PICKIN' AND GRINNIN'
After grabbing 2 interceptions at Baylor last time out, Mizzou's defense now has a total of 10 INTs already in 5 games this season, a total which is 2nd-highest currently in the Big 12, and has already surpassed last year's 13-game total of 9 INTs gained.

The Tigers have intercepted at least 1 pass in every game thus far, and snatched 3 each in games at Troy and versus Colorado.

Cornerback Shirdonya Mitchell leads the way with 3 interceptions, which ties him for 1st currently in the Big 12, and 5th in the NCAA. That already matches the 2003 squad's individual high, as LB Brandon Barnes was the only Tiger last year with more than 1 INT.

Mitchell picked off a Baylor pass on the game's opening possession. That marked the 2nd straight game Mitchell has picked off a pass, and also marked the 3rd time in five games this season that MU has made an interception on its opponent's initial drive of the game. Mitchell did the deed in game #2 when he picked off a pass at Troy, while fellow CB Marcus King picked off Colorado in its opening drive in game #4.

Junior S Jason Simpson had arguably the biggest play of the game when he picked off his first career pass late in the 2nd quarter and returned it 46 yards down to the Baylor 9-yardline. His INT set up MU's 1st TD of the game as Mizzou took a 13-3 lead into halftime, and never looked back.

PINKEL ACHIEVES MIZZOU COACHING DISTINCTION
With MU's 30-10 win at Baylor last week, Tiger Head Coach Gary Pinkel moved his 4-year record at MU to 21-20, as he surpassed the .500 mark for the first time in his Tiger tenure.

Remarkably, he is the first MU coach to be above .500 beyond his first year since Warren Powers, who coached at MU from 1978-84 and went 46-33-3 overall in 7 seasons. None of Powers' successors (Woody Widenhofer [1985-88]; Bob Stull [1989-93]; Larry Smith [1994-2000]) ever got above .500 at MU after their first seasons. In fact, Stull was the only one of the three to stand .500 or better, when he won his first game at MU, a 14-10 victory over TCU on Sept. 9, 1989. Mizzou lost 5 straight after that, however, and finished the year at 2-9 overall.

Pinkel's overall 14-year career record improved to 94-57-3, which ranks him among the NCAA's top-25 active coaches for career winning percentage.

MIZZOU-TEXAS SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou and Texas will meet for the 19th time when they tussle Saturday in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns own a 13-5 lead in the previous 18 matchups.

Texas has won 11 of the last 12 meetings overall between the schools, dating back to 1931. Mizzou's lone victory since then was a 37-29 win in Columbia in 1997. That marked MU's first win in the series since a 1916 win in Columbia (3-0).

Texas holds a 7-2 lead in games played in Austin, and has won the last 7 times the two teams met there. An MU win Saturday would be historic, as it would mark the first time since 1896 that the Tigers won in Austin.

Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference, Texas has won 3 of the 4 meetings between the two schools. Mizzou skipper Gary Pinkel is 0-1 against the Longhorns, as his very first Tiger squad in 2001 fell at home to the 7th-ranked Longhorns by a 35-16 count.

Texas coach Mack Brown is 2-0 against MU, as his 2000 team (ranked 21st at the time) claimed a 46-12 win over MU in Austin, in addition to the 2001 victory.

Mizzou junior cornerback Marcus King has strong ties to the Texas program, as his step-brother, Michael Huff, is a junior defensive back on the Longhorn squad.

MORE DEFENSIVE FACTOIDS
At the risk of exceeding the hyperbolic limit already, here are a few more points of order to help illustrate how big MU's defense has been through 5 games this season...

SMITH HAS EFFICIENT GAME IN WIN OVER BAYLOR
Mizzou signal caller Brad Smith led a balanced offensive attack in MU's 30-10 win over Baylor last week. He passed for a modest 151 yards (a season-low output), on 13-of-27 passing, but he connected for 3 TDs in the air, a total which tied his single-game career best mark.

Smith's scoring strikes were 7-yard and 17-yard passes to TE Martin Rucker (sandwiched around halftime) and an 8-yarder to WR Sean Coffey early in the 4th to put the game away.

His 151 yards passing was enough to move him past Marlon Adler for 3rd place on the Mizzou career passing yardage list. Smith now has 5,310 career passing yards, while Adler is now 4th on the list, with 5,231 yards from 1982-85. Smith needs just 43 more passing yards to surpass former standout Phil Bradley for 2nd place on the school list. Bradley amassed 5,352 yards passing for Mizzou from 1977-80.

SMITH REACHES TOTAL OFFENSE MILESTONE
While Brad Smith's total offense output of 193 yards last week against Baylor marked the first time this season he's been under 260 in a game, it still was enough to push him past a significant statistical milestone.

Smith, already the MU career leader in total offense, pushed past the 8,000-yard barrier at Baylor, and he enters the Texas contest with 8,055 yards of offense to his name in 30 career games. He continues, with every yard, to shatter the previous record of 6,640 set by Jeff Handy, from 1991-94.

Smith threw for over 200 yards in each of MU's 1st 3 games this season (233 vs. ASU; 224 at Troy; 213 vs. BSU) - after reaching that mark only twice in 13 games in 2003 (236 vs. Eastern Illinois; 278 at Colorado).

He set a personal record with a single-game QB efficiency rating of 188.51 and tied his personal-best with 3 TDs in the opener versus Arkansas State, when he connected on 14-of-22 passes for 233 yards. His season QB rating of 130.16 thus far ranks him 7th in the Big 12 and 42nd in the NCAA, and is up from his 2003 season rating of 114.11.

He's been more successful at stretching the field thus far, as Smith has already thrown for 5 TDs of 20 yards or more this season (24, 60, 35, 43, 51), after having only 1 TD pass of at least that distance in 13 games in 2003 (48 yds. at Colorado).

SMITH SET TO MAKE A MOVE ON NCAA ALLTIME LIST
Brad Smith enters the Texas game with 2,735 rushing yards in his career, which is just 464 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 also 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 91.2 yards rushing per game, he needs about 13 more games to break the mark.

Smith ranks 11th on the NCAA's quarterback career rushing yardage chart, entering Saturday's game. He needs 84 more yards to move into the NCAA's top-10, past former Kansas State star Ell Roberson, who rushed for 2,818 yards at KSU from 2000-03.

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).

OFFENSE HAVING SUCCESS ON 3RD DOWNS
Mizzou has been successful on 3rd down offensively this season, as MU's conversion rate of 47.0% (39-of-83) ranks 2nd in the Big 12 Conference entering Saturday's game versus Texas. Oklahoma leads the league currently, with a conversion rate of 59.0%.

The 3rd-down success is a nice improvement from last year, when Mizzou ranked 8th in the Big 12 with a conversion rate of 39.6% in 13 games.

On 3rd-and-3 or less, MU's offense has converted on 19-of-23 opportunities (82.6%), including 11-of-12 on 3rd-and-1 (91.7%).

3RD DOWN EQUALLY GOOD TO TIGER DEFENSE
What we said above about the offense on 3rd down, ditto for the Tiger defense, through the first 5 games.

Mizzou ranks 3rd in the Big 12 Conference in opponent 3rd-down conversion rate, as the Tiger defense has allowed opponents to convert only 26.1% of their attempts (18-of-69). Kansas leads the league, with a rate of 25.0%, while Texas is 2nd at 25.3%.

MU was very stingy last time out at Baylor, when it limited the Bears to just 2-of-15 on 3rd down (13.3%). The Tiger defenders also snuffed out both Bear 4th down tries, and have allowed opponents to convert successfully on just 1-of-6 (16.7%) on 4th down so far this season.

Colorado had the most success of any MU foe thus far, when the Buffs made on 5-of-12 3rd-down tries in MU's recent 17-9 win. But the Tiger defense held tight when the "chips" were down, so to speak, as it held CU to just 1-of-6 on 3rd down tries in the 2nd half.

Arkansas State converted on 6-of-15 3rd-down tries in the 2004 season opener. The Tiger defense held Troy to only 2-of-12 on 3rd down in defeat, and followed by holding Ball State to 3-of-15 on 3rd down tries.

Again, much like on offense, the success has been an improvement from the 2003 season, when Mizzou ranked 8th in the Big 12 in this category, as opponents converted 40.7% of the time on 3rd downs against the Tigers.

TURNOVER MARGIN IN TIGERS' FAVOR
After being dead even in the turnover margin category through MU's first two games (3 takeaways, 3 turnovers), Mizzou has decidely shifted the very important stat in its favor over its 3-game win streak. In its last 3 games, Mizzou has forced 9 turnovers (6 INTs, 3 fumbles) and committed only 1 of its own (a fumble lost against Colorado).

That recent advantage has tipped the scales heavily in MU's favor, as the Tigers now rank 3rd in the Big 12 Conference, and 12th nationally, with a turnover margin of +1.60 per game (14 takeaways / 6 giveaways in 5 games).

That is a solid continuation of last year, when the Tigers ranked 10th nationally (3rd in the Big 12), with a turnover margin of +0.85 per game.

Mizzou has led the nation in fewest turnovers in each of the last two seasons, committing 12 in 12 games in 2002 and 13 in 13 games in 2003.

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' 4th-year skipper, that hasn't happened often at all.

In fact, NCAA stats show that in Pinkel's time at Mizzou (from 2001), MU has had the fewest turnovers in the nation.

In the 41 games in the Pinkel regime, MU has committed just 47 turnovers. The next fewest during that same period is Minnesota, with 53 . The next best team in the Big 12 is Oklahoma, who rates 5th-best nationally, at 64 turnovers.

In 13 games last season, Mizzou led the nation with just 13 turnovers lost, a year after MU led the nation with just 12 turnovers in 2002 - setting a school record in the process for fewest in a year.

Mizzou has turned the ball over just once in its last 3 games (a fumble against Colorado), but has been mistake free in wins over Ball State and at Baylor. The Tigers uncharacteristically had 5 giveaways in its first 2 games (2 vs. Arkansas State and 3 at Troy).

Under Pinkel, Mizzou has committed zero turnovers in 15 of 41 ballgames. Here's the breakdown by year:

GAMES UNDER PINKEL WITH NO TURNOVERS BY MIZZOU
2004 - (2) - Ball State, at Baylor
2003 - (7) - Illinois, at Ball State, Middle Tennessee, at Kansas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Iowa State
2002 - (4) - Ball State, at Nebraska, at Texas Tech, Kansas
2001 - (2) - Nebraska, at Oklahoma State

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 45 stops to surpass the mark, and that certainly seems likely, given the fact that he's averaged over 11 tackles per game in his previous 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 are taking even bigger steps 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 371 career tackles entering the Texas game, after getting 9 tackles last time out at Baylor. He recovered 2 fumbles against the Bears, and led a defensive effort that limited BU to a season-low total offensive output of just 173 yards. Prior to that, Kinney had 10 stops against Colorado and blocked CU's only extra point try in the game, which loomed quite large in MU's 17-9 victory. That marked MU's first blocked kick of any kind in 2004.

He had a season-high 14 stops at Troy, prior to a solid outing that saw him register 10 tackles in the opener vs. Arkansas State. His career total currently has him 5th on the MU career charts, just 4 behind former linebacker Darren MacDonald, who registered 375 stops for MU from 1986-89. Kinney would need to average just 7.5 tackles per game in MU's last 6 games to break the school record.

TIGER OFFENSE KEEPING UP ITS END OF THE BARGAIN, AS WELL
While the solid play of the Tiger defense is the topic du jour, a check of the numbers shows that Mizzou's offensive troops are playing at a pretty high clip, statistically speaking.

The Tiger offense ranks in the top-30 nationally in three major categories, and is just outside the top-30 in two others.

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 25 catches for 327 yards and 5 TDs in just 5 games thus far in the 2004 season.

Sesay is 2nd on the squad in receptions (16) and 2nd in receiving yards (189) through 5 games, despite being shut out for the first time this season last time out at Baylor. He caught a TD in each of MU's first 2 games this year (35 yards against Arkansas State and 10 yards at Troy). Sesay caught 4 passes in the opener versus Arkansas State for a career-high 80 yards, had 3 catches for 45 yards against Ball State, and had 4 grabs for 30 yards versus CU.

Rucker, who earned the #1 spot on the depth chart this fall despite missing most of spring ball due to an injured shoulder, has showed many times why Tiger coaches are so high on his ability. He's coming off a nice game at Baylor, where he had a career-best 2 TD passes (7 & 17 yds.), and he had 3 catches overall on the night for 34 yards. Rucker enters the Texas game ranked 2nd on the team in receiving TDs, with 3. 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.

COFFEY TALK: WIDEOUT HAS STOOD OUT THUS FAR
Junior wideout Sean Coffey comes into Saturday's contest with Texas as Mizzou's top receiver, with 18 catches for a team-best 308 yards and 4 TDs. His 61.6 receiving yards per game average currently ranks him 7th in the Big 12.

He's coming off a game against Baylor in which he had 3 catches for 50 yards and 1 TD. His scoring grab was a nice 8-yarder in the back of the endzone early in the 4th quarter that effectively iced the game for Mizzou, as it gave the Tigers a 27-3 lead.

Prior to that, he came up big in MU's win over Colorado, as he grabbed 2 passes for 58 yards. Not eye-popping totals, but one of his catches was a game-breaker, as he took an out pass from Brad Smith on 3rd-and-7 from the MU 49 yardline in the 3rd quarter, shed a tackle from the smaller cornerback, got a downfield block from TE Martin Rucker, and he raced and juked his way into the endzone for a 51-yard TD that put MU up 17-9.

Coffey also had another long TD taken away from him due to an official's call. With MU clinging to a 10-9 lead late in the 1st half, Coffey got free on the left sideline and caught a perfectly thrown ball from Smith in stride, and took it in for what appeared to be a 59-yard TD. However, the official on the play ruled that Coffey pushed off and disallowed the TD. To avoid getting fined by the Big 12 Conference, let's just say that after watching television replays, that we'd better not comment further.

Coffey 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 at Troy, and had 4 catches for 52 yards and 1 TD against Ball State. His TD grab was a nice 15-yarder from Brad Smith that came on the 1st play after a BSU turnover, and gave MU a commanding 31-0 lead just before halftime.

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.

NASH THE FLASH
Junior tailback Damien Nash enters the Texas game near the top of the Big 12 charts in the scoring category, ranking 6th in the league with his average of 8.40 points per game. His per-game average also ranks him 34th in the NCAA entering the UT contest. Nash has scored 7 TDs on the year (6 rushing, 1 receiving), and leads MU with 453 rushing yards through 5 games.

The St. Louis, Mo., native was MU's top ground gainer last time out at Baylor, as he carried a career-high 27 times for 87 yards. He broke off a 28-yarder in the 3rd quarter that set MU up for its final TD of the night. That was a season-long rush for Nash.

Nash had a game-high 102 yards rushing in MU's 17-9 win against Colorado, on 25 carries. He blasted through the line for a 3-yard TD run to cap MU's game-opening drive to put the Tigers up, 7-0. He ran strong with the game on the line, as he got 35 of his yards in the 4th quarter, when MU was looking to run clock, and with Colorado expecting it.

Previously, against Ball State, Nash had 126 yards from scrimmage and 3 TDs. He had a pair of 2-yard TD runs in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and sandwiched those around a nifty 43-yard TD reception from Brad Smith in the 2nd that put the Tigers up, 24-0. Nash ended the game with 69 yards rushing (16 attempts) and had a season-best 57 yards receiving on 4 catches.

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 essentially 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 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.

RUSHING ANALYSIS
Let's take a look at how MU's top three rushers (TB Damien Nash, QB Brad Smith and TB Marcus Woods) have fared on the ground in the range of downs. The numbers show that 3rd down has been the most successful down for both Smith and Nash, as they've averaged a healthy 8.2 yards and 5.6 yards per attempt, respectively, on 3rd down, while Woods has been most successful on 1st down (4.4 ypa).

TIGERS RIDE HISTORIC DEFENSIVE EFFORT TO 17-9 WIN OVER COLORADO
Mizzou's defense made quite a statement in its Oct. 2nd 17-9 win over Colorado, as the Tigers held the Buffaloes to just 251 yards of total offense, and made play after play when called on to that proved crucial in MU's 1st win in a conference opener since 1998.

While it was just one game, and as Gary Pinkel says, it's a little early to start building statues, the defensive effort provided many historical sidenotes.

MIZZOU-COLORADO REWIND
Some house-cleaning news and notes from MU's 17-9 win two games ago over Colorado...