April 7, 2007
Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri football team was forced indoors today for their first scrimmage of the spring, but with the weather frosty cold outside, the Tiger offense was red-hot in the warm confines of the Dan Devine Indoor Pavilion.
Junior QB Chase Daniel led the way as the Tiger offense won the scrimmage, which was shortened a bit from the previously-planned length. Daniel connected on 11-of-14 passes Saturday for 176 yards and 2 TDs, with the scores coming on consecutive plays. The first was a 17-yard strike over the middle to TE Martin Rucker, and then on the very next play, Daniel rolled right, faking a run to TB Tony Temple. His fake sold the run and got WR Jason Ray freed up down the right sideline, and Daniel hit him for a TD that covered 50 yards.
Junior QB Chase Patton had a very good day in relief of Daniel, looking very comfortable out there as he took numerous snaps with the number-one offense. Patton completed 11-of-19 passes today for 125 yards, including 1 TD that was a beautifully-thrown ball into the corner of the endzone to TE Chase Coffman that went for 14 yards.
Rucker and Coffman were among the top receivers on the day, catching 8 passes for 87 yards and 3 passes for 50 yards, respectively. Senior WR Will Franklin had 4 catches for 62 yards, while senior WR Greg Bracey caught 4 balls for 53 yards on the day as well, with redshirt freshman WR Jeremy Maclin catching 3 passes for 22 yards in his first scrimmage action.
Redshirt freshman DB La'Roderick Thomas had the biggest play of the day for the defense, when he stepped in front of a J.P. Tillman pass in the flat, made the interception and ran back for what would have likely been a 35-yard TD before the play was stopped. Other defensive highlights included tackles for loss by DT Ziggy Hood and LB Luke Lambert, with QB sacks by DE John Stull and LB Andy Loyd. S Justin Garrett, DL Jaron Baston and S Pig Brown also broke up a pass each on the day, while LB Sean Weatherspoon dealt possibly the biggest hit on the day early in the scrimmage when he stopped Franklin on a short gain on the right sideline.
TB Tony Temple and TB Jimmy Jackson were effective with their opportunities, as Temple rushed seven times for 39 yards, while Jackson had 34 yards on the same amount of carries, and tacked on a 4-yard TD run midway through the scrimmage, on a nice cutback effort that got him to paydirt.
The Tigers will be off for Easter Sunday tomorrow, and will resume practice Tuesday, April 10th as they continue to prepare for the Black & Gold Game, scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 21st at Faurot Field.
Complete stats of the scrimmage follow:
PASSING
Daniel - 11-14-0, 176 yds., 2 TD
Patton - 11-19-0, 125 yds., 1 TD
Grooms - 7-13-0, 75 yds.
Tillman - 6-9-1, 58 yds.
RUSHING
Temple - 7-39
Jackson - 7-34, 1 TD
Woods - 6-2
Scott - 4-16
Huff - 4-2
Tillman - 3-(-16)
Daniel - 2-14
Patton - 2-4
Grooms - 1-6
Franklin - 1-2
RECEIVING
Rucker - 8-87, 1 TD
Franklin - 4-62
Bracey - 4-53
Coffman - 3-50, 1 TD
Maclin - 3-22
May - 2-33
Jackson - 2-16
Alexander - 2-13
Woods - 2-13
Ray - 1-50, 1 TD
Perry - 1-20
Saunders - 1-7
Shock - 1-5
Casey - 1-3
FIELD GOALS
Wolfert - 3-4 (MAKE FROM 34, 36, 44) (MISS FROM 44)
Crossett - 1-3 (MAKE FROM 34) (MISS FROM 36, 44)