April 16, 2002

COLUMBIA, Mo.- The Missouri Tigers opened up their final week of spring practices on Tuesday on a windy afternoon in Columbia. The Tigers practiced through wind gusts of 30 mph. Still, the Tigers were able to get plenty of work in as the team spent half of the practice in 11-on-11 competition.

Offensively, the running backs and tight ends got a lot of work in on Tuesday. Both positions concentrated on the passing game, getting plenty of repetition, and a lot of balls thrown their way. Quarterbacks Brad Smith, Kirk Farmer and Santino Riccio all had good practices. Tight ends Ben Fredrickson, J.D. McCoy, Clint Matthews and Earl Stephens all had several balls thrown at them. Stephens, a redshirt freshmen, had an impressive practice, carrying would-be tacklers into the end zone numerous times.

Running back Zack Abron, who has been hampered by several minor injuries, had a very good practice Tuesday. Abron had the team buzzing after breaking off a 15-yard touchdown run where he bowled over several tacklers.

The Mizzou defense continued to shine on Tuesday. Sophomore defensive end Nick Tarpoff was all over the field after suffering a concussion in Saturday's scrimmage. Fellow defensive end Terrell Mills was also back on the field after suffering a concussion on Saturday.

The Tigers will practice one last time this Thursday afternoon before Saturday's Black and Gold Game that begins at 2:00 p.m. at Faurot Field.