Football Practice Report, Aug. 18th
8/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 18, 2005
Columbia, Mo. -
The Missouri Tigers held a morning practice today inside the Dan Devine Pavilion, as the team continued preparations for its 2005 season opener, set for Sept. 3rd against Arkansas State.
The Tigers worked out for around 2 1/2 hours this morning, as the practice was forced inside due to heavy thunderstorms in the Columbia area this morning.
Perhaps the most impressive play today came from TB Tony Temple, when the team was working on kickoffs. Temple fielded one kick near the goalline, catching the kick over his shoulder. He gathered himself, hit a nice wedge formed by his teammates, and raced for what would have likely been a 100-yard TD. What a sight that was to see by all in attendance.
Here were a few more highlights from 11-on-11 scrimmaging later in the day...
- Temple had a nice run around left end for about 20 yards in which he used his blockers superbly...
- WR Sean Coffey had an acrobatic one-handed catch along the left sideline from QB Brad Smith that went for around 20 yards...
- QB Brandon Coleman connected with TE Brian Barmann (who has been catching virtually everything in sight so far during camp), on a gain of around 25 yards...
- DE Xzavie Jackson got penetration and forced a fumble in the backfield...
- LB Dedrick Harrington made a nice stop of TB Tony Temple on a middle route, bringing Temple down before he could get into the open field...
- S David Overstreet broke up a pass...
News & Notes
- After yesterday's meetings, the team was given the afternoon off from a scheduled practice. The team went to the movies, and the majority of the guys ended up seeing the movie "4 Brothers." It got good reviews from most of the team.
- NFL scouts from the Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers were on hand today to watch practice.
- More details will be available on mutigers.com, but senior QB Brad Smith has been named to the pre-season watch list for both the Walter Camp 2005 Player of the Year Award, as well as the 2005 Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award. These are very select lists to be named to, and certainly very well-deserved for MU's captain.
- Seeing Tony Temple run the kickoff back during practice dredged up painful memories that it hasn't been since 1982 since Missouri has returned a kickoff for a touchdown in a game. Do you remember who it was? It was Ricky Doby against Oklahoma State in the latter half of that season. He took a reverse on the return at the 15 yardline (the return originated from the 1-yardline), and raced 85 yards for the TD. Who knew that some 23 years later, MU would still be looking for its first one. Notified of this fact, Temple after practice said he hopes to get that record scratched out of the books. If anyone can do it, it sure seems to be him, from early practices.
