Football

MIZZOU 62, Texas Tech 31

Oct. 25, 2003

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  • With the 62-31 victory over Texas Tech, Missouri became bowl eligible for the first time since the 1998 season (Insight.com Bowl vs. West Virginia).
  • Brad Smith's 419 yards of offense against the Red Raiders pushed him over the 5,000 yard mark for his career, and was the second highest total in school history to Jeff Handy's 471 yards against Oklahoma State in 1992.
  • Smith's 291 yards rushing broke his own school quarterback rushing record set last season against Oklahoma, coming 17 yards shy of the NCAA rushing record for a quarterback (308 by Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State in 1990). That mark was also the second most rushing yards for any Tiger in school history behind Devin West's 319 yards in 1998, and a Big 12 quarterback record.
  • Smith's 15.3 average rush per carry broke the previous Big 12 record of 14.0 yards/rush set by Kansas State's Michael Bishop against the Tigers in 1997.
  • Smith's five touchdowns set a school record for scores in a game. The previous record was four touchdown runs in a single game, most recently attained by Smith against Nebraska earlier this year. The total of five is the third most of any Division I-A player this season. Oklahoma State's Rashaun Woods had seven, and Auburn's Cadillac Williams had six.
  • Smith's rushing total is the highest by any player in NCAA Division I-A coming into today; the previous highest rushing total coming into today was 269 yards by Ryan Moats (Louisiana Tech) against Hawaii on Oct. 18.
  • Missouri racked up 597 yards of offense in the game, the most this season, eclipsing the 509 yards it amassed against Eastern Illinois on Sept. 13.
  • The Tigers' 469 yards of team rushing is the highest total for a Division I-A school this season. The previous high was 437 by Texas A&M against Baylor on Oct. 11, and Arkansas State vs. Tennessee-Martin on Sept. 6.
  • The 62 points scored was the most by the Tigers since they put up a school-record 69 against Kansas in 1969. The most points MU had scored under Pinkel was 44 against Troy State last season. It was the most fourth-quarter points (28) Missouri has scored under Pinkel.
  • Missouri's eight rushing touchdowns set a new mark under Pinkel - four times previously, MU had rushed for four scores.
  • Michael Matheny's 33-yard field goal with 10:56 remaining in the first quarter was his longest of the season. He matched that with another 33-yard kick at 12:40 in the second quarter. His previous long was 26 yards on Oct 18, against Oklahoma.
  • The field goal kick by Matheny marked the first time this season that Missouri scored on its first possession of a game.
  • Matheny's eight extra points tied a school record achieved four different times, most recently in 1984.
  • Shirdonya Mitchell's 48-yard kickoff return at 9:11 in the first quarter was his longest of the season and the longest return of the season for Missouri. The Tigers' previous long was Mitchell's 46-yard return against Ball State on Sept. 6.
  • Zack Abron finally reached the top of the MU career touchdown list with three touchdown runs in the game. The scores were the 36th, 37th and 38th of Abron's career, tying him with Corby Jones (1995-98) for the all-time mark.
  • Abron also tied Jones for the Missouri career scoring lead with 228 points with a touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
  • Nino Williams recorded his team-leading third fumble recovery of the season at 5:07 in the first quarter. The fumble was forced by Brandon Barnes for his first forced fumble of the season.
  • The 17 points scored by the Tigers in the first quarter was the most scored by Missouri since recording 21 points in the opening period on Sept. 2, 2000 vs. Western Illinois (Div. I-AA). It was the most scored in the first quarter by MU against a Division I-A opponent since Nov. 7, 1998, when Mizzou scored 17 in the first quarter against Colorado. The total is also the most scored by the Tigers in the 1st quarter under coach Gary Pinkel. Their previous high was 14 points against Baylor on Nov. 11, 2001.
  • Missouri added another 17 points in the second quarter, giving them 34 in the half - the most for any Pinkel-led team since the Baylor game in 2001.
  • James Kinney's 21-yard interception return in the second quarter was Missouri's season-high second pick of the game. The Tigers came into the game having picked off only three passes on the season, and finished with four for the game.
  • The 408 yards passing by Texas Tech's B.J. Symons is the most allowed by the Tigers since 2002 when Iowa State's Seneca Wallace put up 425 yards for the Cyclones.
  • The victory was the Tigers' first on Fox Sports Net since Oct. 2, 1999, when the Tigers defeated Memphis.