TIGER SECONDARY MAKES PLAYS AT TROY
Mizzou's secondary and overall pass defense made a big improvement from game #1 to game #2. Despite the Tigers' loss to Troy, the MU secondary had a big game, as it intercepted Trojan QB Aaron Leak 3 times on the night.

The first pickoff was by CB Shirdonya Mitchell, when he hauled in a Leak pass on Troy's 1st play from scrimmage. He returned it 26 yards to the Troy 39 yard-line, which set up MU's second TD that made it 14-0 midway through the 1st quarter.

Fellow CBs A.J. Kincade and Marcus King both got into the act, as well, as they each nabbed their first career INTs in the 3rd quarter. Kincade got his first, when he went high for a jump ball and came down with it on the MU 15 yardline. That negated an MU fumble that gave Troy the ball at Mizzou's 37 yardline.

King came up with his big play just minutes later, when he jumped an out route and intercepted Leak on Troy's 25 yardline to set MU up with a chance to erase a 17-14 deficit. The scoring chance went awry, however, when Troy intercepted a tipped ball thrown by MU's Smith just 3 plays later in their own 10 yardline.

In all, MU's pass defense limited Troy to just 8-of-21 passing for 121 yards, and a pass efficiency rating of just 89.35. That came one week after Arkansas State threw for 350 yards and an efficiency mark of 162.16 in the season opener.

Mizzou is well ahead of its pace for interceptions, compared to last year, when it had 9 interceptions in 13 games defensively in 2003. Through 2 games in 2004, the Tigers have 4 interceptions already.

MIZZOU-BALL STATE SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou and Ball State will meet for the third straight season, and just the third time overall, when they tussle Saturday afternoon in Columbia, Mo. The two previous meetings have been won by the Tigers by a combined margin of 76-13.

Last season, MU traveled to Muncie, Ind. in game #2, and got a 35-7 win despite playing without QB Brad Smith in the 2nd half (concussion). In 2002, the Tigers won a 41-6 decision over Ball State in Columbia in game #2 of the season.

Statistically, as the scores indicate, MU has held the advantage in most categories. Here is a look at a few areas...

Individually, Tiger QB Brad Smith is a combined 25-of-44 passing in the last two years against Ball State, for 288 yards and 1 TD, with no interceptions. He has a combined 212 yards rushing and 2 TDs in the two games, including 105 yards in 2002 and 117 yards in 2003.

Senior WR Thomson Omboga has enjoyed success against Ball State, as he caught 5 passes for 81 yards in 2002, and followed with 6 catches for 70 yards in 2003 - team bests in both games for Mizzou.

LAST YEAR: MIZZOU 35, AT BALL STATE 7
In the 2nd game of the season, MU's Brad Smith had 229 yards of total offense in the first half as Missouri beat Ball State 35-7. Missouri answered an early Ball State score with 21 straight points before halftime. Smith, who scored on a 35-yard touchdown run to give Missouri the lead, rushed for 117 yards on 13 carries and completed 11 of 17 passes for 112 yards.

The Tigers finished with 461 yards of total offense, while Ball State was held to 244 yards, including 41 on the ground.

After Smith left the game in the first half with a concussion, backup Santino Riccio took over the Missouri offense in the second half and extended the Tigers' 21-7 halftime lead.

Riccio, who went 7-of-12 for 59 yards, led the Tigers on a pair of second-half scoring drives, including a 15-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 6:35 and ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Victor Sesay.

Zack Abron, who rushed for 79 yards on 18 carries, finished Missouri's scoring with a 5-yard run in the fourth.

The Cardinals took the first lead of the game in the first quarter on a score set up by special teams. Brad Gater blocked a punt by Brock Harvey, recovered and returned it to the Missouri 4.

Two plays later, Andy Roesch threw a 5-yard TD pass to Mark Franklin.

The Tigers wasted little time tying the score, when Damien Nash capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run. After Smith scored to give Missouri the lead, Abron ran for a 1-yard touchdown just before halftime.

2002: MIZZOU 41, BALL STATE 6
Missouri moved to 2-0 on the season with a 41-6 home-opening win over Ball State, as the Tigers forced four fumbles and got two touchdowns off turnovers.

Quarterback Brad Smith ran for 105 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown scramble, and threw for another score to lead Missouri.

Zack Abron had two of his three short touchdown runs in Missouri's 27-point third quarter. The Tigers, who led just 7-6 at halftime, moved to 2-0 for just the fourth time since 1983.

Smith's showing followed his college debut the week before, when he ran for 138 yards and passed for 152 in leading MU to an upset of defending Big Ten champion Illinois.

Smith finished with 176 yards on 14-of-27 passing against Ball State. On his TD run, Smith skirted the sideline and shook a would-be tackler before reversing field and barreling in for the score.

After a fumble by the Cardinals, Smith's 33-yard pass to Thomson Omboga set up Abron's 3-yard scoring run, sealing a three-play drive that covered 41 yards in just 50 seconds. Mike Matheny missed the extra point, and Missouri led 20-6.

When the Cardinals again fumbled on the next possession, Abron scored from 5 yards out after setting up the TD with a 14-yard run, putting Missouri ahead 27-6.

Late in the third quarter, Smith's 34-yard rollout down the sideline set up his 2-yard scoring pass to Justin Gage, extending the margin to 34-6.

Abron, who finished with 75 yards on 15 carries, and Smith were replaced early in the fourth quarter with Missouri in control.

Talmadge Hill threw for 126 yards on 15-of-20 passing for the Cardinals.

Mike Langford had first-half field goals of 45 and 43 yards, the latter closing the Cardinals to 7-6 with 4:30 left in the second quarter.

Abron's 1-yard touchdown run on Missouri's third possession put the Tigers ahead 7-0 with 2:21 left in the first quarter. Missouri defensive end Antwaun Bynum set up the score by stripping Hill of the ball and recovering the fumble on the Ball State 1. Abron punched it in two plays later.

TIGERS LOOKING TO EXTEND WIN STREAK AT 'THE ZOU'
Faurot Field - nicknamed 'The Zou' by the Tiger team last season - was a house of horrors for visiting teams in 2003 - a trend that the Tigers undoubtedly would like to continue this year. Things got off to a good start, as MU cruised to a 52-20 win in its season opener on Sept. 4th against Arkansas State.

A win for MU Saturday against Ball State would extend its win streak at The Zou to eight, as the Tigers have won 7 consecutive at Faurot, after going a perfect 6-0 there last year. That broke the old school record of five wins for most wins in a home season, and marked the first time since 1974 that MU was perfect at home. It also marked only the 12th time since the stadium opened in 1926 that MU went unbeaten and untied at home. MU's last home loss came in the 2002 finale vs. Kansas State.

Mizzou's average margin of victory at home in its current 7-game win streak has been a whopping 25.5 points, as MU has outscored foes by a 323-144 margin during the streak (46.1-to-20.6). Included in last year's total was a 62-point outing against Texas Tech, which represents the most points ever scored by MU at Memorial Stadium.

Oddly enough, MU's lowest point total in its 7-game home win streak is 37, against Div. I-AA Eastern Illinois in the 2003 home opener (a 37-0 Mizzou win).

LONGEST HOME WINNING STREAKS
Mizzou's current home winning streak of 7 is tied for the 3rd-longest in school history since 1926, when Memorial Stadium opened. If the Tigers move the streak to 8 games with a win Saturday against Ball State, it would tie for the 2nd-longest streak by MU.

There still is quite a way to go to reach the record of 20 (1938-43), but here's a look at the longest streaks in Memorial Stadium history...

SMITH SET TO MAKE A MOVE ON NCAA ALLTIME LIST
Brad Smith enters the Ball State game with 2,534 rushing yards in his career, which is just 665 yards shy of breaking the MU career rushing record of 3,198 established just last season by TB Zack Abron.

Every rushing yard he accumulates this year will get him closer to the top of the NCAA rushing record for a quarterback. He's still got quite a bit to go to reach the record of 3,895 set by Antwaan Randle El of Indiana (1998-2001), but he is on pace to do it. Given his career average of 93.9 yards rushing per game, he needs about 14 games to break the mark.

Smith ranks 16th on the NCAA's quarterback career rushing yardage chart, entering Saturday's game. Despte being held to 36 yards last Thursday at Troy, fellow Tiger Corby Jones, who ranked 17th on the chart, with his 2,533 yards amassed from 1995-98. Smith is now tied for 16th on the list, and needs just 18 yards to move into 15th place.

Smith's rushing total of 1,406 yards last season was the 4th-most ever in a season by a quarterback, behind only Beau Morgan of Air Force (1,494 in 1996), Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois (1,443 in 1989) and Jamaal Lord of Nebraska (1,412 in 2002).

JAMES KINNEY TACKLES A DATE WITH HISTORY
With each tackle, senior linebacker James Kinney will inch closer and closer to the school career tackles record of 415 held by former Tiger standout (and current Iowa State assistant coach) DeMontie Cross (from 1994-96). Kinney enters Saturday's game needing only 70 stops to surpass the mark, and that certainly seems likely, given the fact that he's registered over 140 stops in each of the last two seasons.

Kinney, a pre-season candidate for both the Butkus and Lombardi awards this year, has developed nicely into a leader of a defense that made big strides last year. The Tiger defenders look to take an even bigger step in 2004, after becoming one of the Big 12's most improved units a year ago.

Kinney, who had 147 tackles a year ago, has 346 career tackles entering the Ball State game, after getting 14 stops last week at Troy, prior to a solid outing that saw him register 10 tackles in the opener vs. Arkansas State. That ranks him 7th on the MU career charts, and he'd need to average just 7.7 tackles per game in MU's last 9 games to break the school record.

OMBOGA MOVING UP RECEIVING CHART
Despte the loss at Troy last week, senior WR Thomson Omboga made a move up the Mizzou career receptions chart, with his 6-catch, 64-yard outing.

That performance moved him into 8th place on the Mizzou career catches list, and he enters the Ball State contest Saturday with 95 career receptions. He needs 3 catches to pass former tight end Tim Bruton for 7th place on the MU list.

Omboga, who led MU with 52 receptions and 466 yards in 2003, needs just 5 more catches to become only the 7th Tiger to reach the 100-catch mark for a career.

TIGHT ENDS A POTENT PART OF TIGER PASSING ATTACK
Mizzou's passing game has leaned heavily on its talented pair of pass-catching tight ends, in senior Victor Sesay and redshirt freshman Martin Rucker.

The duo has combined for 13 catches for 182 yards and 3 TDs in just 2 games thus far in the 2004 season.

Sesay is tied for the team lead in the early going, with 9 receptions, while his 114 receiving yards rates him 2nd-best on the squad. He's caught a TD in each of MU's first 2 games this year (35 yards against Arkansas State and 10 yards at Troy), with the total leading all MU receivers thus far. Sesay caught 4 passes in the opener versus Arkansas State for a career-high 80 yards.

Rucker made quite a splash in his first game as a Tiger, when he took a pass from Brad Smith on MU's opening drive of the season, and took it 24 yards for a TD on his first career catch. He followed by catching 3 passes for a career-best 44 yards in game No. 2 at Troy last week.

MOSLEY WREAKING HAVOC FOR TIGER DEFENSE
Junior DL C.J. Mosley is off to quite a start in 2004, and he is coming off a big game last week at Troy, where he notched 8 tackles against the Trojans. It was a very disruptive 8 tackles, however, as Mosley had 3 tackles for loss (15 yards), including 2 sacks (13 yards), and added 3 QB hurries.

Mosley, who was a 2004 pre-season honorable mention All-American pick by Street & Smith's magazine, enters the Ball State game with 16 tackles on the year, including team-best totals of 6 TFLs (31 yards), 3 sacks (23 yards) and 6 QB hurries.

Mosley led MU with 16 TFLs (44 yards) in 2003, and earned 2nd-Team All-Big 12 acclaim by league coaches for his efforts.

NASH MAKES A SPLASH WITH CAREER-BEST GAME
Junior tailback Damien Nash got his much-anticipated season off to a rousing start, as he racked up a career-best 126 rushing yards in game #1 against Arkansas State on just 15 carries (8.4 avg.). He also added 2 TDs, on runs of 21 and 15 yards, with the first one an electrifying jaunt up the middle in which he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, spun a 360 and shed a few more arm tackle attempts, and accelerated to the endzone for the score from 21 yards out.

Nash showed a nice balance of speed and strength on the night, as he outran people as often as he plowed into them to gain the tough extra yards. His yardage total marked the first time he broke the 100-yard barrier at Mizzou, breaking his previous best of 91 yards amassed last year against Iowa State.

More importantly, Nash showed that he is virtually 100 percent recovered from a knee injury (ACL) which forced him to miss the 2002 season. He played last season at less than full strength, and has been impressive with his strength, speed, quickness and deciveness thus far in 2004.

Nash led MU in rushing last week in the Tigers' 24-14 loss at Troy, as he had 69 yards on 15 attempts. He scored his 3rd rushing TD of the season on a 6-yard score to cap Mizzou's opening possession of the game.

Nash was MU's 3rd-leading rusher in 2003, as he gained 462 yards and had 5 TDs in a backup role to Mizzou's career-leading rusher, Zack Abron.

COFFEY ROASTS INDIANS WITH CAREER RECEIVING NIGHT
Junior wideout Sean Coffey also got out of the gates strong to start the 2004 season, as he was Brad Smith's go-to guy in the season opener versus Arkansas State. Coffey grabbed 5 passes on the night for a career-high 113 yards, including a 60-yard TD catch-and-run from Smith in the 2nd quarter that put MU out to a 28-10 lead.

Smith and Coffey were on the same page right away, as the pair of Ohio natives hooked up for two big completions on MU's first drive of the season. First, Smith hit Coffey for 19 yards on a crossing route over the middle on a 3rd-and-7 from the MU 38 yardline. Three plays later, Mizzou faced a similar 3rd-and-7 from the ASU 40, and Coffey got free on the sideline and made a nice catch and kept his feet in for a gain of 8 to keep the drive alive.

Coffey followed with a 4-catch, 35-yard outing last week at Troy.

Coffey was MU's 3rd-leading receiver in 2003, as he caught 27 passes for 341 yards and 1 TD. At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, he gives Smith quite a target to look for, and he looks to become the go-to receiver in the Tiger passing game.

HARVEY 'BROCK' SOLID THROUGH TWO GAMES
Senior punter Brock Harvey had an outstanding fall camp, and was looking forward to proving that he is back to the form that saw him rank 20th in the NCAA in 2002 with an average of 42.5 yards per punt.

His offensive teammates had other things in mind in the season opener vs. Arkansas State, however, as Harvey was not called on to punt until midway through the 4th quarter for the first, and only, time in the game. MU's drive stalled out at the Arkansas State 41 yard line, and Harvey came in for his first punt of the season.

Unable to boom the ball, he deftly angled the kick for the sidelines, and he executed perfectly, as the ball bounced and rolled out of bounds at the ASU 4 yard line, pinning the Indians deep in their own territory.

He followed with a solid outing last week at Troy, as he averaged 45.3 yards on 7 punts. He had a long kick of 53 yards and twice pinned the Trojans inside their 20 yardline. Mizzou had one punt blocked on the night, but MU's defense stifled Troy's ensuing possession with no real damage done.

Through 2 games, Harvey's average of 44.25 ranks 3rd in the Big 12 and 16th in the NCAA.

Harvey missed all of spring practice in 2004 as he was recovering from surgery on his kicking foot in the off-season. That injury was initially suffered at the tail end of the 2002 season, and it plagued him during the 2003 season, as he was able to average just 36.8 yards per punt.

WATCHING THE AWARD LISTS
Several Tiger players have been named to pre-season watch lists for the nation's most prestigious individual awards.