Nov. 19, 2001

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THE MISSOURI-KANSAS STATE SERIES
The Missouri Tigers and Kansas State Wildcats will meet for the 87th time on Saturday at KSU Stadium in Manhattan, Kan. Missouri leads the all-time series 56-26-5. Missouri will be looking to end a eight-game losing streak against the Wildcats. The Tigers have dropped nine of the last 10 meetings against Kansas State. Mizzou has not won at KSU Stadium since 1989. This week's game was originally scheduled to be played on Nov. 17, but Missouri granted a request for the game to be moved back a week so Kansas State could make up its' game against Louisiana Tech, originally scheduled for Sept. 15.

BOWL GAMES ON THE LINE
Both Missouri and Kansas State are still in the hunt for a bowl game. Saturday is a must-win for both teams. Missouri must win its final two games of the season to be bowl eligible while Kansas State must defeat the Tigers on Saturday to pick up its' sixth victory. A victory by Missouri would eliminate Kansas State from bowl contention. The Wildcats have played in a bowl game every year since 1993.

TIGERS ON THE TUBE
Missouri's final two games of the season can be seen LIVE on national television. This week's game against Kansas State can be seen on Fox Sports Net. The Michigan State game has been changed from an 11:00 a.m. CST time start to a 10:00 a.m. CST start to accomodate ESPN 2. It was announced late last week that ESPN 2 has picked up the Missouri-Michigan State game. Kickoff is set for 10:10 a.m., CST. The Michigan State game will mark just the seventh time that a Mizzou football game has been shown on an ESPN station.

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 77-42-3. He is 4-5 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 Kansas State ranked 15th among active Division 1-A football coaches in winning percentage. His 77-42-3 career record gives him a winning percentage of .643. Only two current Big 12 coaches rank higher than Pinkel, R.C. Slocum at Texas A&M (5th) and Bill Snyder at Kansas State (10th).

KANSAS STATE, QUICKLY ...
Kansas State takes on Missouri in its' season finale on Saturday. The Wildcats must win to become bowl eligible. K-State enters Saturday's contest boasting the fifth-best defense in the country. The Wildcats have allowed just 256.90 yards per game and rank fifth nationally in rush defense, giving up just 83.2 yards on the ground. Running back Josh Scobey leads a K-State running attack that ranks fourth in the country (255.30 yards per game). Scobey has rushed for 1,065 yards this season. Four different players rushed for touchdowns last week against Louisiana Tech, including quarterback El Roberson, who has rushed for over 600 yards on the season. The Wildcats have won three out of their four games after ending a four-game losing streak on Oct. 27 with a win over Kansas.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Missouri WR Justin Gage
The Facts: Gage is coming off of a career day: 13 receptions, 236 yards (school record) and 2 TDs. He also threw a TD pass against Baylor. Gage needs 11 receptions in the final two games to break the single-season record, currently held by Kenny Holly (75 in 1992). He also just 161 yards away from becoming the second receiver in school history to record a 1,000 yard season.

The Kansas State Running Game
The Facts: K-State owns the fourth-best rushing attack in the country. The Wildcats average 255.30 yards on the ground per game, and are led by Josh Scobey who is averaging 106.5 yards per game.

MU Quarterback Kirk Farmer
The Facts: Farmer is among the Big 12 leaders in total offense, averaging 208.6 yards per game. He is coming off of his best passing game of his career (360 yards) vs. Baylor. This will be the first time that Farmer has ever played against Kansas State.

K-State Return Team
The Facts: Aaron Lockett is one of the top return men in the country. He is averaging 30.3 yards per return on kickoffs and has broken one for a touchdown. Lockett is averaging 10.8 yards per punt return, but averaged 22.8 yards per return in 2000 and returned three for touchdowns.

LAST YEAR: KSU 28 MU 24
Kansas State used a 25-point second quarter to overcome a 14-point deficit, and held on to defeat Missouri in the season finale by a score of 28-24. The Tigers led 14-0 after the first quarter, taking advantage of two Kansas State turnovers. Following a blocked punt, Darius Outlaw scampered 14 yards to the end zone to give MU a 7-0 lead. Cedric Harden then intercepted a Jonathan Beasley pass which led to Mizzou's second TD of the quarter. The Wildcats answered with a huge second quarter, led by two touchdown runs by Josh Scobey. Both defenses were tremendous in the second half, holding one another to just three points as K-State held on for the victory in the end.

LAST TIME OUT
Justin Gage racked up 13 receptions for a school-record 236 yards while Kirk Farmer threw for a career-high 360 yards in Missouri's 41-24 victory over Baylor. Gage recorded 10 of his 13 catches in the first half. He also threw a 9-yard TD pass to tight end Ben Frederickson. The Tigers led 34-3 at halftime, rolling up 389 total yards at the break. The Tigers posted 531 yards in the game.

12-GAGE
Junior wide receiver Justin Gage is among the nation's best wide receivers. He ranks 9th in the country with 7.2 receptions per game. He has 65 receptions on the season for 839 yards in MU's nine games. He currently ranks second on Missouri's single-season receptions chart and is 161 yards away from becoming the second player in school history to accumulate 1,000 receiving yards. Gage has four 100-plus receiving games this season and has reached double-digits in receptions three times. Last week against Baylor, Gage hauled in a career-high 13 receptions for a school record 236 yards and 2 TDs. He also threw his fourth career touchdown pass of his career. His 236 receiving yards was the second highest single-game total in Big 12 history. 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 Jamonte Robinson and Sean Doyle have become one of the best linebacking duos in the country. In nine games this season, Robinson and Doyle have combined for 216 tackles. Robinson leads the team with 12.1 tackles per game (109 total). Doyle is averaging 11.8 tackles per game (107 total). Both Robinson and Doyle are ranked among the nation's top 20 tacklers. The following is a breakdown of Doyle and Robinson's tackles per game.

ROBINSON TACKLES HIS WAY INTO THE TOP FIVE
Senior linebacker Jamonte Robinson is climbing the career tackles chart at the University of Missouri. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native has 379 career tackles, ranking him third all-time at Missouri. Robinson recorded a career-high 19 tackles against Texas. Robinson jumped from sixth to fourth place that day on the career tackles chart, passing Darryl Major (346) and former teammate Barry Odom (362). Robinson is one of 10 players in school history to record 300 career tackles and is looking to become just the second player to record 400 tackles in his career. He needs eight tackles to pass Travis McDonald for second place all-time. He passed Darren MacDonald for third place against Baylor.

RUNNING TIGERS
Missouri will employ three running backs this week to try and get the upper hand on the fifth-best rush defense in the country in the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday. Sophomore running back Zack Abron was well on his way to his fourth 100-yard game in a row at Colorado until a sprained ankle sidelined him midway through the second quarter. Abron had 12 carries for 69 yards against the Buffaloes, and played sparingly in the Tigers' blowout against Baylor. Abron has rushed for over 100 yards in four of nine games this season. The 5-10, 220-pound back has been a load to bring down for the opposition. He is averaging 5.2 yards per carry on the season. Against Texas, Abron had three 16-yard rushes and one 19-yard scamper. In nine games in 2000, Abron rushed for 502 yards, averaging 3.6 yards per carry for the season. He had five touchdowns in 2000. He already has six in 2001. Freshman Tyrone Roberson broke out against Baylor two weeks ago, rushing for 51 yards, averaging 4.3 yards per carry. Senior Zain Gilmore scored two touchdowns against Baylor, one rushing and one receiving. He has rushed for 1,757 yards in his career.

THROW THE BALL TO BLAKLEY
Missouri fans asked for more Dwayne Blakley, the Tigers' talented tight end. Mizzou fans are getting what they asked for as Blakley is having a fantastic senior campaign, especially in conference games. He has 29 receptions in seven conference contests this season and has scored a touchdown in four of the last six games. Blakley had three receptions for 45 yards against Baylor. He had three catches and a touchdown at Colorado. He had three catches for 47 yards against Texas. At 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. Blakley has 75 career receptions for 831 yards and 12 TDs.

HAMMERICH NAMED LOU GROZA AWARD SEMIFINALIST
While senior kicker Brad Hammerich is making a bid to be the best kicker in the Big 12 Conference, he has already garnered national attention. Hammerich was named one of 20 semifinalists for the 2001 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award. The award is given to the nation's best place-kicker. Although Hammerich was not selected as a finalist, he has had an All-Big 12 season. 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 10-for-13 in field goal tries this season. In the season opener against Bowling Green, he nailed a career-long 51 yarder. Hammerich is 62-of-64 in his career in PAT attempts. He is 26-for-37 in field goal tries. Just two of those missed field goals has come on attempts of under 40 yards. He is 17-of-19 from inside 40 yards in his career and 9-of-18 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.

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 six weeks. Missouri has had a 100-plus rusher in four of the last six games. He also leads an offensive line that has allowed the least number of quarterback sacks (6) in the Big 12 Conference this season, a mark that ranks fifth in the country.

FARMER BACK IN THE HUDDLE
Junior quarterback Kirk Farmer continues to make up for lost time. Farmer made his first start in over a year on Sept. 29. The Tigers are 3-4 with Farmer back at the helm. He enters Saturday's game at Kansas State following his best career performance two weeks ago against Baylor. Farmer completed 23-of-34 passes for 360 yards and 3 TDs. His 360 yards passing was the sixth highest single-game total in Missouri history. It was the first 300-yard passing game since 1999 when Jim Dougherty threw for 303 yards against Iowa State. 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. At 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 scoring drives 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. 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. Against Colorado, Farmer threw a touchdown pass and rushed for another while keeping Mizzou in the game. He threw for 185 yards and rushed for 55. 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.

NO SACKS ALLOWED
The Missouri Tigers have allowed just six quarterback sacks this season, a statistic that leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth in the country. Quarterbacks Kirk Farmer and Darius Outlaw have been trained to get rid of the football when they feel pressure, but much of the credit goes to the offensive line. The strong side of the line features all-conference players Justin Bland and Mike Hayes. Center A.J. Ricker is a Rimington Award candidate while Aaron Crittendon, Rob Droege and Adrian Cole have performed very well on the left side of the line.

NO PENALTIES ALLOWED
The discipline that Gary Pinkel has brought to the Missouri program has been well documented. That discipline has made its way onto the playing field as well. The Tigers are the least penalized team in the Big 12 Conference. Missouri has been penalized 49 times this season for 412 yards.

MISSOURI BLOCK PARTY
The Missouri Tigers have blocked six kicks in nine games this season. Mizzou is just one block away from breaking the school's single-season record. 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. Sean Doyle got his hand on a Kansas PAT attempt two weeks ago in Lawrence.

TIGERS HOT IN RED ZONE
Missouri is 32-for-38 (84.2) in the red zone this season. Only Texas and Oklahoma State have been more productive. 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 Tigers reached the red zone three times against Texas and scored all three times. At Colorado, the Tigers were a perfect 3-for-3 in the red zone. Mizzou was 6-for-9 in the red zone against Baylor.

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 45 tackles for loss and 14.5 quarterback sacks. They have hit the quarterback 27 times, forced six fumbles and recovered three fumbles, intercepted a pass and blocked three kicks.

KINNEY PROVIDES A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE
Redshirt freshman James Kinney was very impressive in his first career start against Baylor two weeks ago. Kinney, who started for the Tigers' third all-time leading tackler Jamonte Robinson, racked up 10 tackles and recorded his first career quarterback sack. Kinney's performance was similar to Sean Doyle's first career start in 1999 against Texas A&M when Doyle collected 15 tackles.

BYNUM IN THE BACKFIELD
Missouri will be without its' top pass rusher in Antwaun Bynum this week against Kansas State. While no one can quite fill the shoes of Justin Smith, the fourth overall pick in this year's NFL Draft, Bynum is doing his best. The St. Louis native leads the team with seven quarterback sacks and tackles for loss (16). His seven quarterback sacks are tied for sixth place on Missouri's single-season list. 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.

THREE PLAYERS WITH 31 CONSECUTIVE STARTS
Senior offensive linemen Mike Hayes and Justin Bland and senior safety Clarence Jones have started 31 consecutive games. All three players have started every game since game one in 1999. All three players are All-Big 12 performers.

FARMER, DROEGE EARN ACADEMIC AWARDS
Quarterback Kirk Farmer and offensive lineman Rob Droege were named to the Verizon District VII All-Academic Team last week. Farmer and Droege's names will now go on the national ballot for a chance to earn Academic All-American status.

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.

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.