Nov. 8, 2005

"It was all too easy," Quincy Wade said. "The time was right, the hole was there--everything just fell into place."

Wade was modestly assessing his crowning achievement to this point in Missouri's 2005 season: a blocked punt Sept. 17 against Troy. He credited defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski with seeing the opening in the Trojans' punt team from the press box, but was reluctant to take much personal credit. He made it sound as though anyone could have made the play. Even someone like him, who was playing his fist game on the punt block team.

"Coach Kul had a good call," Wade said. "I pretty much just attacked. I believed I could block it and I came in as hard as I could. It was there. It worked out to our advantage."

Kuligowski's foresight aside, Wade's scrappiness and determination was the main reason it worked. But he wouldn't be the fi rst to tell you that. In addition to being humble, Wade is undersized, especially for a safety. The senior from Lindbergh High in St. Louis is listed at 5-9, 195 pounds. "I just use my speed and aggressiveness," he said. "That helps me out a lot. I just really don't have any fear of anybody else in size. That's just how I was brought up. My old coaches in high school and my coaches here, too."

Wade puts his bravery on display whenever he sees action, which mostly comes as the Tigers' extra defensive back the nickel package. He is known among teammates as a physical defender with good open- fi eld tackling skills. Those attributes helped him earn the team's outside safety of the year award in 2003, then he recorded 45 tackles, four of them for a loss. Two of Wade's outings were especially strong. He had a career-high seven stops in the Tigers' loss at top-ranked Oklahoma, then tied that with seven tackles in Missouri's home win against Texas Tech. What made his performance all the more impressive was his ability to play through pain. He endured the last few games, including the loss to Arkansas in the Independence Bowl, with a torn posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in his knee. He said the injury happened during the Tigers' victory over Texas A&M that November.

"Towards the end of the game I made a tackle and just landed on my knee kind of funny and just tore it," Wade said. "I played throughout the whole rest of the season and the bowl game and all that. I waited to have surgery until the end of the season because I wanted to continue to help the team out as much as I can. You can't help the team out when you're having surgery."

Wade had the operation in January 2004 knowing that it would take five months to rehab. He missed all of the team's spring workouts and entered fall practice for his junior season at 95%. Still, he said, there were no regrets about the surgery. It was the only way to fully heal his injury. "It's pretty much your knee doesn't function right, though it didn't hurt as bad because of all the backpedaling," Wade said.

Missouri had worked on implementing a new defensive scheme during Wade's absence, but he was determined to not let that become an extra barrier. He already would have to play catch-up physically, having to do the same mentally was not a desired situation.

"I kept up with all the new stuff and all that, watching film and just learning from the coaches and other players and from their mistakes," Wade said. "That helped me out a lot, so I wasn't too far behind when I came back."

Wade recorded eight tackles, playing in the first nine games of Missouri's disappointing 2004 season. He knew he wasn't playing to the form he had shown earlier in his Tiger career. It's why he focused on conditioning and staying in playing shape over the spring and fall practices this season. And why the blocked punt was so satisfying. Troy punter Thomas Olmsted stood in back of his team's 37- yard line, awaiting a long snap and what he supposed to be an ordinary kick. But Wade darted in untouched to spoil the plan. After pumping his fist to celebrate, he quickly fell on the ball, recovering it at the Troy 32 to set up an Adam Crossett field goal. Missouri romped to what has thus far been its lone victory on Faurot Field in 2005.

Wade will graduate in December with a degree in hotel and restaurant management. He is certain to keep close ties to athletics no matter what his future pursuits are. In high school, he was named second team all-state and Suburban West defensive player of the year for his senior season in 2000. He also proved to be a serviceable running back, averaging 7.5 yards a carry. Track was another sport at which Wade excelled. He qualifi ed for the state meet three times and, in 1998, was part of the Lindbergh team that set a state record in the 4X100 meter relay.

"It definitely builds your speed," Wade said. "Playing multiple sports gives you the ability to learn new things. It gave me some more discipline."

For now, though, Wade doesn't want to take a retrospective on his time at Missouri. The season is not even half old, and he has a lot of football left in him.

"I'm going to help my team out as much as I can and make plays out there when I get the opportunity," he said. "I know I can make big plays and the coaches know that, too. That's what I planned on doing all year."

-By Kevin Druley