Sept. 3, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
TIGERS HOST BALL STATE IN 2002 HOME OPENER
Fresh off arguably one of the biggest season-opening wins in school history, the Missouri Tigers (1-0) return to Columbia where they'll play host to the Ball State Cardinals (0-0) at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field.
The Tigers are coming off a scintillating performance last Saturday in St. Louis vs. Illinois, where MU dismantled the defending Big Ten champions, 33-20 in a game in which the Tigers never trailed. After Illinois tied the game at 14 apiece in the 3rd quarter, the Tigers reeled off 3 straight touchdowns to put the game out of reach.
Ball State will be playing its first game of the 2002 season. The Cardinals went 5-6 last year under Head Coach Bill Lynch, but won a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division title, with a 4-1 division record. The Cardinals return 10 starters on offense and five starters on defense.
TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR SATURDAY
Plenty of tickets remain available for Saturday's game between Missouri and Ball State. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase by calling the MU Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS (884-PAWS locally).
The first 25,000 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative Justin Gage poster. There will also be a fireworks display following the game.
SMITH NAMED BIG 12 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
University of Missouri freshman quarterback Brad Smith has been named the co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, as announced on Monday by the Big 12 Conference. He shared the award with Oklahoma RB Quentin Griffin.
Smith earned the honor after his first collegiate game last Saturday, in which he led Mizzou to an impressive 33-20 win over defending Big Ten champion Illinois. Smith amassed 290 yards in total offense in the game, including 152 yards passing and 138 yards rushing, and turned in a 24-yard touchdown run. He was 15-for-26 passing on the day, had zero turnovers vs. the Illini, and averaged 7.7 yards per rush on 18 attempts.
Smith is the first Tiger to win the weekly award since October of 1998, when Devin West rushed for a school-record 319 yards vs. Kansas. Smith is only the third Tiger to win the offensive award since the inception of the Big 12, joining West and Corby Jones, who each won the award twice in their careers.
Smith was also named the national newcomer of the week by ESPN.com, as well as being tabbed Big 12 player of the week by collegefootballnews.com.
INJURY UPDATE
Missouri came out of the opener against Illinois in relatively good shape, injury-wise.
Second team DE Nick Tarpoff strained his left knee in the game, and is listed as questionable for Saturday's Ball State contest.
Junior CB Terrence Curry plans to sit out the season and continue to strengthen a knee he injured in the spring of 2001. He did not play last year, and hopes to receive a medical hardship ruling to gain another year of eligibility.
Junior college transfer DL Zach Ville had an emergency appendectomy performed during fall two-a-day practices, and will likely miss the rest of the season.
LOOKING TO GO 2-AND-0
After opening with a win over Illinois, Missouri finds itself in a position to accomplish something that hasn't happened often in recent school history - begin a season 2-0.
A Tiger win Saturday over Ball State would give MU a 2-0 start to the season for just the 4th time since 1983. Since then, the only times that Mizzou has won its first 2 games came in 1987 (2-0 on the way to 5-6), 1998 (2-0 to 8-4) and 1999 (2-0 to 4-7).
MU-BALL STATE HISTORY
Missouri and Ball State will meet for the first time when they tangle on Faurot Field Saturday night. Given the fact that they have never met, there aren't many connections between the two schools.
Mizzou Head Coach Gary Pinkel is certainly familiar with the BSU program, as he went 5-4-1 vs. the Cardinals in his 10-year tenure at Toledo. He went 4-2 during his last 6 years there against current BSU Head Coach Bill Lynch.
Missouri's Head Athletic Trainer Rex Sharp is a Ball State graduate (1979), and served as an athletic trainer there for 11 years prior to taking over at Mizzou in 1996.
WHAT A WAY TO START
It was a day to remember for Tiger fans last Saturday, when Mizzou picked apart the defending Big Ten Conference champion Illinois in the Edward R. Jones Dome in St. Louis, by a score of 33-20.
The historical significance of Saturday's win is up for argument, but the fact remains that the Tigers made a statement in front of 61,876 fans and millions more viewing on national television.
With a redshirt freshman at quarterback starting the season opener for the first time in school history, the Tigers served notice right away that they meant business.
Brad Smith led the Tigers crisply down the field on MU's opening possession of the season for a touchdown. Smith was 4-of-5 on the opening drive for 33 yards as the Tigers took 8 plays to go 77 yards in 3:06. He showed his poise right away by hitting WR Thomson Omboga twice on 3rd down situations, and he also showed his dangerous running ability by tucking the ball in for a 20-yard gain on the 4th play of the game. The play netted 35 yards after Illinois was flagged for hitting Smith late out of bounds.
MU-ILLINOIS NOTES RECAP
*Missouri never trailed against Illinois on Saturday on its way to the 33-20 victory. MU took leads of 7-0 and 14-7, only to see the Illini respond to tie the game each time. Mizzou broke the game open by scoring 19 straight points in the second half, and never was threatened past that.
*Nine Tigers made their first career starts vs. Illinois. They included QB Brad Smith, OG Cliff Young, OG Joe Gianino, OT Scott Paffrath, NT C.J. Mosley, DE Atiyyah Ellison, WHIP Jason Simpson, FS Marcus King and PK Alex Pettersen.
*Smith, with 138 yards rushing, and TB Zack Abron, with 116 yards rushing, became the first Tiger tandem to rush for 100 or more yards in the same game since 1999, when DeVaughn Black (205 yards) and Zain Gilmore (139) did the trick against Western Michigan.
*Missouri recorded 6 sacks against Illinois, after getting only 20 sacks in 11 games during the 2001 season.
*Missouri rushed for 285 yards and held the ball for 35:21 against the Illini. Both marks were bests for MU under the tutelage of Gary Pinkel. MU improved to 5-0 under Pinkel when scoring 30 or more points in a game.
*A year after forcing a Big 12 low 15 turnovers in 2001, Mizzou defenders forced 3 Illinois turnovers (2 fumbles and 1 INT) on Saturday, and turned one of those into a momentum-swinging 46-yard fumble return for a TD by sophomore LB James Kinney.
COMMON NAME, UNCOMMON QB
Redshirt freshman QB Brad Smith might have a common name. But his play Saturday against Illinois was anything but common.
After amassing 290 yards of total offense in his collegiate debut, Smith was named the co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, and was named the national offensive newcomer of the week by ESPN.com.
Smith, who is only 18 years old, showed a maturity beyond his years, as he led the Tiger offense to 437 yards of total offense and 33 points against the defending Big Ten Conference champions.
Smith completed 15-of-26 passes on the day for 152 yards against an Illinois secondary that includes a pair of All-American candidates. He also scampered for 138 yards rushing, which was the 2nd-highest single-game rushing total by a freshman in MU history. Brock Olivo holds the freshman rushing record, with 151 yards vs. Kansas State in 1994.
The first freshman to ever start the season opener at Mizzou, Smith produced a horde of big plays on the day. He ran for 6 first downs and threw for 8, and had 5 plays of 20 yards or more, including runs of 20, 39 and 24 yards.
Despite his youth, Smith showed great decision making skills in his debut, as he went turnover and penalty-free, and avoided being sacked by a defensive unit that tallied 40 QB sacks a year ago. On 3rd and 4th down passing situations, Smith was 7-of-9 for 72 yards, converting 6 of those opportunities for 1st downs.
O-LINE PAVES WAY
Missouri's offensive line was seen as a potential question mark by the pundits heading into the season. After all, MU returned only 2 starters in C A.J. Ricker and WT Rob Droege, and would be going into battle with three first-time starters.
But on Saturday, the Tiger line looked like a veteran unit, paving the way for 437 yards of total offense. Mizzou ran for 285 yards and held the ball for 35:21 - both single-game bests for Pinkel at MU.
Mizzou's line handled brilliantly the attack scheme of Illinois, as the Illini rarely got close to QB Brad Smith. Illinois, which registered 40 sacks a year ago, came up empty in that department Saturday.
DEFENSIVE LINE DOMINANCE
Not to be outdone by their offensive line teammates, the Missouri defensive line controlled the line scrimmage vs. Illinois, and impacted the game in a number of ways.
Illinois managed just 67 yards net rushing on the day vs. MU, and had 51 yards of losses as the Tigers were in the backfield all day long. Mizzou recorded 6 sacks and 2 other tackles for losses.
BYNUM WAS BLOWIN' BY 'EM
Senior DE Antwaun Bynum was arguably the defensive star of the game for Missouri on Saturday. Playing in front of his hometown crowd, the St. Louis native wreaked havoc in the Illinois backfield all afternoon.
Bynum recorded 2 sacks, had 4 QB hurries, forced 2 fumbles, broke up 1 pass and had 5 tackles overall.
He made arguably the play of the day for Missouri when he came around the right end and sacked Illini QB Dustin Ward, causing the ball to pop loose in the process. Mizzou LB James Kinney picked up the fumble and ran 46 yards for a TD that put MU on top, 20-14 midway through the 3rd quarter.
12-GAGE EYES MU CAREER RECORDS
Senior wide receiver Justin Gage is on pace to become Missouri's top pass catcher of alltime this season. Not bad for someone who played quarterback as a freshman and who switched to receiver the next year.
Gage has quickly developed into one of the nation's top wideouts. He was recently named to the Biletnikoff pre-season watch list as one of the nation's premier pass-catchers.
Gage got his senior campaign off to a solid start, as he caught 7 passes for 63 yards against a strong Illinois secondary. He moved past Brian Sallee for 3rd place on the school career receptions list, and now has 125 career catches entering the Ball State game. He needs just 4 more grabs to pass former star Victor Bailey for 2nd on the alltime list. He is currently 27 catches away from becoming MU's alltime leader in the category (see chart on page 7 for details).
Gage is also 4th on the school career receiving yardage list, and needs just 17 yards to move past Kenny Holly for 3rd, and 69 to move past Linzy Collins for 2nd place. Gage has 1,692 career receiving yards entering the Ball State contest.
His 2001 season featured 74 receptions for 920 yards and 5 TDs. His 74 catches was just one shy of the single-season school record.
Gage was a 1st-team All-Big 12 performer last year, and was named a pre-season first-team All-Big 12 wideout by league media this year. His top game a year ago was a 13-catch, 236-yard outing vs. Baylor, which set the school record for single-game receiving yardage. He also tallied 2 TDs against the Bears.
A key reserve on Missouri's basketball team which made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament in 2002, Gage has decided to give up basketball following the current football season.
RICKER TO MAKE IT 24 STRAIGHT
Junior center A.J. Ricker has been as dependable as they come. The Houston, Texas native, who is a pre-season candidate for the Rimington Award, has started all 23 games in his collegiate career for Mizzou. He'll make it 24 straight starts when he takes the field Saturday vs. Ball State.
Ricker was a key component of last year's offensive line that helped pave the way for MU to rank 5th in the Big 12 in rushing last year. The Tiger O-Line also allowed just 6 sacks in 2001, which was the 3rd-lowest total in the nation.
Ricker was voted a team captain during fall camp by his teammates.
THE ZACK ATTACK
Junior TB Zack Abron keyed MU's 2nd-half surge Saturday vs. Illinois, and showed why those around the Tiger program believe he'll have a breakout year.
Abron rushed for 116 yards and tied a career-high with 2 TDs Saturday in MU's 33-20 win over Illinois. Abron scored MU's 1st TD of the season, on a 6-yard plunge to cap the opening possession of the year. He coughed up 2 fumbles in the first half, and was held to just 31 yards on 11 carries in the opening half.
Undaunted, and encouraged by coaches and teammates at halftime, Abron came out in the 2nd half and ran for 85 yards on 15 carries. His 26 total carries represented a career single-game high, and his 116 yards marked the 6th time in his career he's broken the 100-yard plateau.
He enters the Ball State contest ranking 4th in the Big 12, and 31st in the NCAA, with his 116.0 per-game rushing average. His scoring average of 12.0 points a game currently ranks him 2nd in the league, as well.
The powerful running back is coming off a season that saw him lead the Tigers with 783 yards rushing. He suffered an ankle injury in game #8 at Colorado that nagged him for the rest of the year, and likely cost him a shot at 1,000 yards. He was still named 3rd-Team All-Big 12 by league coaches.
Abron averaged 5.0 yards per rush in 2001, a drastic improvement from his freshman average of 3.6 per attempt.
He was his best against the Big 12's best defenses in 2001, as Abron rushed for 109 yards (on just 13 carries) vs. Texas and 101 yards against Kansas State. He tallied 100 yards 5 times on the season, including a career-high 147 yards vs. Iowa State.
With 1,401 career rushing yards, Abron enters the 2002 season needing just 429 more to crack the Mizzou career rushing yardage top-10 list. Number 10 on the list is former standout Charlie Brown, who had 1,830 yards from 1964-66.
WATCHING THE AWARD LISTS
Several Tiger players have been named to pre-season watch lists for the nation's most prestigious individual awards.
TIGERS FACE SCARY SCHEDULE
Missouri players and coaches will have their work cut out for them as they try to build on their season-opening win vs. Illinois.
That's because no fewer than 8 teams that line the Tiger schedule went to bowl games last season.
Sports Illustrated recently ranked MU's schedule 7th-toughest in the nation, and no-one around Columbia would argue with that assessment.
Four of MU's 2002 opponents were ranked in the Associated Press pre-season top 25 (2. Oklahoma; 7. Colorado; 10. Nebraska; 23. Texas A&M), while four others (Illinois, Texas Tech, Iowa State and Kansas State) received votes in either the AP or the Coaches' poll. Only two opponents (Ball State at 5-6 and Kansas at 3-8) were below .500 last season.
Possibly due to the tough schedule, expectations weren't high for Missouri among Big 12 Conference media types in 2002, as the Tigers were picked to finish 5th in the 6-team Big 12 North Division.