Football Team Names 2002 Season Captains
8/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 12, 2002
Columbia, Mo. - With two-a-day practices continuing in Columbia, the Tiger football squad selected its 2002 season captains, as announced today by Head Coach Gary Pinkel.
Those picked to represent the squad include seniors Sean Doyle and Justin Gage, junior A.J. Ricker and sophomore James Kinney.
Doyle, the Big 12 Conference tackles leader a year ago (131 tackles), enters the 2002 season with 245 career stops, and needs 71 more to crack the MU top-10 list. He was a first-team All-Big 12 selection last season by The Dallas Morning News.
Gage, a first-team All-Big 12 performer a year ago after catching 74 passes for 920 yards and five touchdowns, is looking to establish himself as Mizzou's top receiver of alltime. The Jefferson City, Mo. native enters the 2002 season ranking fourth on the MU career charts in both receptions (118) and receiving yardage (1,629), and needs just 34 catches for 516 yards to move into first on both lists. He was a pre-season first-team All-Big 12 selection by league media.
Ricker established himself last season as the anchor of an offensive line that ranked third in the nation with just six sacks allowed. The center from Klein, Texas has started all 22 games in his Tiger career, and helped Missouri rank fifth in the Big 12 Conference last season in rushing. He is a pre-season candidate for the Dave Rimington Award, which goes to the nation's best center.
Kinney, a sophomore linebacker from Kankakee, Ill., played in 10 games last year as a redshirt freshman, and came on strong at the end of the season. He started the last two games of last season, and racked up 10 tackles vs. Baylor, and added seven stops and a fumble recovery at Michigan State.
