SMITH HAD IMPRESSIVE STATISTICAL DAY AT COLORADO
Critics will point to the 4 turnovers that MU QB Brad Smith had on Saturday, but we'll choose to take the "glass half-full" approach and tell you that despite the uncharacteristic miscues, Smith still had a pretty impressive day at Colorado.

The sophomore signal caller had 380 yards of total offense on the day, as he completed a career-best 29 passes (in 42 attempts) for a season-high 278 yards. He spread the ball to 10 different Tiger receivers on the day, and hit for 2 TDs, going for 17 yards to TE Victor Sesay and 48 yards to TB Damien Nash. Smith also added 102 yards on the ground, marking the 2nd time in his career that he has thrown for 200 yards and rushed for 100 yards in a game (the other was a 213-yard passing and 137-yard rushing effort in 2002 vs. Troy State).

In just his 21st career game, Smith moved into 5th place on the MU career passing charts in the game. His 278 yards Saturday gives him 3,803 yards for his career, and he passed former Tigers Phil Johnson (3,525 yards) and Corby Jones (3,697) in the process. Smith is now moving up on several single-season lists. He ranks 3rd on the single-season total offense chart (2,423 yards), 5th on the scoring chart (82 pts.) and 7th on the rushing list (953 yds.)

NASH'S BIG DASH WAS A BRIGHT SPOT FOR MIZZOU
Tiger fans have been waiting for the big-play potential of sophomore TB Damien Nash to surface, and on Saturday they got what they were looking for when he took a 4th-quarter swing pass from Brad Smith and weaved his way through myraid CU defenders for a 48-yard TD that pulled MU to within 21-16 with 5 minutes left in the game.

His brilliant maneuvering gave life to MU and showed that he can make some big contributions down the stretch. Nash finished the game with a career-best 84 yards from scrimmage, as he caught a career-best 4 balls for 63 yards and also carried 5 times for 21 yards. The TD catch was his first as a Tiger, and also served as the longest TD pass for Mizzou this season.

The St. Louis, Mo., native is currently 3rd on the squad in rushing, with 234 yards on 58 attempts through 9 games, good for a per-carry average of 4.0 yards. mizzou-TEXAS A&M series notes

Mizzou and Texas A&M will meet for just the 8th time when they do battle on Saturday, with the Aggies holding a 6-1 lead in 7 previous meetings.

Mizzou broke through last season for its first-ever win over A&M, as the Tigers claimed a thrilling 33-27 double overtime win in game 11 at College Station. The win came one week after A&M had defeated top-ranked Oklahoma on the same Kyle Field surface.

Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference, A&M holds a 2-1 lead in the series, winning 17-14 in College Station in 1998 and 51-14 in Columbia in 1999. Prior to the formation of the Big 12, A&M dealt Mizzou its 2nd-worst defeat in school history in 1993, when it claimed a 73-0 win in College Station. Mizzou is looking for its first win over A&M in Columbia, as the Tigers have dropped games here to the Aggies in 1957 (28-0), 1992 (26-13) and 1999 (51-14).

Mizzou Head Coach Gary Pinkel is 1-0 against Texas A&M, thanks to the Tigers' double-overtime victory at College Station last year. A&M skipper Dennis Franchione is 19-0 lifetime against Missouri schools, that is, schools with the name "Missouri" attached to them. While Saturday will be Franchione's first career outing against Mizzou, he is a combined 19-0 against Missouri-Rolla (5-0), Missouri Southern (5-0), Missouri Western (5-0), Northwest Missouri (2-0), Central Missouri (1-0) and Southeast Missouri (1-0). All 19 of those games came during his 5-year tenure as head coach at NAIA/NCAA D-II Pittsburg State, from 1985-89.

LAST YEAR: MIZZOU 33, TEXAS A&M 27 (2-OT)
Missouri earned its first win in school history over Texas A&M with a hardfought 33-27 double-overtime thriller in College Station, Texas. The win was secured by freshman QB Brad Smith when he snuck in from 1 yard out in the 2nd overtime after Tiger CB Michael Harden intercepted A&M's Dustin Long on the Aggies' possession. Junior TB Zack Abron was a hero in OT, as he carried 4 straight times for 24 yards to set up the game winner. Abron ended the day with a season-high 126 yards rushing.

Mizzou entered the game as 9 1/2-point underdogs, largely due to the fact that A&M had beaten previously unbeaten and #1-ranked Oklahoma on the same Kyle Field turf the week before. But the Tigers showed early that they were not intimidated, as they drove 78 yards on the game's opening possession to take a quick 3-0 lead on a 20-yard field goal by Mike Matheny.

After A&M countered with a short field goal of its own, Mizzou scored consecutive TDs in the 2nd quarter, on a 9-yard run by Abron and an 8-yard pass to Abron from Smith to take a 17-3 halftime lead. The Aggies rallied to score consecutive short TD runs to tie the game at 17 apiece early in the 4th quarter, but the unflappable Smith led MU on a brilliant 13-play, 88-yard drive to take the lead back at 24-17 with 8:40 left when he hit WR Justin Gage on a quick slant that Gage broke the distance for a 32-yard score.

After the teams traded punts, A&M took over one last time on their own 24 yardline with 3:42 left. A bizarre series of events, including an MU interception and subsequent fumble back to A&M by LB Sean Doyle, 2 pass interference penalties and 1 late hit call aided the Aggies, as they scored the game-tying TD with just 15 seconds left from 1 yard out.

The teams traded 40 yard field goals in the first overtime, before MU stopped the Aggies in the 2nd extra period.

HOME, SWEET HOME
Faurot Field has been a house of horrors for visiting teams thus far in 2003 - a trend that the Tigers undoubtedly would like to continue this Saturday against a Texas A&M team that it has never beaten in Columbia.

Mizzou's average margin of victory at home this season is a whopping 21.5 points, as MU has outscored foes by a 181-95 margin in 4 games at Faurot. That's a huge improvement from last season, when the Tigers were only 3-3 at home and outscored opponents by a 180-136 spread, for an average margin of +7.3 points per game. Included in this year's total was a 62-point outing against Texas Tech, which is the most points ever scored by MU at Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1926. MU is averaging 511.5 yards of total offense in its previous 4 home games this season, which breaks down to 299.2 rushing and 212.2 passing. Mizzou has poured it on in the 4th quarter, especially, as the Tigers have outscored opponents by a 76-10 margin at home this year in the final 15 minutes of play. The only scores in the 4th quarter by visiting teams this year have been a TD pass by Texas Tech and a FG by Middle Tennessee State.

Individually, QB Brad Smith is averaging a whopping 330.2 yards of total offense on his own at Faurot Field this year (184.0 passing/146.2 rushing) and has 14 total TDs (5 passing/9 rushing). Smith is averaging an eye-popping 10.3 yards per rush, with 585 net yards on 57 attempts at home. Senior TB Zack Abron, who needs just 224 rushing yards to break the MU career record of 3,026, is averaging a healthy 113.0 yards per game on the ground at home this season.

TIGERS HAVE OWNED 4TH QUARTER OF LATE
Most every team in football focuses on how it plays late in the game, but Mizzou has really turned it up a notch, if you will, in the 4th quarter of late. Consider the fact that MU has outscored its last 4 opponents by a combined 65-7 in the 4th quarter, and you'll see we're just not whistling Dixie. Here's the breakdown:

Through 9 games this season, MU holds a 101-38 scoring advantage in the 4th period. That's a nice improvement from the 88-68 edge they held in the 4th quarter during the 2002 season, and an otherworldly advance from an eye-popping 102-47 scoring deficit the Tigers faced in the 4th quarter in 2001.

SPECIAL TEAMS WERE STEADY IN THE MOUNTAIN AIR
Mizzou special teams played quite well last Saturday at Colorado. Most pleasing was the punting team, as junior P Brock Harvey averaged a season-best 51.0 yards on 2 punts. He nailed a 62-yarder, which was his first of 60 yards since the Nebraska game. Hopefully, that's a sign that Harvey is breaking free from his struggles that saw him average an uncharacteristic 34.3 yards in his previous 5 games (21 punts for 720 yards).

The kick coverage team was solid as well, as it held CU return specialist Jeremy Bloom in check. Bloom returned 1 punt for 17 yards and 1 kickoff for 17 yards, and CU's other kickoff return went for just 20 yards, as well.

Marcus James BREAKS ONE MU CAREER RETURN RECORD; ONE MORE TO COME?
Senior WR/KR MARCUS JAMES has broken one long-standing MU career return record already this season, and is on the verge of claiming another. The diminutive one (he's 5-8, 174) broke the career record for combined returns when he returned the 112th kick of his career against Kansas on Sept. 27th. That broke the old standard of 111 set by former Tiger standout Mike Fink (1970-72).

James is also just 39 return yards away from breaking Fink's career combined kick return record of 1,692 yards. He enters Saturday's game vs. Texas A&M with 1,654 combined yards in returns, and that breaks down to 72 career punt returns for 833 yards (an average of 11.6 which is now ahead of the MU career record of 11.5 set by Roger Wehrli) and 46 kickoff returns for 821 yards (an average of 17.8 per return). His season punt return average of 13.4 currently ranks him 15th in the NCAA. He's coming off a big game in the return area at Colorado, where he averaged 19.7 yards on 3 punt returns, including big gainers of 37 and 32 yards that set MU up in CU territory. He also had a big 3rd-down catch for 6 yards on a 3rd-and-5 in the 3rd quarter against the Buffs.

A wonderful young man who is a great representative of the University, James is currently the President of the MU Student-Athlete Advisory Council. He spoke on earlier this fall (Sept. 24th) to nearly 200 athletic department staff members who attended the department's monthly full staff meeting.

MORE MR. SMITH BANTER
For those of you who are fans of the popular Matrix movies, you'll know Mr. Smith as the primary antagonist of the series. In the 2nd Matrix movie, Mr. Smith was seen replicating himself, as hundreds of Smiths appeared at the same time. You have to wonder if Mizzou's version of Mr. Smith has opponents feeling they've seen hundreds of him on the field, especially of late. Here's why, when reviewing his last 4 games, in bullet-point order:

ZACK ATTACK ASCENDS TO TOP OF SCHOOL SCORING CHARTS
Senior TB Zack Abron entered the season having quietly amassed one of the best rushing careers in MU history. He's not the flashy, speed-burner type that wows people, and maybe that's why he's sort of flown under the radar, if you will.

The fact is, however, that with 2,803 career rushing yards entering Saturday's game vs. Texas A&M, Abron has a shot at becoming MU's alltime career leading rusher if he produces just 224 more yards this season (he'd need to average 74.7 yards per game in MU's remaining 3 regular season games and 56.0 if MU plays in a bowl game). He entered the 2003 season ranked 8th on MU's career rushing chart, with 2,043 yards, and his current total puts him 3rd on the yardage chart.

Abron is looking to bounce back from a tough outing at Colorado, as the Buffs held him to 46 yards on 15 carries, an average of 3.1 yards per rush.

Prior to that, Abron had a solid 139-yard, 3-TD rushing day against Texas Tech. The yardage total was the 2nd-best of his career, and marked his 10th 100-yard game as a Tiger. His 3 TDs (from 3, 4, and 2 yards out) were historic, as they gave him career totals of 38 TDs (36 rushing/2 receiving) and 228 points - putting him in a tie for 1st place with former QB Corby Jones on the MU career charts. Obviously, his next score will make him MU's alltime scoring and TD king.

Abron had a 112-yard day Sept. 27th vs. Kansas - marking his 2nd straight game over the century mark and the 9th of his Tiger career. He notched the 1st 100 yard rushing day of his 2003 season when he tallied a game-best 138 yards on 18 attempts vs. Middle Tennessee State. He added a 2nd quarter TD scamper from 8 yards out that put MU up 23-14. Earlier in the 2nd quarter, he raced 64 yards around left end - a gain that represented a career long.

A virtual lock to pick up short yardage situations, Abron is 7-of-9 on 3rd-and-1 situations on the year, and is 6-of-6 on 4th-and-1 tries thus far. He has also developed into a pass-catching threat, as he has caught 24 passes for 168 yards thru 9 games thus far, more than tripling his career total of 8 catches for 56 yards in his previous 3 seasons.

MATHENY HAVING SOLID YEAR
Senior PK Mike Matheny is quietly having a very solid year for the Tigers. Due to MU's impressive redzone efficiency, he's only been called on to attempt 9 field goals in 9 games this year, but he's delivered successfully 8 times so far, for a percentage of 88.9%.

He's also made 31-of-34 extra point tries thus far, and has a shot at breaking the MU single-season record of 43 extra points made by Scott Knickman in 1997.

Matheny tied an MU single-game record on Oct. 25th when he went a perfect 8-of-8 on PATs against Texas Tech, as MU rolled to a 62-31 win at Faurot Field. That tied a single game record accomplished 4 times previously, most recently by Brad Burditt vs. Kansas State in 1984.

Matheny experienced quite a roller coaster ride of emotions earlier this year in MU's 41-40 overtime win over Middle Tennessee State.

The Columbia, Mo. native, and former walk-on had his share of struggles during the game, as he had 2 extra point attempts blocked (one missed, the other went through the uprights), and twice kicked the ball out of bounds on kickoffs, giving MTSU solid field position which the Blue Raiders turned into a total of 10 points.

Matheny came up big in the clutch though, and went from "zero to hero" as he stated in the post-game interview room when speaking with reporters, as he calmly booted the game-winning extra point through the uprights in overtime to give MU the one-point win.

Matheny's OT extra point was extra special, as it came from 36 yards away, due to a 15-yard penalty assessed the Tigers for excessive celebration after Brad Smith rambled in from 3 yards out to tie the game at 40 apiece.

Despite the extra distance, and an MTSU timeout in attempt to ice Matheny, he came through, and was subsequently mobbed by his teammates. Matheny also came up big in the 4th quarter, as he nailed a 25-yarder with 10:53 left in the game to pull MU to within 31-26. He also was good on a 21-yard field goal in the 2nd quarter.

Matheny, who made 9-of-13 field goals and 40-of-42 PATs for Mizzou after walking onto the squad prior to the 2002 season, has proven to be a solid kicker at crunch time. He nailed a 40-yarder in the 1st OT last year at Texas A&M, giving MU a 27-24 lead in a game that the Tigers eventually won in double overtime.

TIGERS GAIN BOWL ELIGIBILITY WITH BIG WIN OVER TEXAS TECH
Mizzou's 62-31 win on Oct. 25th over Texas Tech was significant for the way the Tigers won the game, but it was even more significant because of the fact that it gave MU 6 wins on the year and made the Tigers bowl eligibile.

It marks the first time since 1998, and just the 3rd time overall since 1983 that MU is qualified to play in a post-season classic. Since 1983, the only 2 other times the Tigers went bowling were appearances in the 1997 Holiday Bowl and the 1998 Insight.com Bowl. Despite the recent bowl-game dry spell in recent years, Mizzou still ranks 30th alltime with most bowl appearances (21) and 29th alltime with in bowl wins (9).

DEFENSE HOLDING ITS OWN
The Tiger defense has faced some challenges recently, but Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberlus' troops have acquitted themselves quite nicely. In recent consecutive games, MU faced an offense that ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring coming into the game.

First up was Oklahoma, which had the nation's No. 1 scoring offense, at 47.67 points per game coming into its Oct. 18th game in Norman. The Tigers held the Sooners to 34 points, nearly 2 touchdowns below their average.

After that was the high-flying Texas Tech aerial attack. Despite the staggering numbers facing them, MU's defense held the Red Raiders to 16 points and nearly 100 yards under their per-game averages coming into the game. Texas Tech was ranked No. 1 in the nation in both scoring average (47.1 ppg) and total offense (627.4 ypg) coming into the contest.

Last time out at Colorado, the Tiger defense held CU to 276 yards of total offense, including 187 yards passing, both well below CU's per-game averages of 385.11 yards and 289.67 yards, respectively, going into the game.

MISSOURI DOESN'T BEAT MISSOURI ON PINKEL'S WATCH
When Mizzou commits mistakes (turnovers, penalties, etc...), MU Head Coach Gary Pinkel often refers to that as "Missouri beating Missouri." Fortunately for the Tigers' 3rd-year skipper, that hasn't happened often at all.

In fact, NCAA stats show that in Pinkel's time at Mizzou (from 2001 through games of Nov. 1st), MU has had the fewest turnovers in the nation, by far.

In the 32 games in the Pinkel regime, MU has committed just 37 turnovers. The next fewest during that same period is Minnesota, with 45. The next best team in the Big 12 is Oklahoma, who rates 6th-best, at 51 turnovers. Please see the accompanying chart for more details.

Through 9 games this season, Mizzou leads the nation with just 9 turnovers lost, tied with Toledo for the top spot (Pinkel's former school, by the way).

The Tigers are coming off an uncharacteristic 4-turnover game at Colorado, as the Buffs recorded 2 interceptions and recovered 2 fumbles on the day. That marked the most turnovers in a game by a Pinkel-coached Tiger squad.

In 2002, Mizzou committed a school-record low 12 turnovers in 12 games, a number which led the NCAA. Under Pinkel, Mizzou has committed zero turnovers in 11 of 32 ballgames.

THE BRAD SMITH PAGE
His name might be common, but the considerable talents of MU sophomore QB Brad Smith are anything but. A pre-season "darkhorse" Heisman candidate by many outlets, Smith recently put his name among legitimate contenders for the prestigious award with his play of late, as he's led MU to bowl elgibility for only the 3rd time since 1983.

Smith is coming off a solid statistical day at Colorado, as he amassed 380 yards of total offense. He completed a career-high 29 passes (in 42 attempts) and threw for a season-best 278 yards and 2 TDs in the game, and added 102 yards rushing on the day. That marked the 2nd time in his career that Smith has thrown for 200 yards and rushed for 100 in a game (the other was vs. Troy State in 2002). Smith enters the Texas A&M game ranked 11th in the NCAA in points responsible for (15.78 ppg), 16th in the NCAA in scoring (9.11 ppg), 18th in the NCAA in rushing (105.89 ypg) and 21st in the NCAA in total offense (269.22 ypg).

Previously, Smith turned in a monster performance against Texas Tech, as he rushed for an MU QB-record 291 yards and a school-record 5 TDs (covering 10, 27, 2, 41 and 61 yards, respectively) in MU's 62-31 win on Oct. 25th. He also added 128 passing yards on the day, and ended with a career-high 419 total yards, which ranked 2nd-most in MU single-game history. His rushing total was just 17 yards shy of the NCAA record for QBs - 308 by Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State in 1990. Smith's ridiculous average per rush of 15.3 yards (on 19 carries) broke the Big 12 single-game record.

His 291 yard outing also ranks as the single-game high in the NCAA thus far for 2003. For his efforts, Smith was named national player of the week by such outlets as USA Today, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, and Fox Sports, among others, in addition to being named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for the 2nd time in 3 games.

In his last 4 games (with 2 of the vs. top-10 teams, nonetheless), Smith is averaging 333.0 yards in total offense, a stark improvement from his average of 218.2 in MU's 1st 5 outings.

Prior to the Texas Tech game, Smith had 230 yards of offense at Oklahoma, and was giving the top-ranked Sooners everything they could handle, against an OU defense that ranks among the nation's leaders in most categories. He threw for 180 yards and ran for another 50, including a brilliant 26-yard TD scamper that tied the game at 10 apiece in the 2nd quarter, before OU pulled away.

Prior to that, Smith had a steller performance against Nebraska, as he led Mizzou to its first win in 25 years over the Huskers. He had 303 yards of total offense (180 passing, 123 rushing) and tied a school record by scoring 4 touchdowns (3 rushing, 1 receiving). His reception was a 47-yard TD grab off a throwback pass from former QB Darius Outlaw. Smith was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

A FEW QUICK CAREER UPDATES REGARDING SMITH:

This comes after a season in which Smith amassed 3,362 yards of total offense (an MU record), and became only the 2nd player in Division IA history to throw for 2,000 yards (2,333 to be exact) and rush for 1,000 yards (1,029) in the same season. With 1,470 yards passing through 9 games this year, Smith will need to average 176.67 passing yards per game in MU's final 3 games to reach 2,000.

RICKER TO EXTEND SCHOOL RECORD WITH HIS 44TH STRAIGHT START SATURDAY
Senior 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 43 games in his collegiate career for Mizzou. The last time someone other than Ricker started at center for Mizzou was 1999. He'll make it 44 straight starts when he takes the field Saturday against Texas A&M.

That ironman feat established his name in the MU record books for consecutive starts, as he has broken the MU record of 42, co-held by Rob Riti (1996-99) and Mike Bedosky (1990-93). Since Ricker directly followed Riti, and Riti played center exclusively from 1997-99, that means that only two people have started at center for MU since 1997.

Ricker is the leader of an offensive line which currently ranks 11th in the nation in rushing, averaging 220.9 yards per game on the ground. MU recently had a game against Texas Tech where the Tigers ran for a 2003 NCAA single-game high 469 yards.

Ricker was a key cog in 2001's line that helped pave the way for MU to rank 5th in the Big 12 in rushing. The line also allowed just 6 sacks in 2001, which was the 3rd-lowest total in the nation. Last season, he led a unit that had Missouri rolling along, as the Tigers ranked 5th in the Big 12 (37th in the NCAA) in rushing (183.67 ypg), 5th in the Big 12 & 45th in the NCAA in total offense (386.83 ypg) and 43rd in the NCAA in scoring (30.00 ppg).

CARDIAC' TIGERS HAVE PLATED 3 COMEBACK WINS ON THE SEASON
In the course of MU's win against Nebraska, Mizzou rallied from a 10-point 4th-quarter deficit to post the 41-24 win. The comeback win was the 3rd of the season for Mizzou. Here's a look:

MIZZOU IS NCAA'S ALLTIME OVERTIME KING
Overtime is becoming old hat around Mizzou. Since the rule was put into effect for the 1996 season, Mizzou leads the nation with 9 overtime games played. With MU's 41-40 OT earlier win against Middle Tennessee State, the Tigers improved to 6-3 alltime in overtime games, a win total which also is most in the NCAA.

Mizzou went 1-1 last season in overtime affairs, dropping a tough 42-35 home overtime game to #18 Colorado and the very next week winning a 33-27 double overtime thriller at Texas A&M, the week after A&M beat #1-ranked Oklahoma on the same field.

Mizzou made some history with its consecutive overtime games - that marked the first time in NCAA history that a Div. I-A team played overtime games in consecutive weeks.

Interestingly, MU Head Coach Gary Pinkel won the very first overtime game played in Division I history when his Toledo Rockets beat Nevada, 40-37, in the 1995 Las Vegas Bowl. The overtime rule was put into effect for that bowl season, and has been in use ever since. Pinkel is now 5-1 alltime in his career in overtime games, including 3-1 at Mizzou.

DROEGE EARNS PRESTIGIOUS ACADEMIC AWARD
University of Missouri senior offensive tackle Rob Droege has been named a 2003 National Scholar-Athlete, as announced recently by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

Droege, a native of St. Louis, Mo., was one of 15 student-athletes, including one of eight from Division I-A, to receive the prestigious award. He will be honored at the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame's 46th Annual Awards Dinner on December 9th at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Droege will receive an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship as part of the award.

Droege is the 9th Tiger football player to earn the prestigious award, joining the likes of QB Corby Jones (1998), OG Mike Bedosky (1993), QB Kent Kiefer (1990), LB Van Darkow (1981), LB Chris Garlich (1978), DT Bill Powell (1966), T David Gill (1963) and HB Fred Brossart (1960).

Droege, considered one of the top tackles in the nation, is a driving force behind a Tiger offense that currently ranks 11th nationally in rushing, at 220.9 yards per game. Mizzou is currently 6-3 in 2003 and bowl eligible for the first time since 1998, and recently had a 469-yard rushing day in a 62-31 win over Texas Tech - a total which is the best in the nation this year.

The 6-foot-6, 305-pound tackle was a pre-season second team All-American selection by Street & Smith's, and remains on the watch list for both the Lombardi and Outland trophies. He was a first team All-Big 12 selection as a junior last season, and is a three-time first team Academic All-Big 12 awardee. Also a two-time Academic All-America District VII winner, Droege completed his undergraduate degree last May with Summa Cum Laude honors, and is currently enrolled in Missouri's Education Administration graduate program. To be eligible for the post-graduate fellowship, nominees must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, have shown superior academic application and performance, have outstanding football ability as a first team player, and have demonstrated strong leadership qualities.