25th-Ranked Tigers Close Non-Conference Slate With Illinois State
9/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 18, 2007
#15 Illinois State Redbirds (2-1) at #25/25 Missouri Tigers (3-0)
Sept. 22, 2007 -- Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium -- Columbia, Mo.
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- Game Notes (605 kb)
25TH-RANKED TIGERS CLOSE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE WITH ILLINOIS STATE
The #25/25 Missouri Tigers (3-0) will look to defend their first ranking of the 2007 season, as they play host to the Illinois State Redbirds (2-1), who are ranked 14th in the latest Div. I-AA (Football Championship Subdivision) Coaches' poll. Kickoff for Saturday's non-televised game at Faurot Field is set for 1:08 p.m.
Mizzou entered the rankings for the 1st time Sunday after moving to 3-0 with a solid 52-24 win last week against Western Michigan. The Tigers' high-powered offensive attack rolled up 619 yards against the Broncos - the 6th-highest single-game offensive output in school history.
Illinois State has won its last 2 games over Murray State (43-17 at home) and at Eastern Illinois (24-21 last Saturday), after dropping its season opener at home to Drake (27-24). The Redbirds went 9-4 in 2006, and finished the season ranked 8th in the final polls, reaching the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.
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PREVIOUS 4-0 STARTS |
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| Year (Undefeated Start / Final Record) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1895 (4-0 / 7-1) | 1960 (11-0 / 11-0) # | |
| 1899 (7-0 / 9-2) | 1969 (5-0 / 9-2) # | |
| 1905 (5-0 / 5-4) | 1973 (6-0 / 8-4) | |
| 1906 (4-0 / 5-2-1) | 1981 (5-0 / 8-4) | |
| 1908 (4-0 / 6-2) | 2003 (4-0 / 8-5) | |
| 1920 (4-0 / 7-1) | 2006 (6-0 / 8-5) | |
| 1924 (4-0 / 7-2) # | ||
| #-Won conference championship | ||
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TIGERS LOOK TO CONTINUE PERFECT START
The Mizzou Tigers will look to continue their perfect start to the 2007 season and improve on their 3-0 record, as they play host to the Illinois State Redbirds Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field.
A win over Illinois State would give Mizzou its second straight season of at least a 4-0 start, and only the 14th in school history.
At right is a look at all of the previous seasons in which MU has started a season 4-0, with the 1st number in parentheses the start and the 2nd number the end record for the season...
PINKEL CAN MAKE HISTORY SATURDAY
Mizzou Head Coach Gary Pinkel can make history this Saturday if his Tigers claim a victory over Illinois State.
Along with the previously-mentioned theme regarding starts to a season, if MU wins this weekend, Pinkel will become the 1st coach in Mizzou history to start a season with at least a 4-0 record three times in his career.
Pinkel's 2003 squad began the season 4-0 and ended with an 8-5 overall mark after reaching the Independence Bowl that season. In 2006, Mizzou started 6-0 - matching the school's best start since 1973 - and ended 8-5 with an invite to the Sun Bowl.
Only 2 other MU coaches have as many as 2 seasons of starting 4-0 - Dan Devine (11-0 in 1960 and 5-0 in 1969) and W.J. Monilaw (4-0 in both 1906 and 1908).
Of course, since neither Devine nor Monilaw did their 4-0 starts in consecutive seasons, if Mizzou wins Saturday, that would also make Pinkel the first coach at MU to have 4-0 starts in back-to-back years.
MIZZOU CRACKS NATIONAL POLLS FOR 1ST TIME IN 2007
Mizzou entered the national spotlight in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' top-25 this Sunday, as the Tigers debuted at #25 in both polls. Mizzou had been receiving votes in both polls all season, but hadn't garnered enough votes to get out of the "others receiving votes" category until after Saturday's 52-24 win over Western Michigan.
A few notes about MU carrying a ranking into a game:
- MU is 88-58-1 overall (60.2%) in its previous 147 games as a ranked team, including a perfect 3-0 as the No. 25 team, with wins over Colorado in 2006 (28-13), Kansas in 1998 (41-23) and Baylor in 1997 (42-24) - with all 3 coming at home...
- Mizzou spent 5 weeks during the 2006 season as a ranked team in the AP poll, peaking as high as 19th after starting 6-0. The Tigers went 3-2 in those games...
- Mizzou is 4-1 playing at home under Gary Pinkel as a ranked team, going 1-0 in 2003, 1-0 in 2004, and 2-1 in 2006, with the only loss coming to #19 Oklahoma last year, 26-10 (MU was ranked #23 for the game).
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LAST SEVEN HOME GAMES |
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| Category | MU | |
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| Points | 285 | |
| Scoring Avg. | 35.6 | |
| 1st Half Points | 158 | |
| 1st Half Pts. Avg. | 19.8 | |
| Rushing TDs | 13 | |
| Passing Yds. | 2346 | |
| Total Offense Yds. | 3746 | |
| 3rd Downs | 73-129 | |
| 3rd Down Pct. | 56.6 | |
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MIZZOU IS 20-6 AT `THE ZOU' SINCE 2003 SEASON
Since nicknaming Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium "The Zou" prior to the 2003 season, Gary Pinkel's Tigers have done a nice job of defending their home turf (FieldTurf surface, which was also installed prior to the `03 season, by coincidence).
Since 2003, the Tigers are an impressive 20-6 at home, good for a winning percentage of 76.9%. That breaks down to records of 6-0 in 2003, 3-3 in 2004, 4-2 in 2005, 6-1 in 2006 and 1-0 currently in 2007. Mizzou has won 10 of its last 11 at home dating back to midway through the 2005 season. The only loss in that stretch was a 26-10 setback in 2006 to #19 Oklahoma.
Here's a few statistics that really jump out as being decidedly in MU's favor over the last 7 home games (2006 season plus the 2007 home opener)...
TIME OF POSSESSION DOES NOT COMPUTE
Conventional football wisdom holds, for the most part, that the team that holds the advantage in time of possession usually wins more than they lose.
That old adage is definitely not the case for Mizzou this season, as the Tigers have raced to a 3-0 start despite being outpossessed by an average of over 3 minutes per game thus far (31:40 for opponents on average, to MU's average of 28:12).
One fact that really blows the time of possession belief to bits is this fact: The quarter in which MU has the lowest average time of possession this season is the 2nd quarter, at just 5:22 per game. Guess which quarter MU has scored the most points in this season? Survey says - the 2nd quarter, with 61 points (an average of 20.3 pts. thru 3 games). In spite of opponents holding the ball for a whopping average of 9:38 in the 2nd quarter so far, they have scored only 10 total points in 3 games (3.3 avg.).
DON'T BLINK OR YOU'LL MISS MIZZOU'S QUICK STRIKE OFFENSE
As mentioned above, the Tiger offense has shown its quick-strike nature often thus far this season, as its average scoring drive in 19 offensive scores thus far has been just 2:01.
Last Saturday against Western Michigan, the Tigers struck quickly and often on the way to a 52-24 win. Every one of their 1st 7 scoring drives took 2:24 or less, including amazing back-to-back drives in the 2nd quarter that traveled 86 yards (TD) and 70 yards (TD) in just 1:04 and 0:52 seconds, respectively.
The game did end with the reserves methodically marching downfield in rather un-Mizzou-like fashion, grinding out a 14-play, 94-yard TD drive that took 5:18. Even with that 5:18 drive, the per-game average for MU's scoring drive against WMU was a mere 1:54. If that long drive is backed out of the equation, the other 7 scoring drives averaged only 1:25!!
Of Mizzou's 15 offensive TD drives thus far, 12 have taken just 2:50 or less, including 6 last week alone.
MIZZOU VERSUS THE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION
Mizzou is 6-0 alltime against the artist formerly known as Division I-AA, now known as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Mizzou, which is part of the Bowl Championship Subdivision (formerly Div. I-A), will be meeting Illinois State for the first time Saturday. Here's a look at MU's previous I-AA/FCS games...
- 2006 - vs. Murray State - W, 47-7
- 2003 - vs. Eastern Illinois - W, 37-0
- 2001 - vs. Southwest Texas - W, 40-6
- 2000 - vs. Western Illinois - W, 50-20
- 1998 - vs. Northwestern State - W, 35-14
- 1992 - vs. Marshall - W, 44-21
MIZZOU'S 600-YARD GAMES OF TOTAL OFFENSE |
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| Date | Opponent | Yards | Rush | Pass | Score | |
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| 11/19/1949 | Kansas | 665 | 465 | 200 | W, 34-28 | |
| 9/3/2005 | Arkansas St. # | 657 | 317 | 340 | W, 44-17 | |
| 11/22/1969 | at Kansas | 651 | 344 | 307 | W, 69-21 | |
| 10/3/1992 | Marshall | 641 | 258 | 383 | W, 44-21 | |
| 10/6/1984 | Colorado | 639 | 516 | 123 | W, 52-7 | |
| 9/15/2007 | W. Michigan | 619 | 272 | 347 | W, 52-24 | |
| 10/20/1984 | at Kansas St. | 614 | 355 | 259 | W, 61-21 | |
| 9/4/1982 | Colorado St. | 603 | 244 | 359 | W, 28-14 | |
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TIGERS ROLL TO 52-24 WIN OVER WESTERN MICHIGAN TO MOVE TO 3-0
Mizzou improved to 3-0 on the season with a solid all-around 52-24 win over Western Michigan in MU's home opener. The Tigers were quite potent offensively, as they racked up 619 yards of total offense - the 6th-highest single-game total in MU history, and only the 8th time Mizzou has reached the 600-yard mark in a game.
Here's a look at the top offensive outputs in MU history...
MIZZOU LEADS BIG 12 IN BOTH RED ZONE OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
The latest round of Big 12 statistics shows Mizzou on top of the conference in both red zone offense and red zone defense.
Through 3 games in 2007, Mizzou is a perfect 11-of-11 in converting red zone offensive opportunities (Texas A&M is also a perfect 100%, at 20-of-20 so far), and has allowed opponents to score only 63.6% of the time when they've reached the red zone (7-of-11).
TIGERS LEAD BIG 12, RANK 6TH NATIONALLY, IN TURNOVER MARGIN
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.
In game #2 at Ole Miss, the defense did its part by creating 2 turnovers, while the offense went turnover-free. MU went plus 1 in turnovers last week against Western Michigan, and as a result, the Tigers' +2.00 turnover margin rate has Mizzou atop the Big 12 and ranked 6th in the NCAA, entering Saturday's game against Illinois State.
PINKEL NABS 40TH WIN AT MIZZOU LAST TIME OUT
Mizzou Head Coach Gary Pinkel is in his 7th season at MU and touts a career record of 113-72-3 (60.9%).
Pinkel, who has led MU to a combined record of 31-21 over the past 5 seasons, and to bowl games in 2003, 2005 and 2006, has a 7-year record in Columbia of 40-35 (53.3%). Dating back to the 2005 Independence Bowl win over Steve Spurrier and South Carolina, Pinkel has won 12 of his last 17 games overall.
MU's 52-24 win last Saturday over Western Michigan gave Pinkel his 40th MU win, and tied him for 4th alltime at MU, with Gwinn Henry, who went 40-28-9 over 9 seasons from 1923-31, and won 3 Missouri Valley Conference titles (1924, 1925, 1927) and led MU to its 1st-ever bowl game, the 1924 Christmas Festival against USC.
Pinkel 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.
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MACLIN'S ALL-PURPOSE GAME-BY-GAME YARDAGE (TDs in parentheses) |
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| Opponent | All-Purp. | Rush | Rec. | PR | KOR | |
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| vs. Illinois | 227 (2) | 29 | 43 (1) | 74 (1) | 81 | |
| at Ole Miss | 181 | 19 | 52 | 14 | 96 | |
| vs. Western Mich. | 275 (2) | 52 (1) | 96 (1) | 31 | 96 | |
| TOTALS | 683 (4) | 100 (1) | 191 (2) | 119 (1) | 273 | |
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`J-MAC ATTACK' LEADS BIG 12 IN ALL-PURPOSE YARDAGE
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.
Its only taken 3 games into his Tiger career to show that he's fully recovered, and for MU fans to start looking for #9 jerseys in the Tiger Team Store at Memorial Stadium, as Maclin has been next-to-unbelieveable thus far for Mizzou, as he enters Saturday's game against Illinois State leading the Big 12 Conference, and ranking 4th nationally, in all-purpose yardage.
In fact, Maclin is the only player in the nation currently to have 100 yards in each of the 4 all-purpose categories: rushing (100 yds.), receiving (191), punt returns (119) and kickoff returns (273). In the latest NCAA rankings, of the top 101 players ranked in the all-purpose category, Maclin is one of only 9 players to have yardage in all 4 areas. While his per-game average of 227.7 all-purpose yards currently ranks 4th nationally, his total of 683 is tops in the nation.
He's coming off a career-high 275-yard all-purpose outing against Western Michigan - the 5th-highest single-game total in MU history. On the day, Maclin had 7 receptions for a career-high 96 yards and 1 TD, he rushed 6 times for 52 yards and 1 TD, had 2 punt returns for 31 yards and returned 5 kickoffs for 96 yards.
While it's very early in the season still, Maclin is on pace for 2,732 all-purpose yards so far, which would obliterate the MU single-season record of 1,621 set in 1998 by former MU All-American, Devin West.
On one of Maclin's punt returns last Saturday, he went for 23 yards and nearly broke for the distance. If he had done that, he would have become the first Tiger in history to score TDs in the same game by rushing, receiving and return. He currently ranks 3rd in the Big 12 and 15th in the NCAA with his punt return average of 14.88 yards.
Maclin is currently 2nd on the team with 16 receptions, 2nd in scoring (24 points), 3rd in rushing (100 yards) and 3rd in receiving yards (191).
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 season-opening win over Illinois, 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 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.
Maclin followed with a strong outing at Ole Miss, where he caught a career-best 7 passes for 52 yards, ran twice for 19 yards, and had 110 yards on returns (4 kickoffs for 96; 3 punts for 14), including a key 32-yard KOR that he took to the MU 46-yardline with just over a minute left in the 2nd quarter that helped set up the Tiger offense for a 2-minute drive that they promptly converted into a key TD with just :04 seconds before half.
RUCKER LEADS ALL OF NCAA'S TIGHT ENDS WITH 25 RECEPTIONS
Senior TE Martin Rucker bypassed the NFL draft after his junior year, in order to come back to help lead his team to great things in 2007, and also to help improve his draft status for next year. Through 3 games, his decision appears to have been an extremely good one, as Rucker has played like a man among children, as he leads all of the nation's tight ends with 25 receptions, and ranks 2nd among tight ends with his 259 receiving yards so far.
It's hard to imagine a tight end playing more inspired ball right now, as Rucker has been a beat every time he's touched the ball - we're hyperbolizing a little here, probably, but it's hard to remember a time when he was brought down by any less than 3 people on a play when he's touched the ball this season.
Rucker, who was voted a team co-captain by his teammates this off-season, caught 53 passes for 511 yards and 5 TDs a year ago. He entered his senior season (after bypassing the NFL Draft) already holding the MU career records for TEs in receptions (119) and yardage (1,341).
Rucker opened the 2007 season by catching a then-career-high 10 passes against Illinois for 86 yards. He also rushed twice for 11 yards. He followed by making 4 catches for 58 yards and 1 TD at Ole Miss, on a 40-yard catch-and-run where he broke one tackle about 10 yards from scrimmage and raced the rest of the way for the score to cap a key 93-yard drive and put MU up, 21-0. He's coming off a career-best outing against Western Michigan that saw him catch 11 passes for 115 yards.
DANIEL LEADING THE WAY FOR MIZZOU'S HIGH-FLYING OFFENSE
There can't be many QBs in the nation playing at a higher level than Tiger signal caller Chase Daniel, who currently ranks 7th in the nation in total offense (375.33 ypg) and 27th nationally in passing efficiency (147.48 rating).
Daniel helped lead the way to Mizzou's 619-yard outing last time out against Western Michigan, as he tallied 388 yards of offense, including 328 yards passing (2 TDs) and 60 yards rushing (1 TD). He completed 27-of-46 passes, but he did have his string of consecutive attempts without an interception broken up when he was picked off in the 2nd quarter - ending his string at a Big 12-record 254, just 17 shy of the NCAA record of 271.
The 300-yard passing game was the 6th consecutive for Daniel, dating back to last year, as he ended the 2006 season by throwing for 310 yards at Iowa State, 356 against Kansas, and 330 vs. Oregon State, while adding a career-high 359 yards in 2007 against Illinois, followed by the 330-yard output at Ole Miss.
Daniel had a scintillating night at Ole Miss, where he tied his own MU single-game record by tossing 5 TDs (all coming in a span of just 16:07), as he helped lead the Tigers to an important 38-25 road win.
For the night, Daniel completed 31-of-43 passes for 330 yards and the 5 TDs, and he also ran for 55 yards on 11 attempts, giving him a career-best 385 yards of total offense against the Rebels.
After a scoreless 1st quarter by both teams, Daniel erupted in the 2nd quarter to throw TD passes on all 4 of MUs possessions, including hitting WR Will Franklin (10 yds.) on the 1st play of the quarter, and TE Chase Coffman (7 yds.) on the last play of the quarter. In between, he hit Franklin for a 40-yard scoring strike, and teamed with TE Martin Rucker on a 40-yard catch-and-run TD. It was the 1st time in MU history a QB has thrown for 4 TDs in a quarter.
In the 2nd quarter alone, Daniel was 12-of-17 passing for 177 yards and the 4 TDs, good for a stout QB rating of 235.7. On the 1st drive of the 3rd quarter, Daniel's only pass attempt was good for a 37-yard TD to WR Greg Bracey, and when adding that pass to the 2nd quarter, Daniel's QB rating jumped to 263.8 (13-of-18, 214 yds., 5 TDs, 0 INTs).
Daniel completed 37-of-54 passes for a career-high 359 yards in the 2007 opener 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.
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.
