Aug. 19, 2004
Columbia, Mo. - It's beginning to look a lot like August around Columbia, as the heat climbed back into more normal temperatures. The Missouri Tigers were unfazed, however, as the team went through the paces of two workouts Wednesday as they continued preparations for the 2004 season. Wednesday morning's practice was held in full pads at Memorial Stadium, with the afternoon workout going in shorts over at the grass practice fields. Below were some highlights from the morning workout... The old adage "Don't believe everything you read in the papers" came to mind when watching Wednesday morning's practice, in regards to the Tiger offense. Yes, the defense got the most of Tuesday's scrimmage, but for papers to write things such as `fans should start worrying about the offense,' and to criticize the passing game barely one week into camp is frankly ridiculous. That's why it was great to see the number one offense win most of the battles on Wednesday, giving a ceremonial raspberry, in essence, to the doomsday media types... Squaring off against the number one defense for three plays early on, the offense had a nice 20-yard gain on a pass from Brad Smith to Brad Ekwerekwu. On the very next play, tailback Beau Viehmann took a delayed handoff and raced untouched 60 yards for a touchdown. It will be interesting to see if the papers will report this or not... Viehmann was the star of the scrimmaging today, as he later raced 20 yards for another TD. Smith hooked up with TE Victor Sesay on a nice completion in the endzone for about a 15-yard TD. Brandon Coleman also hit WR Arnold Britt in about the same spot for a similar TD play... The defense certainly had some highlights on Wednesday, and those included big hits over the middle that broke up passes by safeties David Overstreet and Justin Scott. Linebacker Henry Sweat and lineman Steven Blair recorded tackles for loss during scrimmaging, and freshman defensive back Aaron O'Neal recovered a fumble for the second straight day... Freshman tailback Tony Temple was back in camp Wednesday, after winning an appeal to the NCAA for eligibility reinstatement. He missed nine practices over the last week while awaiting word on his status... Freshman quarterback Darrell Jackson missed the morning practice for personal reasons, but was back on the field for the afternoon session... In attendance at the morning practice was former Tiger great Leo Lewis. Lewis stopped by to catch his Tigers, along with his lovely wife, Biancha, and they met Coach Pinkel after the practice ended on the field. Lewis, who is the Director of the Player Development program for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, was in town to help his daughter get moved into her dorm at Mizzou, as she will be a freshman this year at MU... Practice continues Thursday with a single morning workout. Be sure to stay tuned to www.mutigers.com for a report.