Aug. 16, 2004

Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri football team resumed practice Monday with two workouts as it continues preparations for the 2004 season. Monday's morning workout was held in full pads at Memorial Stadium, with the afternoon session in pads and shorts on the grass practice fields. Following were some highlights from the morning practice... In one-on-one passing drills, QB Brad Smith connected with WR Brad Ekwerekwu for a 40-yard TD pass. Freshman TE Martin Rucker make a nice diving catch in the same drill, while QB Darrell Jackson and WR Jason Ray hooked up on a 40-yard TD, with Ray catching a ball over the middle and outracing his defender to the endzone. Defensive back Marcus King also had a nice interception in the drill... In goal-line scrimmaging, tailbacks Jimmy Jackson and Damien Nash both scored on runs from just under 10 yards out. On the defensive side of the ball, linemen Lorenzo Williams, Zach Ville, Atiyyah Ellison and Xzavie Jackson all had big hits to thwart scoring attempts by the offense... In seven-on-seven passing drills, Smith made nice completions to WR Thomson Omboga and TE Victor Sesay, while safety Quincy Wade had an interception on a nice break on an out pattern. Linebacker Dedrick Harrington also added an interception of his own on a deflected pass in the drill... In later goal-line scrimmaging, the defense made quite a bit of noise, as linebacker David Richard recorded a sack, and CB Calvin Washington broke up a pass in the end zone on a fade route. Marcus King recovered a fumble on a bobbled QB/C exchange, and linebacker Emmett Morris, Jr. blew up a running play by nailing the tailback in the backfield before he could get anywhere. Offensive highlights in the drill came from Damien Nash, who darted around right end for a TD, and a Brandon Coleman-to-Jason Gannon TD pass, with Gannon sliding in the endzone to make a nice scoring grab... In 11-on-11 scrimagging, linebacker Derrick Ming picked off a deflected pass for the defense... In other notes, Mizzou Athletic Department officials were very pleased with the turnout of its second annual Fan Day, which was held at Memorial Stadium Sunday afternoon. An estimated 3,500 fans came to see the team and get autographs and photos with their favorite Tigers. Quarterback Brad Smith, of course, was the focal point for most fans, and he signed 847 autographs in the course of 1 1/2 hours... In media notes, New York Times writer Pete Thamel is in Columbia for a couple of days as he is doing interviews in conjuction with a story he is working on for the paper about Brad Smith. The story is slated to be a feature about Smith and how much he has meant to the program, and the University as a whole, in his short time here, and is scheduled to run in the paper's college football preview section in a couple of weeks. Be sure to read the New York Times for the piece.