Aug. 29, 2005
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TIGER NEWS & NOTES
Missouri Tigers (0-0) vs. Arkansas State Indians (0-0)
Sept. 3, 2005 - Arrowhead Stadium - Kansas City, Mo.
KICKOFF: 11 a.m. (central time).
STADIUM: Arrowhead Stadium (79,451). MU has never played there before.
RADIO: Tiger Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play/John Kadlec, color/Chris Gervino, sidelines). Carried on over 50 stations statewide, and on the Internet at mutigers.com. The game is also carried on SIRIUS Satellite Radio on Channel #125.
TV: None for this contest.
RANKINGS (AP/ESPN-USA): Neither team is receiving votes currently.
SERIES: MU leads, 1-0 overall, after winning 52-20 in Columbia in 2004 - the first meeting ever between the two schools.
COACHES:
Mizzou: Gary Pinkel (Kent, '75), 22-25 at MU (5th year) and 95-62-3 overall (15th year). Pinkel is 1-0 versus Arkansas State and 1-0 versus Steve Roberts.
Arkansas State: Steve Roberts (Ouachita Baptist, '87), 14-22 at ASU (4th year) and 63-55-1 overall (12th year). Roberts is 0-1 versus Mizzou and Gary Pinkel.
2005 SEASON KICKS OFF SATURDAY IN KANSAS CITY
The University of Missouri Tigers open their 2005 season this Saturday in Kansas City, Mo., where they will take on the Arkansas State Indians in Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff for the contest will be at 11 a.m.
Mizzou is looking to rebound from a 5-6 season in 2004, and hopes are high in Tigerland that they'll do just that, despite low expections from the outside. MU returns 11 starters from a year ago (7 on offense, 3 on defense and 1 special teams), and is ready to debut its new-look offense that looked very promising during pre-season camp.
Arkansas State went 3-8 last season, and returns 13 starters from its 2004 squad, including 4 on offense, 7 on defense and 2 on special teams. The Indians did knock of the Troy Trojans in 2004 (13-9 in Jonesboro, Ark.), a team that defeated Mizzou last season (24-14 in Troy, Ala.).
IN MEMORY OF A.O.
Hearts will be heavy Saturday on the Tiger sideline, for while MU's team will be excited about beginning a new season, weighing on everyone's mind will be the loss suffered over the summer of redshirt freshman linebacker Aaron O'Neal.
On July 12th, O'Neal participated with his teammates in a voluntary workout in Columbia. He collapsed after the workout and efforts to save him were unsuccessful. His tragic death was later determined to be due to complications arising from Lymphocytic Meningitis (viral).
While the loss was devastating for everyone in the program, the team has resolutely decided to dedicate its season to A.O.'s memory. A helmet decal will be worn to honor the St. Louis, Mo. native. A moment of silence is planned prior to Saturday's game between MU and Arkansas State, as well.
Additionally, several other means of honoring Aaron are planned throughout the 2005 season, and beyond. Those details will be announced prior to the Sept. 10th game against New Mexico.
GOIN' TO KANSAS CITY
Saturday's game at Arrowhead Stadium between Mizzou and Arkansas State will be significant not only because it kicks off the 2005 season, but because of historical significance, as well.
Despite the fact that KC lies just 100 miles West of Columbia, this will mark the first time in 60 years that the Tigers have played a game in the City of Fountains.
The last time that MU played in Kansas City was 1945, when the Tigers defeated rival Kansas, 33-12. Mizzou played in KC 26 times from 1891 through 1945, compiling a 9-14-3 overall mark.
Saturday's game came about because Arkansas State agreed to move its scheduled home game from Jonesboro, Ark., to Arrowhead Stadium. Because of that, ASU will be the home team for the contest.
2004 RECAP: MIZZOU 52, ARKANSAS STATE 20
Brad Smith threw for 233 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 63 yards and another score to help No. 18 Missouri rout Arkansas State 52-20 in the season-opener for both teams.
Smith, a junior who ran for 1,406 yards and passed for 1,977 last season, averaged 10.5 yards on six carries and scored on a 34-yard second-quarter run. He completed 14 of 22 passes, with the three touchdowns and one interception.
Damien Nash ran 15 times for a career-high 126 yards and scored twice, and Sean Coffey caught five passes for 113 yards and a touchdown, a 60-yard wide-open pass early in the second quarter.
Smith also connected with tight end Martin Rucker for a 24-yard scoring play in the first quarter and tight end Victor Sesay for a 35-yard score in the third quarter.
Missouri, ranked in the preseason for the first time since a No. 17 ranking in 1980, faced an Arkansas State team starting five freshmen on defense. The Tigers didn't punt until less than eight minutes remained in the game.
Missouri went ahead 21-0 less than 10 minutes into the game. After Rucker's score, Nash changed directions three times and scored on a 21-yard run midway through the quarter.
Five plays later, Arkansas State quarterback Nick Noce's screen pass was intercepted by 285-pound nose tackle Phil Pitts, who rumbled 49 yards down the sideline - even shaking off a tackle - to make it 21-0 with 5:29 to play in the first quarter.
Despite the win, Missouri's defense gave up 438 yards. The Tigers converted from a 4-2-5 alignment last season to a 4-3 to shore up the run defense, and the Indians gained just 88 yards rushing.
ASU QB Nick Noce was 19-for-26 for 240 yards, two touchdowns and one interception before leaving with a cramp in his right calf early in the third quarter. His replacement, Devin Hollins, was 7-for-11 for 110 yards.
St. Louis-area native Chuck Walker caught six passes for 126 yards for the Indians.
Noce threw a 6-yard scoring pass to Oren O'Neal with 58 seconds to play in the first quarter. Noce and Jason Wood combined on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds to play in the first half.
Arkansas State's Eric Neihouse made field goals of 30 and 21 yards, and missed a 42-yarder. Missouri's Joe Tantarelli made a 17-yarder with 19 seconds left in the game.
TIGERS WELL-REPRESENTED ON PRE-SEASON AWARD LISTS
While nothing much exciting happens in the off-season, good things were happening for at least five Tiger players, in terms of earning national recognition for the upcoming season.
Five Tigers - all on the offensive side of the ball - earned mention on very prestigious pre-season award watch lists, including QB Brad Smith, OL Tony Palmer, TE Martin Rucker, OL Adam Spieker and WR Sean Coffey. Here's a quick look at who is up for what:
Tigers on Award Watch Lists
MISSOURI USUALLY 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' 5th-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 47 games in the Pinkel regime, MU has committed just 59 turnovers. The next fewest during that same period is Northern Illinois, with 63. The next best team in the Big 12 is Oklahoma, who rates 10th-best nationally, at 75 turnovers.
Mizzou led the NCAA with fewest turnovers lost in each of the 2002 and 2003 seasons (12 and 13, respectively). In 2004, that total upped to 18 overall (11 INTs and 7 fumbles), which ranked the Tigers 28th nationally. The 12 turnovers lost for MU in 2002 set a school record.
Under Pinkel, Mizzou has committed zero turnovers in 15 of 47 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
TIGERS LOOK TO RE-ESTABLISH 4TH QUARTER DOMINANCE
Mizzou will look to get back to its winning ways in 2005, and one ever-important area in which it will need to improve from last season is its play in the fourth quarter of games.
Overall, MU was outscored 69-46 in the fourth quarter in 11 games last season. That reversed a trend that had seen the Tigers improve significantly in the final period in the first three years under Gary Pinkel.
In 2003, the Tigers were absolutely dominant in the fourth quarter, outscoring foes by a whopping 136-54 margin. That was an average of 10.5 points scored for MU in the fourth, while the 2004 squad averaged just 4.2. Here's a quick look at how MU has fared in the fourth since 2001:
4th Quarter Scoring
2001 - MU 47, OPP 102
2002 - MU 88, OPP 68 (Net change of +75)
2003 - MU 136, OPP 54 (Net change of +62)
2004 - MU 46, OPP 69 (Net change of -105)
In MU's six losses last season, the Tigers were within two scores in five of those games, including two games in which they led entering the final 15 minutes. However, in those six losses, Mizzou was outscored 55-23 in the fourth quarter. See below for details.
LET THE Brad Smith WATCH BEGIN
It seems just like yesterday that a relatively unheraled redshirt freshman QB named Brad Smith ran roughshod over an unsuspecting Illinois team in the 2002 opener. It's actually been three years now, but for Tiger opponents, it probably seems like a decade.
With each game, Smith - who is a graduate student after graduating in May of 2005 with a business degree - continues to draw closer to milestones and records, all the while continually smashing records he's already set.
Smith, already the MU career leader in total offense, has a career total offense number of 9,483 yards in 36 career games. He continues, with every yard, to obliterate the previous record of 6,640 set by Jeff Handy, from 1991-94.
He also already owns the MU career record for TD passes (43), a record he grabbed last year after throwing for a personal-best 17 scores.
The next big records that he's on pace to own include school marks for career passing yards and rushing yards. With 6,495 passing yards entering Saturday's game against Arkansas State, Smith stands 464 yards shy of Jeff Handy's record of 6,959. In the rushing category, Smith currently stands 3rd overall, with 2,988 yards. He is 39 yards shy of Brock Olivo, who is 2nd currently, with 3,027 yards, and 210 yards shy of record-holder Zack Abron.
SMITH MOVES INTO TOP-10 ON NCAA ALLTIME LIST
As mentioned above, Smith enters the Arkansas State game with 2,988 rushing yards in his career. Every rushing yard he accumulates this year will get him closer to the top of the NCAA rushing record for a quarterback. Smith ranks 10th alltime on the NCAA QB rushing list, as the chart below indicates.
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 has a shot to reach it. Given that he is 907 yards shy of the record entering Saturday's game, and with his career average of 83.0 yards rushing per game, he needs about 11 more games to break the mark.
Smith's rushing total of 1,406 yards during the 2003 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).
SMITH ALSO NEARS NCAA DISTINCTION
With 6,495 career passing yards and 2,988 career rushing yards entering Saturday's game against Arkansas State, Smith is just 12 rushing yards away from reaching the 6,000-yard passing and 3,000-yard rushing marks for his career.
If he achieves that, Smith will become only the 3rd quarterback in NCAA Division-IA history to record such the 6,000/3,000 statistical feat. In fact, only 4 others altogether have ever achieved the 3,000/3,000 feat.
As we all know, as a redshirt freshman in 2002, Smith became only the 2nd player in NCAA D-IA history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a single season, when he threw for 2,333 and rushed for another 1,029. He just missed that feat a 2nd time in 2003, when he threw for 1,977 yards and rushed for 1,406.
MORE Brad Smith QUICK SLANTS
We'll try to wrap up the homage to Brad Smith with a few more quick facts...
MU'S COFFEY IS NO REGULAR CUP OF JOE
Senior WR Sean Coffey might not get top billing in MU's offense, due to the prolific numbers put up by running mate Brad Smith. That doesn't mean that Coffey hasn't accomplished some big things in his first three years, however.
Coffey was on the receiving end last year of a majority of Smith's TD passes, as Coffey snagged an MU-record 10 TD passes in 2004. Overall, he had career-best numbers in catches (39), yards (648), avg. per catch (16.6) and TDs (10). The TD total broke the old mark of 9 set by three former MU greats: Mel Gray (1969), Henry Marshall (1975) and Justin Gage (2002).
A pre-season mention on the Biletnikoff Watch List in 2005, Coffey, with 78 career receptions entering Saturday's game against Arkansas State, needs just 9 more to crack the MU career top-10 list. He needs 22 more catches to reach 100 for his career, which would make him only the 8th Tiger receiver in history to record that feat. With 1,148 career receiving yards entering the 2005 season, Coffey needs only 142 more to break into the MU top-10 yardage list.
MU's career TD reception record of 18 (held by Justin Gage) is also within reach for the East Cleveland, Ohio, native.
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.
SIMPSON LEADS TIGER DEFENSE INTO 2005 SEASON
Senior S Jason Simpson is the top returner on a defense that was one of the nation's most improved units in 2004. Mizzou ranked among the NCAA's top-25 last season in four major categories, including pass defense (3rd - 149.27 ypg), pass efficiency defense (12th - 104.28 rating), total defense (14th - 301.36 ypg) and scoring defense (23rd - 19.55 ppg).
Simpson was a major reason for MU's upward swing on defense in 2004, as the then-junior enjoyed a breakout year that saw him record a career-high 98 tackles and a team-best 15.0 tackles for loss. He also broke up 6 passes on the year (ranked 2nd on the team) and tied for the team lead in forced fumbles (2), in addition to grabbing his first career interception - a 2nd-quarter heist at Baylor that turned the game in MU's favor for good.
The outspoken and always hard-hitting safety has been signaled out by his teammates for his leadership, as he was voted by the team to serve as a captain for the 2005 season.
Here's a couple of more quick hits about Jason Simpson, who was named a pre-season honorable mention All-American this summer by Street & Smith's...