Spring Practice Report, Day 10
4/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 9, 2002
COLUMBIA, Mo.- The Missouri Tigers were back on the practice fields on Tuesday afternoon on a beautiful spring afternoon in Columbia. The intensity on the football field continues to get better with each day, as was the case again on Tuesday.
As they have each practice this spring, the Tigers accomplished a lot of individual position drills before coming together for four hard fought team periods. One of the standouts on Tuesday was redshirt freshman offensive lineman Tony Palmer. The Midwest City, Okla. native made the move to the second team of the depth chart following Saturday's scrimmage, and proved that the move was the right one on Tuesday. Palmer made at least three pancake blocks in one-on-one and two-on-two drills with the defensive line. He also played well during the team periods.
The defense continued to shine on Tuesday. The Mizzou defensive line, led by senior defensive end Antwaun Bynum, continued to stifle the Tigers' running game. Redshirt freshmen linebackers Brandon Smith and Derrick Ming keep improving each day, and both had solid practices for the Tigers on Tuesday.
Offensively, Missouri quarterbacks Brad Smith, Kirk Farmer and Santino Riccio all had good practices. For the first time this spring, the offense did not turn the ball. All three quarterbacks used a full-speed Justin Gage to their advantage. It is the first practice that Gage has been allowed to participate in contact drills. Gage made an acrobatic catch during the option drill when he caught a fly pattern from Riccio by going over the top of cornerback Michael Harden and tipping the ball to himself.
The Tigers are off on Wednesday and will return to the practice fields on Thursday afternoon. Mizzou will scrimmage for the second time this Saturday on Faurot Field at 3:30 p.m.
