Missouri Tigers (1-0) at Mississippi Rebels (1-0)
Sept. 8, 2007 -- Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
Oxford, Miss.
KICKOFF: 5:00 p.m. (central time).
STADIUM: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (60,580 - AstroPlay surface).
RADIO: Tiger Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play/John Kadlec, color/Tom Ackerman, sidelines). Carried on over 50 stations statewide, and on the Internet at mutigers.com, and on Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel #152).
TV: None.
RANKINGS (AP/COACHES): MU - RV/RV; OLE MISS - None.
SERIES: Mizzou leads, 4-1, with three straight wins in the series dating back to 1978. The Tigers claimed a 34-7 win in Columbia in the 2006 season.
COACHES:

Mizzou: Gary Pinkel (Kent, '75), 38-35 at MU (7th year) and 111-72-3 overall (17th year). Pinkel is 1-0 versus Ole Miss and Ed Orgeron.

Mississippi: Ed Orgeron (Northwestern State, '84), 8-16 at Ole Miss and overall (3rd year). Orgeron is 0-1 versus Mizzou and Gary Pinkel.

TIGERS AND REBELS PUT 1-0 RECORDS ON THE LINE SATURDAY
The Missouri Tigers (1-0) travel to Oxford, Miss., where they'll try to move to 2-0 on the young season. But they'll have a stern test in front of them as they'll be facing the Ole Miss Rebels (1-0) on their home turf at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium deep in the heart of SEC country. Mizzou is coming off a thrill-a-minute 40-34 season-opening win last week against Illinois that saw the Tigers jump out to a 37-13 3rd-quarter lead, only to see the Illini post a furious rally that had them throwing into the endzone in the final minute before an interception by SS Pig Brown saved the day. Brown also recovered two fumbles on the day, the first of which tied an NCAA record when he returned it 100 yards for a TD. Ole Miss opened on the road last week and had a similar fate, as they jumped out to a commanding 23-0 lead at Memphis, and held on for a 23-21 victory, as a Memphis 2-point conversion with :31 seconds left in the game failed and the Rebels held on for the win.

TIGERS HOLD ON IN WILD WIN VS. ILLINOIS
The old adage about the first week being a crapshoot held true in college football last weekend, with some intriguing upsets and dramatic games. Mizzou certainly displayed a flair for the dramatic in its season-opening 40-34 win over Illinois last Saturday. But the Tigers made enough big plays of their own to win, and just enough mistakes to make their coaches want to reach for the Maalox in the lockerroom. Here's a quick sampling of the back-and-forth nature of the game...

• - Illinois took a 6-0 lead in the 1st quarter on a blocked punt return for a TD, but MU blocked the ensuing PAT, and staged a long drive to take a 7-6 lead...
• - The Illini drove inside the MU 5-yardline, appearing on the verge of regaining the lead, but on a QB keeper, the ball was popped loose and Mizzou SS Pig Brown scooped up the ball 2 yards deep in the Tiger endzone, and raced untouched for what was officially a 100-yard fumble return for a TD to extend MU's lead to 13-6...
• - MU's defense forced another fumble on Illinois' next possession, and the offense parlayed that into a TD drive for a 20-6 lead just before half. But the Tigers weren't done, as the special teams came up big on the ensuing kickoff, when true freshman LB Andrew Gachkar knocked the ball loose, and LB Connell Davis recovered to set MU up for a 27-yard FG at the halftime gun that made it 23-6...
• - After Illinois pulled to within 10 points on its opening 2nd-half possession, MU scored two straight TDs, courtesy of freshman WR Jeremy Maclin. Playing in his hometown of St. Louis, Maclin, who missed the entire 2006 season due to a knee injury suffered during 7-on-7 voluntary workouts in the summer of 2006, got his first collegiate TD on a 25-yard pass from QB Chase Daniel with 10:03 left in the 3rd quarter. After the Tiger defense forced a punt, Maclin then showed why his coaches made him the #1 punt returner on the team, when he took one back 66 yards for a TD to extend the lead to 37-13 with 6:11 left in the quarter...
• - Illinois countered with a sustained drive for a TD that made it 37-20, and then took advantage of a pair of Tiger fumbles that set U of I up in MU territory - the 41-yardline and 4-yardline, respectively. The Illini converted the short field into TDs both times, with the last one making the score 37-34 in favor of MU with 13:48 left in the game...
• - The Tiger offense later carved out a drive that ended in a Jeff Wolfert 32-yard FG to make it 40-34 with 8:32 remaining in the game, and the defense again pitched in adequately by ending Illinois' last pair of drives with acrobatic interceptions - the first by FS William Moore (at the MU 23-yardline with 6:52 left), and the second by Brown at the MU 1-yardline with just :51 seconds left. It was Brown's 3rd turnover gained of the day, to go with a pair of fumble recoveries...

TIGERS PLAY TAKEAWAY IN OPENER
Mizzou's defense was very opportunistic in the opener against Illinois, as it created 5 turnovers that were all key in helping the Tigers both stake and hold onto the lead in the end. MU scored 16 points directly off of the turnovers (all in the first half), directly contributing to the 23-6 halftime advantage it held over the Illini. Mizzou didn't score off of the 2 interceptions it gained in the 2nd half, but those picks were still crucial, as they snuffed out each of Illinois' final two drives of the game and came at the MU 24-yardline and 1-yardline, respectively.

MORE ON TURNOVERS
The points off turnovers were much-needed, as Illinois scored 14 points of its own off of MU giveaways (a pair of 2nd-half fumbles), while the Illini added 6 more points directly on a blocked punt for a TD in the first quarter. MU coaches felt going into the season that they had more playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, and they proved to be right in the opener, as the 5 takeaways ties the most in a game gained in the 6-plus years under Head Coach Gary Pinkel. Only four times previously has MU gained that many turnovers - 2006 at Texas Tech (3 fumbles, 2 INTs), 2003 vs. Nebraska (4 fumbles, 1 INT, 2002 vs. Ball State (4 fumbles, 1 INT), and 2002 vs. Troy State (1 fumble, 4 INTs). The Tigers certainly can't expect to maintain a pace of 5 turnovers gained per game, but if the defense can continue its opportunistic ways, they'll provide a big boost to the high-powered offensive attack that gathers all the headlines. Here's a look at the takeaways gained by MU in Gary Pinkel's tenure...

Year	Fumbles	INTs	Total	Games	Avg. P/G
2007	3	2	5	1	5.00
2006	15	13	28	13	2.15
2005	11	13	24	12	2.00
2004	8	15	23	11	2.09
2003	15	9	24	13	1.85
2002	12	12	24	12	2.00
2001	9	6	15	11	1.36

OFFENSE LOOKING FOR MORE
Expectations for Mizzou's offensive spread attack are sky high this season, and that's definitely the case when a team scores 40 points to defeat a BCS-conference opponent, and still feels it can do much better overall. Mizzou got 13 points directly from its defense and special teams, on Pig Brown's 100-yard fumble return and on Jeremy Maclin's 66-yard punt return, meaning that the Tiger offense accounted for 27 points on the day. The passing attack, led by QB Chase Daniel, contributed to the tune of 359 yards and 3 TDs, but it was the rushing attack that couldn't find its traction, as Illinois held MU to just 70 net yards rushing on 33 attempts (2.1 ypa). The offense still managed quite a bit of production, as it had 429 yards of offense on the day, and held the ball for 29:23 of possession time - almost 2 minutes better than MU's 2006 per-game average of 27:46, so there were certainly some positives to take from the day. Some notes from MU's 15 offensive possessions (not including the final one of the game where it ran out the clock inside its own 5-yardline, nor the fumble and punt return scores)...

• - Mizzou was forced to punt 7 times, which is more than in any game in 2006. Last season, the most MU punted was 5 times - vs. Ole Miss, at Iowa State and vs. Oregon State in the Sun Bowl. MU averaged just 3.69 punts per game a year ago (48 in 13 games)...
• - Of the other 8 possessions, MU scored 3 TDs, 2 FGs and missed 1 long FG. The other 2 non-scoring possessions both came about when the Tigers lost fumbles in the 3rd quarter that helped Illinois climb back into the game...
• - Mizzou will look to get out of the gate in better fashion offensively, as it was forced to punt on 5 of its first 6 possessions against Illinois. MU drove into Illinois territory 3 times in those first 6 possessions, scoring 1 TD, but having the other 2 stall out with 1 because of a fumbled exchange on 3rd down (recovered by MU)...
• - The running attack will definitely look to pick things up this week at Ole Miss, as the Tigers were held to just 70 net yards rushing - the lowest total for MU since being held to just 59 yards at Colorado in 2005. MU's lowest rushing total of last season was 74 yards at Texas A&M...
• - Mizzou's primary rushing weapon - senior TB Tony Temple (the Big 12's leading returning rusher from a year ago with 1,063 yards in 2006) was negated early on by Illinois, as he was held to 1 yard total in the 1st half on 7 carries (0.1 ypa). The good news is that Temple got untracked a bit in the 2nd half, as he carried 10 more times for 32 yards (3.2 ypa)...

DEFENDING THE DEFENSE
Mizzou's defense faced a lot of questions from the outside coming into the season, given the fact that it lost 6 starters from a year ago. While the final stats from Saturday's opener might not blow critics away, a further look into the numbers shows the defense did plenty to say it contributed heavily to MU's 40-34 win against Illinois. Consider...

• - As mentioned previously, 20 of Illinois' 34 points came on MU offensive and special teams mistakes (6 points on a blocked punt for a TD and 14 points off of MU fumbles that gave Illinois short fields of 41 yards and 4 yards to work with)...
• - MU allowed only 2 sustained drives by the Illini - a 79-yard drive that ended in a TD to start the 3rd quarter, and a 72-yard drive midway through the 3rd after Mizzou raced out to a 37-13 lead. In all, of Illinois' 16 offensive possessions, MU forced 7 punts, gained 5 turnovers and allowed 4 TDs (2 of which came on short fields)...
• - Mizzou's defense came out of the gates in strong fashion, as it held Illinois to 1 first down and 24 total yards in the 1st quarter, and 5 1st downs and 98 yards of total offense in the 1st half. The Illini also failed to score an offensive TD, as they scored their only points of the first half on the aforementioned blocked punt...
• - Mizzou's rush defense was respectable against Illinois, who won the Big Ten rushing title in 2006, and ranked 10th nationally in 2006 (188.83 ypg). The Illini netted only 119 yards on the ground last Saturday, and averaged just 3.5 yards per attempt...
• - A further look into the rushing numbers shows that Illinois gained 113 of their rushing yards on 6 plays that went for 30, 25, 17, 16, 13 and 12 yards. That means for the Illini's remaining 28 rushes, the Tiger defense held them to a meager 6 yards (an average of 0.6 ypa). 14 of Illinois' 34 rushing attempts went for 1 yard or less, including 6 that went for negative yards (and that doesn't even include QB sacks, of which MU turned in 3 on the day.

MIZZOU-OLE MISS SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou and Ole Miss will take to the field for the 6th time when they meet Saturday in Oxford, Miss., as the schools will play the last of a home-and-home series that began last season. The game last year in Columbia saw Mizzou claim a 34-7 victory, with the win pushing Mizzou to a 4-1 series edge overall. Mizzou has never played in Oxford, but played in nearby Jackson in both 1974 and 1979, splitting the games by losing 10-0 in '74 and claiming the return trip in '79 by a 33-7 count.

LAST YEAR REWIND: MIZZOU 34, OLE MISS 7
Mizzou played host to its first SEC school since 1984, as it entertained the Ole Miss Rebels in Columbia for its 2nd game of the 2006 season. The Tigers were inhospitable hosts, as MU rolled early and often on its way to a resounding 34-7 victory. As the final score would indicate, the Tigers won most every phase of the game, outgaining the Rebels by a margin of 471-to-162 in total offense. Sophomore QB Chase Daniel led a potent offensive attack that scored on its first 2 possessions for the 2nd straight game. The first drive was a 10-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with his own 3-yard TD run to open the scoring. It was followed by a defensive stop by MU, and another long drive that made it 10-0 in favor of the Tigers.

The Mizzou defense was stifling all day long, as it allowed only 1 Ole Miss first down in the 1st quarter, and only 4 total in the first half altogether. Ole Miss' final output of 162 yards of total offense was the fewest in a game for the Rebels since 1998 when they had 134 against Auburn. Their only score of the day came on a short drive after MU fumbled away a punt on its own 35 yardline late in the 2nd quarter.

Daniel was impressive again in just his 2nd career start, as he completed 24-of-40 passes for 234 yards and 1 TD. He also proved to be a threat with his feet, as he carried the ball 13 times for a career-best 89 yards and 1 score.

Mizzou's defense, led by a stellar day from senior LB Marcus Bacon, who had a team-best 12 tackles (after coaches' film review) and added an interception and a forced fumble. Bacon and crew limited Ole Miss to only 72 yards rushing (on 28 carries, after they had rushed for 240 yards a week earlier in a win against Memphis) and just 90 yards passing, while they intercepted Rebel QB Brent Schaeffer 3 times on the day.

The 162 yards of total offense allowed to Ole Miss was the fewest given up in a game by a Mizzou defense since the Tigers gave up 142 in a 48-0 shutout win over Ball State during the 2004 season.

Daniel threw for 243 yards and rushed for 89 yards, which marked only the 5th time in school history that someone has thrown for at least 240 yards and ran for at least 85 yards in a game. The other instances were Phil Johnson in 1991 against Oklahoma State (260 pass, 90 rush), Brad Smith in 2003 against Colorado (278 pass, 102 rush), Brad Smith in 2005 versus New Mexico (248 pass, 165 rush), and Brad Smith in 2005 against South Carolina (282 pass, 150 rush)... Mizzou's defense forced 3 Ole Miss turnovers on the day, all coming on INTs of QB Brent Schaeffer. The first came in the 2nd quarter by S Brandon Massey, who came over on a deep ball to leap high and pull the ball away from a Rebel receiver for the pickoff. It was the 2nd interception in as many games for the St. Louis, Mo. native. In the 4th quarter, LB Marcus Bacon ended Ole Miss' best drive of the day when he stepped in front of a pass over the middle and picked it off at the MU 14-yardline and returned it 52 yards into Ole Miss territory. On the next defensive series, true freshman CB Del Howard got into the act, as he grabbed a deflected ball and ran it back 16 yards.

TIGERS AGAINST THE SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Mizzou has a solid alltime record of 16-7-1 against teams from the SEC, including a stellar bowl record of 6-2 against the conference. Included in that bowl total was when the Tigers defeated South Carolina in the 2005 Independence Bowl, 38-31 as MU staged the largest comeback win in school history (21 point defecit).

Mizzou is 3-2 alltime playing on the road against SEC schools, but of those 5 previous games, only 1 of them was played on campus, when MU played at Kentucky in 1968 and fell by a 12-6 score. The other 4 games were played in-state, but at secondary locations:

MU Road Games vs. SEC Opponents

• 1975 vs. Alabama in Birmingham (Mizzou won, 20-7)
• 1968 at Kentucky at Lexington (Kentucky won, 12-6)
• 1974 vs. Ole Miss at Jackson (Ole Miss won, 10-0)
• 1979 vs. Ole Miss at Jackson (Mizzou won, 33-7)
• 1981 vs. Mississippi State at Jackson (Mizzou won, 14-3)

Here's a breakdown of how MU stands historically against SEC foes:

Opponent	Overall	Road	Columbia	Bowls
Alabama	2-1	1-0	0-1	1-0 (1968 Gator)
Arkansas*	0-1	0-0	0-0	0-1 (2003 Independence)
Auburn	1-0	0-0	0-0	1-0 (1973 Sun)
Florida	1-0	0-0	0-0	1-0 (1966 Sugar)
Georgia	0-1	0-0	0-0	0-1 (1960 Orange)
Kentucky	1-2	0-1	1-1	0-0
LSU	1-0	0-0	0-0	1-0 (1978 Liberty)
Ole Miss	4-1	1-1	3-0	0-0
Mississippi State	2-0	1-0	1-0	0-0
South Carolina*	2-0	0-0	0-0	2-0 (1979 HOF; 2005 Indep.)
Tennessee	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0
Vanderbilt	2-1-1	0-0	2-1-1^	0-0
TOTAL	16-7-1	3-2	7-3-1	6-2

^-Denotes one game played in St. Louis as a home game for Mizzou
(*NOTE - figures only count games against Arkansas and South Carolina since they joined the SEC for the 1992 season).

PIG HOGS THE SPOTLIGHT IN SEASON-OPENING WIN OVER ILLINOIS
Senior SS and co-captain Pig Brown picked a supreme time to play his best game to date as a Tiger, as he made at least 3 critically huge plays in a ballgame that went down to the wire, with Mizzou claiming a 40-34 win over rival Illinois.

Brown, who joined the Tiger program just a year ago as a junior college transfer, was the star of the 2007 opener, as he tied an NCAA record by returning a fumble 100 yards for a TD, recovered 2 fumbles in all (with the 2nd setting up a TD drive by the Tiger offense), and capped it off by making a leaping interception at the MU 1-yardline with under 1 minute to play to stop Illinois' last-ditch attempt at winning the ballgame. Brown ended the day with 5 tackles in all, including 1 TFL.

It's hard to know just how the game would have turned out were it not for Brown's heroics. His 1st big play came with MU holding the slimmest of 7-6 leads with 5 minutes left in a hardfought 1st half. Illinois drove inside the MU 3-yardline and appeared poised to regain momentum and the lead, when Illini QB Eddie McGee ran a draw up the middle. He was hit near the 2-yardline by DT Ziggy Hood and LB Sean Weatherspoon, and the ball came out as McGee was falling down. The ball took a fortuitous hop for Mizzou, and rolled 2 yards deep into the endzone when Brown swooped in, snatched it up and in one motion was off to the races down the right sideline, going untouched.

His 100-yard return ties an NCAA record for longest fumble return, as NCAA standards state the maximum length of any return is 100 yards. The only other time a Tiger has raced endzone to endzone with a fumble return came back in 1963 when Vince Turner did so against Kansas in a play that was estimated to cover around 103 yards.

Brown's heads up play extended MU's lead to 13-6, and he came up big again on the very next Illini drive when McGee fumbled during another scramble up the middle. This time, Brown was only able to advance 2 yards before going down, but his recovery set up the Tiger offense at the MU 31-yardline, and the offense pitched in with a TD drive to go up 20-6 with just :20 seconds remaining before half.

After a furious Illinois rally took what was at one time a 37-13 MU 3rd-quarter lead to just 40-34, the Illini staged one last drive to try and pull off the upset win. Illinois drove to the Mizzou 22-yardline and had a 1st-and-10 with just :58 seconds left and with 1 timeout in its pocket, plenty of time to go for the win. That's just what they did on the first play, as McGee lofted a pass into the front right corner of the endzone, but Brown came over from his centerfield position and leaped high to snag the ball, and the victory for the Tigers.

J-MAC SHOWS HE'S BACK
Redshirt freshman WR Jeremy Maclin was a highly-touted recruit in 2006 who figured to be a big part of the Tiger offense a year ago, before suffering a season-ending knee injury during summer drills prior to last season.

After a hard road of rehab, Maclin got a chance to show that he's back and better than ever, and he contributed heavily to Mizzou's 40-34 win over Illinois last Saturday, as he scored a pair of 3rd-quarter TDs in a 4-minute span in front of his hometown fans in St. Louis, Mo.

Maclin got his 1st collegiate touch right away, as he returned the opening kickoff 17 yards. He caught his 1st pass in the 3rd quarter as QB Chase Daniel found him on the left sideline for a gain of 18 yards. On the very next play, Daniel fired a missle down the left seam that Maclin adjusted to and caught near the goalline, and he spun across for his 1st TD at the 10:03 mark to put MU up, 30-13.

That was only an encore, however, as the Tiger defense forced an Illinois punt on the ensuing series, and Maclin fielded it at the MU 34-yardline, made one hard move right, then darted back left through traffic into the clear. He made one big cutback to the left side and angled untouched to paydirt before a delerious Tiger crowd to stake MU to a 37-13 lead with 6:11 left.

In all, Maclin had a game-high 227 all-purpose yards. He became only the 2nd Tiger in modern history to score a receiving TD and a punt return TD in the same game - matching another great Tiger receiver, Justin Gage, who did the trick in 2001 against Southwest Texas State on an 8-yard TD pass from QB Kirk Farmer, and on an 18-yard return of a blocked punt. Maclin is the only Tiger to score on a reception and a non-blocked punt return in the same game.

MORE ABOUT PUNT RETURNS
Jeremy Maclin's punt return for a TD was MU's first since 2005, and only the school's 3rd non-blocked punt return since 1990. It was the 19th non-blocked punt return TD for Mizzou since 1938, and it stands as the 9th-longest in MU annals.

Here's a look at the top-10 longest punt returns in MU history...

Date	Tiger	Yards	Opponent	Site	Result
10-8-60	Don Smith	90	Air Force	Denver	W, 34-8
10-22-60	Don Smith	88	Iowa State	Columbia	W, 34-8
11-8-58	Fred Brossart	83	Colorado	Columbia	W, 33-9
11-2-02	Marcus James	80	Iowa State	Ames	L, 42-35
11-24-38	Paul Christman	76	Kansas	Columbia	W, 14-6
10-6-73	John Moseley	74	SMU	Dallas	W, 17-7
10-4-41	Harry Ice	73	Colorado	Columbia	W, 21-6
9-17-05	Marcus Woods	73	Troy	Columbia	W, 52-21
9-1-07	Jeremy Maclin	66	Illinois	St. Louis	W, 40-34
10-16-65	Johnny Roland	65	UCLA	Columbia	T, 14-14

DANIEL PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF IN 2006
Despite getting off to a somewhat slow start, for his standards, in MU's season-opening win over Illinois, junior QB Chase Daniel eventually found his stride, and picked up where he left off late last season as he was guiding MU to the nation's 8th-ranked offense (425.62 ypg), and to the nation's 5th-ranked individual total offense ranking (300.46 ypg).

Daniel completed 37-of-54 passes for a career-high 359 yards against Illinois, while throwing 3 TDs with no interceptions as Mizzou claimed a hardfought 40-34 win in St. Louis, Mo. His TD passes were for 1-yard to TE Chase Coffman (on 4th-and-goal in the 1st quarter), for 2-yards to WR Will Franklin (with just :20 seconds before halftime) and for 25 yards to WR Jeremy Maclin (3rd quarter).

Daniel has always been seen as a gritty, hard-nosed ballplayer, but he really showed his moxie when he scrambled for a key 17-yard gain in the 4th quarter on 3rd-and-7 from deep in MU territory that kept alive a drive as the Tigers were clinging to their 40-34 lead. On the play, as he was going down, Daniel was smacked hard by an Illini defensive back, and had to be helped off the field. After sitting out the required one play, Daniel returned and hit 2 straight passes, including a perfect strike to a streaking WR Danario Alexander for 33 yards on 3rd-and-11 that took the ball to the Illinois 25-yardline.

Daniel has been nothing short of masterful running the Mizzou spread offense of late, as the numbers from his last 3 games below reflect...

Opponent	Comp.	Att.	Int.	Pct.	Yards	Long	TD	Effic.
Kansas	26	38	0	68.4	356	74	4	181.9
vs. Oregon St.	16	29	0	55.2	330	74	2	173.5
vs. Illinois	37	54	0	68.5	359	33	3	142.7
Totals	79	121	0	65.3	1,045	74	9	162.4

Daniel has not thrown an interception since game #10 last season against Nebraska, and carries a streak of 191 consecutive passes attempted without an interception into this Saturday's game against Ole Miss.

Last season, Daniel smashed numerous season records that former QB great Brad Smith and others held, including passing yards (3,527 - almost 1,100 more than the old record of 2,436 by Jeff Handy in 1992), passing TDs (28), TDs responsible for (32) and total offense (3,906). Daniel ranked 5th in the NCAA in total offense with his per-game average of 300.5 ypg - that was the highest a Tiger has rated in total offense nationally since Bob Steuber finished 3rd in 1942. Daniel, in his first year as a starter in 2006, led MU to its first 6-0 start since 1973, and an 8-win season for only the 10th time in school history.

PINKEL AMONG SELECT COACHING HISTORY AT MIZZOU Mizzou Head Coach Gary Pinkel is in his 7th season at MU and touts a career record of 111-72-3 (60.5%). Pinkel, who has led MU to a combined record of 29-21 over the past 5 seasons, and to bowl games in 2003, 2005 and 2006, has a 7-year record in Columbia of 38-35 (52.1%).

He is in a select group of Mizzou coaches that includes College Football Hall of Famers Don Faurot and Dan Devine, as well as Warren Powers, to be the only coaches to have an MU record of above .500 (with at least one full season coached) dating all the way back to 1935.

The 2006 season got off to an historic start for Pinkel and his Tigers, as he led MU to its first 6-0 start since 1973, and its first 7-1 start to a season since 1969. He was awared with a new five-year contract late in the year that will keep him on the Tiger sidelines through the 2011 season. The new deal trumped the old contract that was set to expire after the 2008 campaign.

Pinkel has led MU to 3 bowl games, and if his Tigers can reach a 4th in 2007, he would join Faurot (4 bowls), Devine (6 bowls), and Powers (5 bowls) as the only coaches to guide MU to 4 bowl games. After beating Nebraska (41-24 in 2005) for the 2nd time in 3 years, Pinkel became the first MU coach since Onofrio to defeat NU twice.

Pinkel has guided Mizzou to 3 winning seasons (8-5 in 2003, 7-5 in 2005, 8-5 in 2006), with those representing 3 of MU's 5 winning campaigns dating back to the 1983 season.

TIGERS PICKED TO WIN BIG 12 NORTH BY LEAGUE MEDIA PRE-SEASON POLL Mizzou found itself in rarified air heading into the 2007 season, as the Tigers were picked to win the Big 12 North Division title in the Big 12 pre-season media poll - marking the first time since the formation of the league in 1996 that MU has been tabbed to win. Here is a quick look at the pre-season media poll results (first place votes in parentheses):

NORTH	PTS.	SOUTH	PTS.
1. Mizzou (16)	136	1. Texas (16)	135
2. Nebraska (8)	128	2. Oklahoma (7)	126
3. Kansas State	88	3. Texas A&M (1)	82
4. Kansas	63	4. Oklahoma State	81
5. Colorado	58	5. Texas Tech	56
6. Iowa State	31	6. Baylor	24

• - In all but one year of the Big 12 media preseason poll, Mizzou has finished within two spots of where it was predicted to finish. The only exception was last season, when the league scribes picked Mizzou to finish in fifth place, but the Tigers exceeded expectations with a second-place showing...
• - The highest MU had previously been picked in the preseason media poll was second in 2004. The Tigers finished fourth that season...
• - In the previous 11 preseason polls spanning the Big 12s existence (1996-2006), Mizzou has finished higher than predicted five times (1996 picked 6th, finished 4th; 1997 picked 4th, finished 3rd; 1998 picked 4th, finished 3rd; 2003 picked 4th, finished 3rd; 2006 picked 5th, finished 2nd)...
• - Mizzou has finished lower than predicted in the preseason poll only two times (1999 picked 4th, finished 6th; 2004 picked 2nd, finished 4th)...
• - Mizzou has finished exactly where it was predicted by league media four other times (2000/6th; 2001/5th; 2002/5th; 2005/4th). Should the Tigers win the North, it would mark the first conference title of any kind for MU football since tying for the Big Eight championship in 1969.

WATCHING THE AWARDS LISTS
Several Tigers are included on the preseason watch lists for some significant national awards. Here's a look at Tigers that people are keeping their eyes on:

WALTER CAMP AWARD (PLAYER OF THE YEAR)

•Chase Daniel - 5th in NCAA total offense in 2006 (300.46 ypg)...

DAVEY O'BRIEN AWARD (QUARTERBACK)
• Chase Daniel - MU-record 3,527 passing yds. & 28 TDs & 3,906 tot. off. in '06...

LOMBARDI AWARD
•Martin Rucker - MU career TE leader for receptions (129) and yds. (1,427)...

JOHN MACKEY AWARD (TIGHT END)
• Chase Coffman - Led all Big 12 TEs in 2006 in receptions (58), yds. (638) & TDs (9)...
• Martin Rucker - 1st-Team All-Big 12 TE in '06 vying for All-American honors in '07...

MAXWELL AWARD (OFFENSIVE PLAYER)
• Chase Daniel - Went 8-5 in his 1st year as a starter...

RIMINGTON AWARD (CENTER)
•Adam Spieker - 4th-year starter scheduled to start his 38th straight game Saturday...

GROZA AWARD (PLACEKICKER)
•Jeff Wolfert - One of nation's top PKs in 2006, making 18-20 FGs & 45-45 PATs...

OUTLAND AWARD (LINEMAN)
• Adam Spieker - 4th-year starter scheduled to start his 38th straight game Saturday...