Offense Claims Second Fall Scrimmage, 11-9

8/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football

Aug. 16, 2014

Columbia, Mo. - The second fall scrimmage of the Missouri Tiger Football team's 2014 training camp was claimed by the offense Saturday morning inside the Dan Devine Pavilion. Rain in the mid-Missouri area forced the scrimmage indoors, and in the controlled situational scrimmage, the offense earned the coveted black jerseys by an 11-9 score, evening the scrimmages at one-apiece between the offense and defense.

The defense had the upper hand most of the day, but the offense came alive late, scoring seven touchdowns, with five coming in redzone drives and two more from two-minute drives. Six of the seven touchdowns overall came against the second and third-string defensive units.

"I thought we had a lot of good work today," said Head Coach Gary Pinkel. "We've got a lot of work to do, we're doing a lot of good things, but to get as efficient and consistent as we can, we've got a lot of work to do. Two weeks from today, we're kicking it off. Overall, we came through healthy, which is good, but the clock is ticking down," he said.

Junior TB Russell Hansbrough (9 rushes Saturday for 59 yards and two TDs) had a pair of rushing touchdowns for the #1 offense against the #2 defense, the first from 3 yards out to cap a drive which started on the defense's 20-yardline. His second score was from 7 yards out, and finished a successful two-minute drill on a 60-yard scoring drive. On that series, QB Maty Mauk converted a 4th and 10 from the 24-yardline when he found WR Bud Sasser down the left sideline for a gain of 17 yards.

Sophomore TB Ish Witter also had a pair of rushing touchdowns in redzone possessions for the #3 offense against the #3 defense, as he scored from 5 yards and 7 yards out, respectively. His first TD capped a 20-yard drive in which he carried three times to gain all 20 yards. Witter ended the day 9 carries for 31 yards and the two scores.

Junior QB Corbin Berkstresser threw for a pair of touchdowns, while fellow reserve QB Eddie Printz connected on one touchdown toss Saturday. Berkstresser's scores came on a 10-yard pass to WR Wesley Leftwich on a 3rd-and-goal play against the #1 defense, marking the only score allowed on the day by the top-string defensive unit. Leftwich did a nice job of dragging his route in the back of the endzone, and leaping to make the catch near the goalpost and Berkstresser located him just before the pocket collapsed.

Later, leading the #3 offense in two-minute work, Berkstresser rebounded from an interception by freshman CB Raymond Wingo (on a ball that slipped through the hands of freshman WR Thomas Richard), to connect with Richard on the next play for a 55-yard gain down to the 5-yardline. Berkstresser and Richard paired up on the next play for a 5-yard touchdown to finish the drive.

Printz's score came on a 2-yard pass to freshman TE Jason Reese during redzone work for the #3 offense, capping a 20-yard drive.

Sophomore QB Maty Mauk completed 8-of-20 passes for 103 yards, and saved his best for last. In the #1 offense's final two-minute drill, he was 3-of-6 for 53 yards as he led the offense downfield for the score. On the series, Mauk connected with WR Darius White for 21 yards initially, with White dragging a pile of tacklers a good eight yards before he was dragged down. On the next snap, WR Jimmie Hunt made an acrobatic grab on the left sideline for a gain of 15.

The Tiger defense was active all day Saturday, as it gained three turnovers in all. Included in that total were interceptions by sophomore CB Aarion Penton and freshman CB Raymond Wingo, both of whom likely would have taken them back for touchdowns the other way. Freshman DL Spencer Williams created the other turnover when he forced a fumble, which was recovered by senior LB Darvin Ruise.

The #1 defense was led by sophomore LB Michael Scherer, who had three tackles for loss, while junior LB Kentrell Brothers and junior DT Harold Brantley each had two stops behind the line.

Junior PK Andrew Baggett was a perfect 3-of-3 in field goal tries, connected from 38, 30 and 38 yards on the day.

The Tigers will get Sunday off, marking their first practice-free day since training camp started on Aug. 4th. They'll be back on the practice field Monday afternoon as they continue preparations for the 2014 season opener on Aug. 30th against South Dakota State. Stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com for continuing coverage of Mizzou's 2014 training camp.

Statistics from Saturday's scrimmage:

Offense 11, Defense 9

Scoring Plays