LAST YEAR VS. IOWA STATE
Mizzou TB Zack Abron ran for a career-best 147 yards, but it wasn't enough as a pair of 4th-quarter field goals, and a last-second goalline stand, propelled Iowa State to a hardfought 20-14 win in Columbia, ruining MU's 2001 Homecoming game.

With the game tied at 14 apiece, ISU's PK Tony Yelk kicked a 21-yard field goal with 6:39 left to put the Cyclones in front, 17-14. Iowa State forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and converted that into a 24-yard field goal by Yelk to make it 20-14 with 3:48 left.

Mizzou moved down the field with time running out, and reached the ISU 6-yard line, but QB Kirk Farmer's 4th-and-goal pass was knocked away by ISU safety Adam Runk with 3 seconds remaining to seal the Cyclone win. The Tigers were also stopped on downs on the ISU 14-yard line in the 1st quarter.

Farmer completed 14-of-31 passes on the day, and threw a 6-yard TD pass to TE Dwayne Blakley that gave MU a 14-7 lead with 5:37 to go in the 3rd quarter. He opened MU's scoring in the 2nd quarter when he kept on a 5-yard scoring run to tie the game at 7 apiece.

Mizzou outgained Iowa State by a 366-to-282 margin, and held ISU QB Seneca Wallace to 73 yards rushing and 75 yards passing. MU's Justin Gage led all receivers with 6 catches for 68 yards.

RETURN GAME PROVIDING SPARK
The kick return game has been coming around lately, and has been very close to breaking one for a score in the last 2 games.

Last Saturday vs. Kansas, Tauras Ferguson returned a kickoff a career-best 52 yards, while Marcus James had a career-best 48 yard punt return as well.

The week before, at Texas Tech, Shirdonya Mitchell, who is MU's fastest man with a 4.3-second 40-yard time, broke an 89-yard kickoff return down to the Tech 11 yardline. Mitchell came just 11 yards shy of returning Mizzou's first kickoff for a TD since 1982.

Those mere 11 yards stood between Mitchell becoming the first Tiger to return a kickoff for a TD since 1982, when Ricky Doby went 85 yards for a score vs. Oklahoma St. in '82.

Mitchell's 89-yard return might not have gone the distance, but it did also mark Mizzou's longest overall kickoff return since 1976, when Joe Stewart returned a kickoff for a 100-yard TD against Oklahoma State.

SMITH CONTINUES BRILLIANT PLAY
Freshman QB Brad Smith had another stellar performance last Saturday as he amassed 252 yards of total offense in leading Mizzou to its big win over arch rival Kansas. He ran for a game-high 117 yards (including a career-long 75-yard TD run) and threw for 135 yards and 2 TDs. He did not throw an interception for the 3rd straight game, and has not turned the ball over in 6 of MU's 8 games this season.

Despite being the first freshman QB to start the season opener in school history, the Youngstown, Ohio native has belied his youthfulness and led the Tiger offense like a crusty old veteran.

And it's not like he's just getting by on conservative play. Smith has the Tiger offense rolling in high gear, as MU ranks 25th in the NCAA in total offense (412.1 ypg), 26th in rushing (201.5 ypg) and 31st in scoring (32.1 ppg).

JUST HOW IMPRESSIVE HAS HE BEEN BEHIND CENTER?
Smith was solid at Texas Tech, as he amassed 275 passing yards on a 20-of-32 night in the air. He tossed a career-best 3 TDs vs. the Red Raiders, and added 21 yards rushing for a total of 291 yards.

He now has an impressive 2.5-to-1 TD-to-INT rate, with 10 TDs compared to just 4 INTs. Smith has not thrown an INT now since Oct. 5th vs. Oklahoma, when he was picked 3 times.

Smith made his national television debut recently vs. #3 Oklahoma, and proceeded to make quite a name for himself by burning the vaunted OU defense for a career-high 391 yards in total offense (the 4th-highest mark in MU single-game history).

The elusive QB rushed for a Tiger QB-record 213 yards on 26 carries vs. the Sooners, and scored on a pair of 25-yard runs, including the last one with 10:22 left in the game that put the Tigers up, 24-23. He also hit WR Justin Gage on a 23-yard scoring strike and ended the night 19-of-39 for 178 yards.

All of this came against an OU defensive outfit that entered the game ranked 9th in the NCAA in rushing defense (allowing just 88.0 ypg coming in) and 10th in the nation in total defense (262.2 ypg coming in). He did throw an uncharacteristic three interceptions on the night, after having just one in MU's first four games combined.

He has now ran and thrown for a score 4 times in 8 games, and has rushed and thrown for 100 yards or more in 5 of 8 games.

Smith completed 28-of-50 passes Sept. 14th at Bowling Green for a career-high 334 yards and 2 TDs. All of that came despite the fact that MU was forced to scrap the running game after falling into an early hole.

After amassing 290 yards of total offense in his collegiate debut on Aug. 31 vs. Illinois, Smith was named the national player of the week by CNNSI.com, the co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, as well as the national offensive newcomer of the week by ESPN.com.

Smith 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 and 1 TD.

T.J. LEON HAS CAREER DAY
Fifth-year senior TB T.J. Leon has always been one of those prototypical team guys who did whatever he needed to do for the team. He finally got his chance to be in the spotlight last Saturday against Kansas, and the Norman, Okla. native ended up shining considerably bright in MU's 36-12 win.

Starting in place of the injured Zack Abron (his first start since 1999), Leon ran for a career-high 104 yards and 2 TDs. He carried 17 times and scored on runs of and 5 yards. All of those numbers represented career highs, as he entered the game with personal bests of 7 carries, 52 yards and 1 TD.

Just how impressive was Leon's day? Consider the fact that entering the KU game, Leon had 91 yards rushing for the season, and his 104 yards Saturday nearly equaled his career total of 142 yards in 26 previous career games.

Leon was tough in the trenches, as he carried for 7 first downs against Kansas, which equaled his total for the season going into the game. He ripped off runs of 23 and 22 yards, the first of which represented a career long.

To cap off his day, Leon, who is a devout Christian and actively involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, played the role of Good Samaritan after the game, when he helped a young MU fan who had been pushed to the ground amid the melee of fans who were storming the field to tear down the North goal post. Leon got the fan off the ground and pulled him to safety, likely his best move of the day.

DEFENSE GETS STINGY
After going through a tough outing at Texas Tech on Oct. 19th, the Tiger defensive unit came together to play a solid game last Saturday vs. Kansas.

MU's defenders shut down the Jayhawks in the 2nd half, allowing a total of just 106 yards of total offense after intermission, after KU had totaled 270 in the first half alone. Tiger coaches made some adjustments at halftime that saw the Tigers switch from primarily zone coverage to more man-to-man play.

The changes helped, as KU managed just 12 yards of offense in the 4th quarter, and Mizzou notched its first safety of the year when All-America and Lombardi candidate DL Keith Wright sacked QB Jon Weatherbie in the endzone with 5:28 left in the game.

TAURAS IS A DRIVING FORCE
Senior rover Tauras Ferguson had an impactful game Saturday vs. Kansas, as he grabbed his first career interception in the 4th quarter and was a key factor as the Tiger defense shut down KU in the 2nd half to pull away for the 36-12 win.

The St. Louis, Mo. native intercepted KU's Jon Weatherbie in the 4th quarter at the MU 1-yard line, which marked his first career pick. He also led all defenders on the day with 3 passes broken up, and added 3 tackles.

The converted running back also served double duty on kickoff returns, and took one for a career-long 52 yards. He now is averaging a healthy 24.4 yards on 7 kickoff returns this season.

For the season, Ferguson ranks 7th on the squad with 42 tackles, including 6 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. He's broken up 8 passes on the year and has forced and recovered 1 fumble each.

MAKING THE CONVERSION
Mizzou is converting a respectable 41% of its 3rd down conversions this season through 8 games.

The Tiger defense is holding opponents to just 34% on the year in 3rd down situations - a significant improvement from an opponent success rate of 48% in 2001.

The Tigers are coming off a game in which they held Kansas to just 4-of-15 (26.7%) on 3rd down conversions. Mizzou also stopped KU's only 4th down attempt.

That was a welcome sight, as the week prior at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders converted 10-of-19 3rd down tries for an opponent season-best rate of 52.6%. The week prior to that, MU held Nebraska to an opponent season low rate of 23.7% (3-of-13).

After giving up conversions to Texas Tech 7 times on 3rd or 4th down and 8 yards or more to go, the Tiger defense fared much better last Saturday in that regard vs. Kansas. The Jayhawks were successful on just 1-of-9 when having 8 or more yards to go on 3rd or 4th down.

HOME-ROAD COMPARISON
Who really knows the reason why, but teams in every sport seem to play better at home. The Tigers are no different than anyone else in this regard, as they stand 3-1 at home thus far, and 0-3 on the road.

Mizzou will be looking to break a 6-game road losing streak this Saturday when they play at Iowa State. The Tigers lost their last 3 games on the road last season, and have dropped road games this season at Bowling Green, Nebraska and Texas Tech.

The Tigers have won away from home this season, as MU opened the 2002 campaign with a 33-20 win over Illinois in a neutral-site game played in St. Louis.

MU Head Coach Gary Pinkel won the 1st 2 road games of his Tiger career last season, as MU won hardfought games at Oklahoma State (41-38 in triple overtime) and at Kansas (38-34).

Mizzou is averaging 36.2 points per game at home this season, and is giving up an average of just 14.0 points per game. The Tigers are outrushing their opponents by a 259.0-to-97.0 margin at home.

The Tigers are converting 45% of their 3rd down opportunities at home, compared to 34% on the road thus far.

Combined scoring in the 2nd & 3rd quarters has favored the Tigers by a 60-point margin at home, while opponents have outscored MU by 40 points on the road.

GAGE SETS MU CAREER RECORDS
Senior WR Justin Gage, who began playing receiver for the 1st time in his life two seasons ago as a sophomore at Missouri, has now established himself as the school's alltime leading wideout. After spending his freshman season as a quarterback, Gage has quickly developed into one of the nation's top wideouts.

Gage is coming off a 4-catch, 77-yard, 1-TD outing vs. Kansas in which he set the MU career receiving TD record (15) and became the Big 12 Conference's alltime leading pass catcher (176). His 62-yard TD catch-and-run from Brad Smith marked a career long.

Prior to that, Gage had a standout performance at Texas Tech, where he had 5 catches for 114 yards and a career-high tying 2 TD catches. His TD grabs showed the range of his talents, as he burned Tech deep on a sideline pattern in the 1st quarter for a 53-yard catch-and-run score, while his 2nd one was a great grab in the 4th quarter when he outjumped a pack of Tech defenders to win the jump-ball situation.

Gage had 7 catches for 47 yards at Nebraska, and the yardage gave him enough to break MU's career receiving yardage record of 2,144 by Victor Bailey (1990-92). Gage now has 2,380 career receiving yards entering the Iowa State game.

That marked the 2nd straight game that Gage broke a school career record. With a 9-catch, 122-yard, 1 TD outing vs. #3 Oklahoma, he broke the MU career receptions mark. The record came on his first catch of the evening, a short gainer on a screen pass from Brad Smith that gave him 152 catches, which broke the old standard of 151 set by Kenny Holly from 1990-93. He now has 176.

Gage enters the Iowa State game ranking 2nd in the Big 12 and 7th nationally in catches (7.3 p/g). He caught 9 balls for 122 yards recently vs. Oklahoma, including a 23-yard TD.

Earlier this season, Gage turned in an MU-record 16-catch, 236-yard outing at Bowling Green.

He now owns 4 of the top-6 single-game performances in school history.

SMITH IN HEADY COMPANY
Freshman QB Brad Smith continues to impress game after game. We thought we'd point out a quote that came from Troy State Head Coach Larry Blakeney after Smith recently dismantled the Trojans, 44-7, on Sept. 28th.

When asked for a comparison of Smith, who threw for 213 yards and rushed for 137 more against Troy State, to Iowa State's Heisman candidate Seneca Wallace (whom the Trojans played in Ames the week prior to Missouri), Blakeney said of Smith: "He's a big-time player. He's as good as anybody we've seen, including Seneca Wallace."

MU Coach Gary Pinkel has coached some quality quarterbacks in his time, including NFL greats Mark Brunell and Chris Chandler, while at Washington. Pinkel had this to say about his freshman signal-caller: "I've coached that position with some great players, some NFL players, and they didn't look anything like this guy at the same age."

Here's a collection of clippings and quotes following Smith's performance against Oklahoma a few weeks ago:

"I mean to tell you, is he something? He made us look really average. We couldn't tackle him, he just whipped us all day." - OU Coach Bob Stoops.

"Against OU, he became a star, another Michael Vick in the making." - USA Today

"Brad Smith proved not only can he live up to the hype, the hype has no hope of living up to him." - The Norman Transcript

Speaking of hype, our efforts of scouring the Internet have uncovered that after just a handful of games into his career, Smith is already being linked to the Heisman Trophy. Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com listed Smith among those on the radar screen for the Heisman watch after his performance against OU.

MU WINS BIG 12 GRADUATION TITLE
Mizzou has won a Big 12 Conference title of sorts, as the recently released NCAA Graduation Report had MU atop the conference standings, with a league-best 72% student-athlete graduation rate, for the freshman entering class of 1995-96.

It marks the 2nd time in 3 years that MU has led the Big 12 in graduation. The 72% mark topped runner-up Baylor, who was 2nd at 69%, and was better than the 65% posted by MU's general student population.

BIG PLAYS
Missouri's offense has shown a propensity for coming up with big plays this season.

The Tiger offense has totaled 44 plays of 20 yards or more from scrimmage thru 8 games, compared to 32 for opponents.

Freshman QB Brad Smith has had a hand in 36 of the 44 plays, as he's rushed for 12 plays of 20 or more yards, thrown for 23 more, and even caught a pass for 1 "big" play (a 33-yarder on a throwback pass at Texas Tech from former QB Darius Outlaw.

Mizzou notched a season-high 8 plays of 20 yards or more vs. #3 Oklahoma. OU's defense had allowed just 9 plays of 20 yards or more in its 1st 4 games combined.

Mizzou had 4 plays of 20 yards or more last time out vs. Kansas, including 2 long scoring plays of 75 yards (Brad Smith rush) and 62 yards (Smith to Justin Gage pass).

The Tigers had 6 plays of 20 yards or more at Texas Tech, and held the Red Raiders to only 3 plays of 20 or more, despite the fact that Tech amassed over 600 yards of total offense.

PLAYING TAKEAWAY
After ranking just 62nd in the NCAA last season in turnover margin (-0.9 p/g), the Tigers focused in the offseason on creating making plays on defense.

The efforts have paid off greatly in the early going for MU, as the Tigers are +10 in turnover margin through 8 games, and the +1.25 per game average ranks them 12th in the NCAA (and 3rd in the Big 12), heading into the Iowa State game.

Mizzou didn't commit a turnover Saturday vs. Kansas, which marked the 3rd straight game that MU has gone without a turnover. The Tigers' 17 forced turnovers (9 fumbles, 8 INTs) have already surpassed the total of 15 turnovers (9 fumbles, 6 INTs) that MU forced last season.

Missouri had ranked 3rd in the NCAA, and tops in the Big 12, heading into its Oct. 5 tussle with #3 Oklahoma. But the Sooners capitalized on 3 MU turnovers, while committing none of their own.

Turnovers have proven to be a telling factor in MU's 8 games thus far. In MU's 4 wins, the Tigers are plus 11 in the turnover category (forcing 14 turnovers), while in its 4 losses, the Tigers are minus 1 (forcing just 3 turnovers).

The Tigers forced 5 turnovers on Sept. 28 vs. Troy State, as they gathered 4 interceptions (including a school-record-tying 3 by R.J. Jones) and 1 fumble recovery. James Kinney scored on a 14-yd. return in the 4th quarter on MU's final pickoff. The Tigers were also plus 5 against Ball State (4 fumbles, 1 INT), while comitting none themselves.

Illinois fumbled 4 times in the season opener, with Tauras Ferguson and James Kinney recovering one apiece. Kinney returned his 46 yards for a TD. That matched the number of defensive scores the Tigers turned in last season (Kevin Johnson returned an INT 59 yards last season at Colorado for the only defensive TD of the 2001 year by MU).

Last season, Mizzou rarely beat itself with turnovers, as the Tigers committed only 16 miscues in 2001. Only two Big 12 schools - Iowa State (14) and Texas A&M (15) - had fewer turnovers than Mizzou, and the 16 TOs were the 3rd-fewest in single-season school history.

RICKER TO MAKE IT 30 STRAIGHT
Junior center A.J. Ricker has been as dependable as they come. The Houston, Texas native, who was a pre-season candidate for the Rimington Award, has started all 30 games in his collegiate career for Mizzou. He'll make it 31 straight starts when he takes the field Saturday at Iowa State.

The MU record for consecutive starts is 42, co-held by Rob Riti (1996-99) and Mike Bedosky (1990-93).

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.

He's currently leading a unit that has Missouri rolling along, as the Tigers are ranked 4th in the Big 12 (26th in the NCAA) in rushing (201.50 ypg), 25th in the NCAA in total offense (412.13 ypg) and 31st in the NCAA in scoring (32.13 ppg).

Ricker was voted a team captain during fall camp by his teammates.

THE WRIGHT STUFF
Senior defensive tackle Keith Wright was a pleasant addition to the Tiger line in 2001. He was arguably MU's most valuable newcomer, and proved to be one of the Big 12's best defensive linemen (despite playing defensive tackle for the 1st time in his career), as he earned 2nd-Team All-Big 12 honors for his efforts.

Wright has been a key factor in MU's defensive line this year. He ranks 3rd on the team with 66 tackles through 8 games, including a Big 12-leading 17 tackles for loss - he ranked 2nd in the NCAA in that category recently (through rankings of Sept. 28).

Wright had 9 tackles and 2 sacks last time out vs. Kansas, and scored the 1st points of his collegiate career when he sacked KU's Jon Weatherbie in the endzone for a safety late in the game.

Wright had a big game recently vs. Nebraska, as he registered 13 tackles, including 3 behind the line of scrimmage. He also recorded a sack and a QB hurry on the day, as the Tiger defense allowed only two offensive TDs, and 17 points total, by the Huskers.

He had a 6-tackle performance against Troy State. Four of those stops were eye-popping stops behind the line, as he continually leveled big hits on Trojan running backs.

Wright had a career-high 14-tackle outing at Bowling Green. He was one of the few bright spots on defense for the Tigers that night, as he registered 4 tackles for losses of 14 yards.

A car enthusiast who recently completed the refurbishing of a 1968 Ford Mustang, Wright was named to the pre-season watch list for the prestigious Lombardi Award.

OUTLAW IS ON THE LOOSE
Senior WR Darius Outlaw is quickly developing into a consistent threat opposite the Tigers' big-name wide receiver Justin Gage (another converted QB).

Outlaw, who was a starter at quarterback for part of each of the last 2 seasons for Mizzou, switched to receiver prior to the 2002 campaign. It was unknown how much he'd be able to contribute, especially given the fact that he was playing receiver for the first time in his collegiate career.

Outlaw has come on strong in the last three weeks, proving he's doing just fine catching the ball instead of throwing it.

He's coming off a 4-catch, 51-yard outing vs. Kansas, and one of his grabs resulted in a 15-yard TD as he made a nice catch and got his feet down in the corner of the endzone.

Previously, Outlaw had a 10-catch, 89-yard outing at Texas Tech, numbers which both marked career highs. What's even more impressive is that he suffered a slightly separated shoulder early in the game, but returned shortly after asking to be allowed to go back in.

His production over the last 4 weeks (23 catches for 235 yards) has moved him into the #2 spot for the season on the team, in terms of production. He enters the Iowa State game with 28 catches for 321 yards and 2 TDs on the season.

Here's a look at a comparison of Outlaw's numbers between the first 4 games and his last 4 outings:

TIGERS NEARLY KNOCK OFF SOONERS
Mizzou gave a valiant effort, but came up just short of staging one of the biggest wins in school history recently, as the 3rd-ranked Oklahoma Sooners rallied for a 31-24 win in Columbia.

Freshman QB Brad Smith dazzled all with 391 yards of total offense (the 4th-highest single-game mark in MU history) vs. OU's highly-rated defensive squad, and led a Tiger comeback in the 2nd half that saw MU turn a 23-7 deficit into a 24-23 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

Oklahoma held leads of 10-0 and 23-7 before Smith led the Tigers to 17 straight points. He capped the MU surge with a 25-yard TD run with 10:22 left in the game to put the Tigers on top, 24-23.

After a defensive hold by the Tigers, OU came up with an interception deep in Missouri territory, and on 4th-and-8 from the Tiger 14, set up for a short field goal attempt. Oklahoma ran a fake, however, and despite double coverage, holder Matt McCoy completed a TD pass to 4th-string TE Chris Chester.

Mizzou got two more possessions to have a chance to tie the game, and the Tigers got as far as the OU 35 yard line in the final minute before the Sooner defense eventually held to seal the win.

Despite the OU win, Smith was clearly the star of the evening, as he racked up 213 yards rushing and 178 yards passing vs. a Sooner defense that came into the game allowing an average of just 88.0 yards rushing and 262.2 yards of total defense. Smith scored on a pair of 25-yard TD runs, and added a 23-yard TD pass to Justin Gage, who became MU's alltime leading receiver earlier in the contest.

A PERFECT QUARTER?
There might not be such a thing as a perfect quarter of football, especially if you ask any coach. But on Sept. 7, the Tigers came as close to perfect in the 3rd quarter vs. Ball State as one could hope for.

Leading just 7-6 at halftime, Missouri exploded for 27 points in the 3rd period, and when the dust settled, the Tigers held a commanding 34-6 lead heading into the final 15 minutes.

The MU defense was brilliant in the 3rd quarter, as the Tigers forced 2 BSU fumbles, held once on 4th down, and forced 1 punt.

On the flip side, the Tiger offense was opportunistic, as it scored touchdowns on all 4 of its 3rd-quarter possessions.

The 27 points scored in the 3rd quarter were more than Missouri scored in 7 of its 11 games during the 2001 season.

MU-ILLINOIS NOTES RECAP

DOYLE LEADS THE WAY
Senior LB Sean Doyle was all over the field in 2001, as he led the Tigers with 131 tackles. That total ranked 2nd in the Big 12 Conference, and ranked 7th nationally.

One of 4 team captains for the 2002 season, Doyle looks to crack the MU top-10 career tackles chart. He currently sits just outside the top 10 with 268 career stops. Lynn Evans ranks 10th on the list currently, with 316 tackles.

Doyle, who was a 1st-team All-Big 12 selection a year ago by The Dallas Morning News, was named to the pre-season watch list for the Butkus Award. Doyle recorded double-digit stops in 8-of-11 games last year, and twice set career-high tackle totals of 17, against Nebraska and Bowling Green.

He's gotten his senior campaign off to a solid start, with 23 tackles in two games. Doyle registered 16 stops last Saturday vs. Ball State, including 1 for a loss, and he also recovered a fumble that led to an ensuing Tiger TD.

Against Illinois, Doyle recorded 7 tackles, including a sack of 9 yards. He also nabbed his first career INT when he stepped in front of a pass from Illinois' Dustin Ward at the Illini 42 yard line with 4:52 left in the 2nd quarter.

JAMES PROVIDES RETURNS
In this day and age of market volatility, it's dangerous to compare anyone to the stock market. But if Tiger receiver/return man Marcus James was a stock, his performance last year would have been considered of the blue-chip variety.

James' biggest contributions were in the return game, where he led MU in both kickoff and punt returns, in addition to catching 6 passes for 75 yards and a TD.

Through two games this season, James has paid huge dividends to the Tiger return game. He's averaging 12.3 yards per punt return, on 9 attempts. That average ranks him 9th in the Big 12 right now, and 40th nationally.

Although James broke just one punt return of 20 yards or more last year, (21 yards at Kansas), his average return of 9.7 yards was the highest since Niu Sale averaged 17.4 for MU in 1990.

It was also the highest punt return average for anyone with a minimum of 10 returns in a season since James Caver averaged 10.0 in 26 returns in 1981.

KINNEY IS TOPS IN STOPS
Sophomore linebacker James Kinney takes a page out of the Teddy Roosevelt book: speak softly, but carry a big stick. He might be a soft-spoken underclassman, but carry a big stick he does, as the Kankakee, Ill. native leads the Tigers, and ranks 3rd in the Big 12 Conference with an average of 13.5 tackles per game.

Kinney is coming off a career-high 17-tackle performance last Saturday vs. Ball State. He had 11 solo stops vs. the Cardinals, including 2 for losses. He also recovered a fumble for the 2nd straight game.

Kinney opened the season by registering 10 tackles vs. Illinois. He had a sack of 7 yards vs. the Illini, and turned in arguably the pivotal play of the game, when he scooped up a fumble caused by teammate Antwaun Bynum, and raced untouched 46 yards for a TD that broke a 14-14 tie with 5:31 left in the 3rd quarter.

Kinney is continuing the progress that saw him emerge late last season as a redshirt freshman. He earned starts in the last 2 games of the year, and earned so much respect by his teammates that he was named one of 4 team captains for the 2002 season this fall.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
One player you won't find listed in the 2002 media guide is junior defensive lineman Russ Bell, who walked on to the football team late in the summer.

Bell, a three-time All-American for the MU track and field team (hammer, discus and weight throw) was a former all-state football player at nearby Jefferson City High School who gave up the game to concentrate on track in college.

While he'd been an unqualified success in track, he always missed the game of football, and decided this summer to try out for the squad. Bell didn't take long to impress Tiger coaches with his talent and work ethic, and he was moved to #2 on the depth chart at the nosetackle position, behind redshirt freshman C.J. Mosley.

Bell saw plenty of playing time in last Saturday's season opener vs. Illinois, and he ended with 1 pass break up and 1 QB hurry

Bell's addition to the squad represented a reunion of sorts, as he was high school teammates with current Tigers Justin Gage, Kirk Farmer and Brock Harvey. In fact, Bell and Gage have been going to the same schools together dating all the way back to pre-school.

In the 2002 track season, Bell was an All-American outdoors in the hammer throw (9th at the NCAA Championships with a mark of 206'3") and indoors in the weight throw (5th at 71'3 1/4"). He also earned All-American honors outdoors in 2001 in the discus (8th at 182'7").

HOLDING THE BALL
Missouri enjoyed a huge advantage in the time of possession category last Saturday vs. Illinois, as the Tigers controlled the ball for 35:21, compared to just 24:39 for the Illini.

That total marked a single-game high for Mizzou under Gary Pinkel. Last season, opponents held the ball for an average of 32:40 per game, compared to just 27:20 for the Tigers. In 2001, Missouri won the time of possession battle in just 2 games (30:20-to-29:40 vs. SW Texas; 33:46-to-26:14 at Kansas).

TIME OF POSSESSION
Missouri held a huge advantage in time of possession Saturday in its 33-20 win over Illinois, as the Tigers controlled the ball for 35:21, compared to just 24:39 for the Illini.

The time of possession marked a single-game high for Gary Pinkel at Missouri, and improved him to 3-0 at MU when winning the time of possession battle.

The Tigers won the time of possession battle only twice last season, and both times, they came out winners. MU downed Southwest Texas while holding a 30:20 to 29:40 advantage in possession time, and won at Kansas owning a 33:46-to-26:14 edge in possession time.

Opponents held the ball an average of 32 minutes, 40 seconds per game, to MU's 27:20.

The Tigers faced huge time of possession deficits against Texas (39:22-to-20:38) and Nebraska (37:07-to-22:53) in losses, and overcame a 13-minute disadvantage (36:30-to-23:30) at Oklahoma State to post a thrilling 3-overtime win.

A QUALITY BACKUP
Senior QB Kirk Farmer gives Mizzou quite a luxury as the team's No. 2 quarterback. He's a proven veteran who has extensive experience under center.

Farmer ranks among MU's top-10 career performers in passing yardage, passing TDs and total offense (see accompanying charts).

After missing the first 2 games on the 2001 season due to an off-season injury, Farmer returned to start 9 of MU's last 10 games. He racked up 1,946 yards of total offense, which was the 7th-highest single-season total in MU history. He threw for 1,567 yards and 13 TDs, to only 6 INTs. He ended as MU's 2nd-leading rusher, with 379 yards on 59 carries (a healthy average of 6.4 yards per attempt). He ran for 3 TDs on the year.

Farmer had a standout game last year vs. Baylor, when he threw for a career-best 360 yards (on 23-of-34 passing), which was the 6th-highest single-game mark in school history. He also led MU to comeback wins on the road at Oklahoma State and Kansas, both games in which the Tigers trailed by 14 points at one time.

THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY
Mizzou was a respectable 44.4% on third down conversions last Saturday vs. Illinois, converting on 8-of-18 third down opportunities.

MU converted 53.3% of its third downs (8-of-15) to the midway point of the fourth quarter, but shut the offense down a bit as clock management became the focus.

On the other side of the ball, MU was very successful on third down, as they held the Illini to just 18.8% (3-of-16) on third down.

Illinois was just 2-of-6 in the first half on third downs, and just 2-of-10 in the second half, including just 1-of-6 in the fourth quarter when the Tigers were able to pin their ears back with a big lead.

The numbers correlate to indicators of success for the Tigers last season. In its 4 wins during the 2001 season, MU converted a respectable 49.2% of its third down tries (29-of-59). In the Tigers' losses, MU was successful on just 26.7% on third down (28-of-105).

DISCIPLINED TIGERS
Every football coach in the land preaches discipline to his squad. Despite being in its first year at Missouri in 2001, Gary Pinkel's staff got through to their new team quite impressively.

Missouri committed just 56 penalties last year, for a total of 444 yards. That was good for a Big 12 Conference low average of just 5.1 penalties per game for an average of only 40.4 yards per outing.

Mizzou continued its compliant ways in last Saturday's season-opener vs. Illinois, as the Tigers were whistled for just 5 penalties for 39 yards.

MU's offensive unit, which was starting three new offensive linemen in addition to its brand new quarterback, was penalized just one time vs. Illinois - a 5-yard illegal procedure call in the first half. Mizzou's defense was whistled three times (2 pass interferences and 1 offside), while the special teams punt cover squad was whistled for a halo infraction.