Aug. 7, 2013

• 2013 Fall Camp Central

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri Tigers practiced inside the Dan Devine Indoor Pavilion for the second consecutive morning, as storms loomed in the skies in mid-Missouri. After giving up the black jerseys to the offense on Tuesday, the Tiger defense stormed back themselves Wednesday and claimed a victory to take a 2-1 edge through three days of full pad scoring.

Head Coach Gary Pinkel was pleased with what he saw on the field today.

"We had a great practice today, great effort, players are doing really well," he said. "Certainly, every time somebody does something good, somebody else is making a mistake but overall we're making good progress," Pinkel said.

Here were some of the highlights from today's workout:

In 7-on-7 work, QB James Franklin had a very nice connection with WR Levi Copelin over the middle that turned into a 45-yard score. Senior CB Randy Ponder later jumped an out route thrown by QB Corbin Berkstresser, turning that into an interception he took the other way, but Berkstresser bounced back on the next snap and made a nice find of WR Sheldon Gerau on a sit-down route for a gain of around 15 yards. Later, Franklin again came up with a big play, when he lofted a ball that WR Dorial Green-Beckham hauled in near the front left pylon for a 40-yard score.

The day ended with 11-on-11 scrimmaging, with the situation being 1:20 left on the clock and the offense starting possession at its own 40 yard line. The #1 offense started off against the #2 defense, and TB Henry Josey got things going the right way early on as he took a sweep and bounced it outside for a gain of around 20 yards and a first down. Franklin hit TB Russell Hansbrough for a couple of gains to set up a 3rd-and-1, and then Franklin connected with WR L'Damian Washington for 5 yards and a first down on a nicely-timed out route. Franklin then hit his fourth-straight completion when he found Copelin on a sideline route for 7 yards with :06 seconds left on the clock.

Next up, the #2 offense squared off against the #1 defense, and initially the defense ruled, as CB Xavier Smith had a nice diving break up of a pass from QB Maty Mauk intended for WR Darius White. That was followed by consecutive sacks by DE Kony Ealy and DT Matt Hoch to create a long 4th down situation. Mauk, however, made a big play when he avoided pocket pressure, rolled to his right, and found TE Eric Waters on the run for a 16-yard gain and a first down at the 39-yardline. After clocking the ball, Mauk threw incomplete on 2nd down, as DE Shane Ray got enough pressure to force a throwaway, but then Mauk scrambled on 3rd down to the 30-yardline and called timeout with :06 seconds left. That brought on PK Andrew Baggett, who drilled a 46-yard field goal to give the offense a simulated win.

Lastly, the #3 offense and #3 defense went against each other, and Berkstresser completed his first pass to WR Gavin Otte for 15 yards and a first down. On the next snap, Berkstresser checked down to hit TB Morgan Steward in the flat, but LB Michael Scherer was right there to wrap up the play for a short loss. ON the next snap, LB Clarence Green got in the backfield for a touch sack of Berkstresser, and on 4th down, a Hail Mary pass into the end zone was knocked away by CB David Sowell.

The Tigers will hold morning practices Thursday and go a bit lighter on Friday as they make final preparations for the first major scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday. Stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com for full coverage of 2013 Fall Camp.