seasons for Quin Snyder's basketball team.
DYNAMIC DUO
Missouri linebackers Sean Doyle and Jamonte Robinson have become one of the best linebacking duos in the country. In the Tigers' first six games, Doyle and Robinson have combined for 152 tackles. Doyle leads the team with 12.5 tackles per game. Robinson is averaging 12.3 tackles per game.
ROBINSON TACKLES HIS WAY INTO THE TOP 10
Senior linebacker Jamonte Robinson is climbing the career tackles chart at the University of Missouri. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native has 344 career tackles, ranking him sixth all-time at Missouri. Robinson recorded his fourth straight double-digit tackle game last week at Kansas with 10. He recorded a career-high 18 tackles the week before against Iowa State. He is averaging 14.0 tackles per game in Big 12 Conference play. Robinson is one of 10 players in school history to record 300 career tackles. He needs just two tackles on Saturday to crack Missouri's all-time top-five.
ZACK AND ZAIN, BETTER THAN EVER
Missouri's running game continues to improve with every game. The Tigers have had a 100-plus rusher in each of the last three games and four of their six games this season. Sophomore Zack Abron and senior Zain Gilmore have provided the Tigers with a big boost in the last three weeks. Abron rushed for a career-high 147 yards on 21 carries against Iowa State, and then followed that performance with another 100 yard day last Saturday at Kansas. Abron rushed 17 times for 100 yards and 2 TDs against the Jayhawks. It was Abron's third 100-plus game of the season, the first coming against Southwest Texas (106 yards). He averaged 7.0 yards per carry, including a career long 37-yard run against Iowa State. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry and broke off another 37-yard run against Kansas last week. Against Oklahoma State, it was Gilmore who got the Missouri offense off and running. The senior rushed for 107 yards on 22 carries in Stillwater. Gilmore has now rushed for 1,663 yards in his career. He is 337 yards away from 2,000 yards and just 167 yards away from breaking into Missouri's all-time top-10.
HAMMER-TIME
Senior kicker Brad Hammerich is making a bid to be the best kicker in the Big 12 Conference. A native of Chesterfield, Mo., Hammerich was the hero at Oklahoma State, converting four field goal attempts, (47, 39, 31 and 36 yards) including the game winner in the third overtime. Hammerich is now 8-for-9 in field goal tries this season. His only miss was from 50 yards out. In the season opener against Bowling Green, he nailed a career-long 51 yarder. Hammerich is 53-of-54 in his career in PAT attempts. He is 24-for-33 in field goal tries. Just one of those missed field goals has come on attempts of under 40 yards. He is 15-of-16 from inside 40 yards in his career and 9-of-17 from beyond 40 yards. Four of his eight misses beyond 40 yards have been from beyond 50 yards. He is 1-for-5 in his career from 50 yards out. Hammerich has a big-time leg, evident by a 56-yard field goal in the Black and Gold Game in the spring.
FARMER BACK IN THE HUDDLE
Junior quarterback Kirk Farmer has gotten better with each game since making his first start in over a year on Sept. 29 against Nebraska. The Tigers are 2-2 with Farmer back at the helm. In his second start at Oklahoma State, Farmer threw for a career-high 247 yards and 3 TDs in the Tigers triple-overtime victory over the Cowboys. Last week against Kansas, Farmer enjoyed his most productive game since his incredible performance at Nebraska last season. Farmer accounted for 328 all-purpose yards against the Jayhawks (246 passing, 82 rushing). He threw three touchdown passes and completed 19-of-32 passes. For the second time this season, Farmer led the Tigers on three consecutive scoing drives last week at Kansas. In Missouri's loss against Iowa State, Farmer marched the Tigers down the field in the closing three minutes of the game and gave Missouri a chance to win the game. Only a great defensive play with three seconds on the clock by Iowa State prevented Farmer from leading the Tigers to a last second victory over the Cyclones. A native of Jefferson City, Mo., Farmer split time with Jim Dougherty in 1999, starting one game before breaking his leg in week six. Last year, Farmer started the first four games before going down with a separated shoulder at Nebraska in week four, an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season.
THROW THE BALL TO BLAKLEY
Missouri fans have been asking for more Dwayne Blakley, the Tigers' talented tight end. Mizzou fans are getting what they wanted as Blakley is having a fantastic senior campaign, especially in conference games. He has 20 receptions in the first four conference contests this season and has scored a touchdown in each of the past three games. Last week against Kansas, Blakley caught what proved to be the winning touchdown, a 14-yard pass from Kirk Farmer. The week before, only a diving deflection by an Iowa State defender prevented Blakley from being the hero against the Cyclones in the game's final seconds.
MISSOURI BLOCK PARTY
The Missouri Tigers have blocked six kicks in their first six games this season. The Tigers have blocked two field goal attempts, three PATs and one punt. The two blocked PATs belong to junior defensive tackle Cedric Harden, giving him four blocks for his career. The Missouri blocked punt was by sophomore cornerback Michael Harden. No relation to Cedric, Harden's blocked punt resulted in an 18-yard touchdown return by Justin Gage. Keith Wright blocked a field goal attempt by Nebraska, but the most important block of the year was made by senior linebacker Jamonte Robinson who blocked an Oklahoma State field goal attempt in the third overtime of the Tigers 41-38 victory. Last week against Kansas, Sean Doyle got his hand on a Kansas PAT attempt.
RICKER ON RIMINGTON
TROPHY WATCH LIST
Sophomore center A.J. Ricker is among 21 players in the nation on the Rimington Trophy "watch list." The Rimington Trophy is awarded to the best offensive center in college football, and is presented by the Boomer Esiason Foundation. The Klein, Texas native started all 11 games as a redshirt freshman last year. He snapped the ball 654 times without committing a single penalty. He recorded 45 knockdowns and allowed just seven hits on the Tigers quarterbacks. Ricker has played an important role in the Tigers emerging running game each of the last three weeks. He also led an offensive line that has allowed the least number of quarterback sacks in the Big 12 Conference this season.
BYNUM IN THE BACKFIELD
While no one can quite fill the shoes of Justin Smith, the fourth overall pick in this year's NFL Draft, junior defensive end Antwaun Bynum is doing his best. The St. Louis native leads the team with six quarterback sacks and tackles for loss (13). Bynum tied the Missouri single-game record for quarterback sacks against Oklahoma State. Bynum sacked OSU quarterback Aso Pogi four times in Mizzou's 41-38 triple overtime victory over the Cowboys. Bynum tied the record held by Bobby Bell (1983 vs. BYU in the Holiday Bowl) and Justin Smith (2000 at Baylor). His career night at Oklahoma State also included a career-high 14 tackles and two forced fumbles. He is playing defensive end for the first time in his career. He came to Missouri last year as a junior college transfer from Hutchinson C.C. where he was an All-American linebacker. He recorded 24 sacks in two seasons at Hutchinson.
DEFENSIVE FRONT FOUR
Missouri's defensive front four was literally pieced together this past spring. Defensive end Antwaun Bynum is a former linebacker, defensive end Dan Davis is a former tailback and defensive tackle Keith Wright is playing inside for the first time in his career. Only Cedric Harden is playing his natural position. This group continues to get better and better with each week. By adding senior defensive tackle Chris Ryan and redshirt freshman Nick Tarpoff into the mix, Missouri's defensive front four have combined for 35 tackles for loss and 13.5 quarterback sacks. They have hit the quarterback 17 times, forced four fumbles and recovered a fumble, intercepted a pass and blocked three kicks.
AMAZING MARCUS
Sophomore Marcus James made his first career start last Saturday against Kansas at wide receiver and what a debut it was. The Tigers used James on two reverses that went for a combined 23 yards. In the third quarter, James pulled in his first reception of the season, a 25-yard TD strike from Kirk Farmer. He also averaged 13.1 yards per punt return and made a special teams tackle. James began two-a-days as a wide receiver before injuring his knee. Because of injuries in the secondary, he was moved to cornerback, a position that he starred at in high school. With the return of R.J. Jones at corner, James was moved back to wide receiver. He has been one of the nation's top punt returners all season long. He is averaging 10.7 yards per return this season.
TIGERS HOT IN RED ZONE
The Missouri Tigers have been very productive in the red zone this season. According to the Automated Scorebook used by every school in Division I, the Tigers are 18-for 21 in the red zone (85.7 percent). Because of the way the computer calculates the red zone, two of Missouri's red zone scores in its triple-overtime victory at Oklahoma State do not register. Missouri is actually 20-for-23 (86.9) in the red zone this season. The Tigers were six-for-six against Oklahoma State and five-for-five against Kansas. Iowa State held Mizzou twice in the red zone, once in the first quarter and then on the final drive of the fourth quarter. The only other time that Missouri did not score in the red zone was when the Tigers ran out the clock in their victory over Southwest Texas.
MISSOURI ON THE ROAD
Missouri owns a three-game road winning streak following last week's victory at Kansas. Missouri's road finale last season at Baylor resulted in a 47-22 victory. In their first road game of 2001, the Tigers defeated Oklahoma State by a score of 41-38 in three overtimes. It is the first Tigers three-game road winning streak since 1994 when they won at Houston, Oklahoma State and Iowa State.
ALL-BIG 12 PERFORMERS LEAD THE MIZZOU DEFENSE
The experience on the defensive side of the football is talented. Five returning defensive players have been All-Big 12 selections. Both linebackers, Jamonte Robinson and Sean Doyle, have been honorable mention All-Big 12 picks. Defensive backs Antoine Duncan and Clarence Jones were honorable mention All-Big 12 selections last season and junior defensive tackle Cedric Harden has also been an All-Big 12 pick.
RESHUFFLING THE SCHEDULE
Due to the attack on the United States on Sept. 11, the Missouri Tigers have reshuffled their schedule. The Tigers will makeup their game with Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Dec. 1. Missouri has also moved its' game against Kansas State to Nov. 24 to accomodate the Wildcats who will play Louisiana Tech on Nov. 17, the original date for the MU-KSU game. The last time Missouri had a football game postponed or cancelled was back in 1918. The entire season was cancelled due to an influenza epidemic.
TIGERS EARN PRESEASON
ACCOLADES
Three Missouri Tigers were named preseason honorable mention All-Americans by Street & Smith's. Wide Receiver Justin Gage, offensive guard Mike Hayes and linebacker Sean Doyle were all recognized by Street & Smith's. Hayes was also named to The Sporting News "All-Underrated Team."
2001 TIGER CAPTAINS
Six seniors were voted captains by their teammates in the spring for 2001 season.
IF IT GOES TO OVERTIME ...
Missouri has played six overtime games since overtime was instituted into college football in 1996. The Tigers are 4-2 in OT with three of those victories against Oklahoma State. In 1996, Mizzou defeated the Cowboys 35-28 in Columbia. That same season, Missouri needed three overtimes to knock off Baylor in Waco, Texas. The final score of that game was 49-42. In 1997, the Tigers defeated the 12th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys in double-overtime, 51-50. Two weeks later, Missouri suffered its first overtime loss in the infamous "kicked ball" game as No. 1 Nebraska escaped Columbia with a 45-38 overtime win. The Tigers fell in overtime in 1999 at Colorado, 46-39 ... This year, the Tigers won their fourth overtime game, a triple-overtime thriller at Oklahoma State.