Mizzou Looks for Second Straight Win Under The Lights vs. SEMO

Saturday, September 14

Columbia, Mo.

6:30 PM

University of Missouri

Southeast Missouri State

Tickets

Mizzou defensive back Adam Sparks (14), Mizzou safety Joshuah Bledsoe (18) and Mizzou safety Ronnell Perkins (3). Mizzou Tigers vs. West Virginia Mountaineers at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. Hunter Dyke/Mizzou Athletics

Mizzou Looks for Second Straight Win Under The Lights vs. SEMO

9/10/2019 10:05:00 AM | Football

Tigers have won three straight at home as they welcome in-state foe

MIZZOU WELCOMES IN-STATE FOE SEMO TO #THEZOU
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
vs. SEMO	Columbia, Mo.	Saturday, Sept. 4	6:30 PM	SEC Network (alt)	Stats

#ShowMe Mizzou Game Notes

MIZZOU LOOKS TO BUILD UPON STRONG PERFORMANCE AS SEMO COMES TO COMO

Fresh off a dominating 38-7 win over West Virginia last Saturday, Mizzou Football remains at home to welcome in-state foe Southeast Missouri to Memorial Stadium this Saturday (Sept. 14) for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on SEC Network (alternate). Saturday's game is part of a five-game homestand that is tied for the longest in program history. Mizzou also played five straight home games in both 1905 and 1908. Saturday's game will be the 500th played at Memorial Stadium.

LAST WEEK VS. WEST VIRGINIA

Mizzou Football entered the win column in dominant fashion, defeating West Virginia 38-7, Saturday to break in the newly renovated Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.
Junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam caught two touchdowns to capitalize on a disciplined defensive performance in Mizzou's home opener. The Tigers intercepted three passes on the day while holding the Mountaineers to 171 yards of total offense.
The defense intercepted three passes, forced a missed field goal, and a turnover on downs on a fourth-down attempt. All four of Mizzou's offensive touchdowns came on the ensuing possession.
Last Saturday's game marked the first time since 1993 that Mizzou welcomed a Power Five opponent to Faurot Field for its home opener (defeated Illinois 31-3 on Sept. 11, 1993).
Last Saturday's game marked the seventh all-time meeting between Mizzou and West Virginia. The all-time series between Mizzou and West Virginia is now 4-3-0, in favor of Mizzou. It was also the first time since 2016 that Mizzou faced a Big 12 team during the regular season (at West Virginia), and the first at home since Texas Tech in 2011 when Missouri was still in the conference.
Mizzou improved to 94-31-4 (.744) in home openers all-time and extended its home-opener winning streak to 14 games.
The Tigers have held their opponents scoreless in the first quarter of their home opener for back-to-back seasons.
Mizzou has now recorded double-digit offensive scoring in the first quarter of its last eight home openers.

MIZZOU-SEMO SERIES HISTORY

Mizzou is 3-0 all-time against Southeast Missouri. Below is a quick look at the all-time meetings against the in-state foe, which includes one shutout and a combined score of 107-6 over the three meetings:
- 1936 - Mizzou vs. Southeast Missouri - W, 20-0
- 2008 - Mizzou vs. Southeast Missouri - W, 52-3
- 2015 - Mizzou vs. Southeast Missouri - W, 35-3
In the last meeting with SEMO, then senior LB Kentrell Brothers had a then career-high 16 tackles and a blocked punt, and Tiger quarterbacks threw three touchdown passes as the No. 24/23 Missouri Tigers earned a 34-3 win.
Maty Mauk threw touchdowns of 27 yards to J'Mon Moore and 23 yards to Nate Brown in the first quarter to stake Mizzou to a 14-0 lead. He finished the day 12-of-22 for 181 yards and the two scores.

DEFENSE HAS ITS DAY VS MOUNTAINEERS

Mizzou's defense was incredible in last weekend's 38-7 triumph over West Virginia, pitching a shutout until the 5:13 mark when a trick play led to a 46-yard TD pass to break a 38-0 run of points by the Tigers.
The Tigers allowed just 171 yards of total offense, 78 of which came on the Mountaineers final two drives after Mizzou had built a 38-0 lead and called off the dogs.
The 171 yards allowed were the fewest by a Mizzou defense since allowing 140 to Delaware State of the FCS on Sept. 24, 2016, in Barry Odom's fourth career game as Mizzou's head coach. It was the fewest yards allowed against an FBS team since limiting Florida to 151 in 2013.
Mizzou was stout against the run, holding WVU to just 30 yards on the ground, the fewest allowed by Mizzou since holding Western Illinois to 24 on Sept. 17, 2011. It was Mizzou's fewest rushing yards allowed against an FBS team since Oct. 31, 2009, when Colorado was limited to -14.
Mizzou's defense posted double-digit tackles for a loss (13) for the first time since Oct. 6, 2018 (recorded 10 TFLs in a 37-35 loss at South Carolina).
Mizzou's 13.0 tackles for loss are the most since posting a school-record 15.0 at Arkansas State on Sept. 12, 2015.
Sophomore LB Nick Bolton and senior S Ronnell Perkins both recorded their first career interceptions in the game's first quarter. Bolton's interception in the first quarter was Mizzou's first pick by a LB since Nov. 18, 2017, in a 45-17 victory over Vanderbilt (42-yard pick by Brandon Lee) and was one two on the day for him.
Mizzou's three INTs were the most since Nov. 18, 2017, at Vanderbilt when the Tigers also had three.
Junior DLs Chris Turner and Kobie Whiteside each recorded their third-career sacks in the third quarter, Turner's first since Sept. 15, 2018 (recorded one sack in a 40-37 victory at Purdue) and Whiteside's first since Oct. 13, 2018 (recorded one sack in a 39-10 loss at Alabama).

STRUCK BY A 'BOLT'

As Mizzou's defense stole all of the headlines following Saturday's game vs. West Virginia, sophomore LB Nick Bolton was one of the key reasons why. Making just his second career start, the true sophomore who has impressed his coaches since he walked on campus last year, was arguably the game's best player last Saturday. He reset career-highs in tackles (10), tackles for loss (3.0) and interceptions (two).
"Bolt," as he is referred to by his coaches and teammates, posted an interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter last Saturday, which was the Tigers' first defensive score since Akial Byers recovered a fumble for a touchdown in the Tigers' 38-0 victory over Arkansas last season.
Bolton is the first Mizzou player since Sean Weatherspoon (recorded a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 52-42 victory over Illinois on Aug. 30, 2008) to record two interceptions in the same game with at least one being a touchdown return. Of course, Weatherspoon is one of Mizzou's all-time greatest players and a former first-round draft pick, so Bolton finds himself in pretty elite company. The two had a friendly Twitter exchange following the game in which Weatherspoon was quick to point out that he's the only Mizzou player with a pick-six score in back-to-back games.
He earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
On the year, Bolton now has 19 tackles (second-most on the team), a team-high 3.0 tackles for loss, a team-high two INTs and a pass breakup.

ALBERT O FINDS PAY DIRT TWICE

Stop us if you've heard this before, but Mizzou RS junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam found the end zone multiple times in last Saturday's win over West Virginia. He posted touchdown receptions of 26 and 16 yards, good for his 18th and 19th career touchdowns.
Those two TDs move Albert O into sole possession of fifth place in school history, breaking the tie he briefly held with Justin Gage and Martin Rucker.
Keep in mind, he's tallied those 19 touchdowns in just 23 career games.
Albert O is averaging a touchdown every 4.1 receptions in his career. He has five catches this season and two have went for scores as his knack for finding the end zone is almost unprecedented at Mizzou. Below is a look at Mizzou's top-five pass-catchers ranked by number of touchdowns, and their reception-TD ratio (* - denotes tight end).

Player (years)	TDs	Receptions	Ratio
1. Chase Coffman (2005-08)*	30	247	8.2
2. Jeremy Maclin (2007-08)	22	182	8.3
Danario Alexander (2006-09)	22	191	8.7
4. J'Mon Moore (2014-17)	21	158	7.5
5. A. Okwuegbunam (2017-19)*	19	77	4.1

As you can see, Albert O is scoring touchdowns at an incredible pace. The next-best player among Mizzou's top all-time TD catchers is J'Mon Moore at one every 7.5 catches.
In addition, Albert O now has six multiple-score games in his career as Saturday's performance was his first since housing three catches against Memphis on Oct. 20, 2018, vs. Memphis. His six multiple-touchdown games are the most-ever by a Mizzou TE, passing Chase Coffman who had five. Okwuegbunam tallied his six career multiple-TD performances in just 23 games. Coffman did his five in 50 career games.
Expectations both inside and outside the program are big for Albert O in 2019 – he's been named a preseason first-team All-American by Sports Illustrated, College Football News, the Associated Press and Phil Steele and he also began the season on both the Mackey and Biletnikoff watch lists.
His full name is Albert Chukwueneka Okwuegbunam, and the Nigerian translation of Okwuegbunam means "Evil cannot bring us down" while his middle name means "God has done wonderful for us."

TREY, WELCOME TO CLUB 2,000

Mizzou junior RB Larry Rountree III entered elite company last Saturday vs. West Virginia. He posted 104 yards on the ground, moving his career rushing total to 2,064, becoming the 18th player in program history to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark.
Needing just 28 games to move past the 2,000-yard mark, Rountree is the fastest Tiger to every accomplish that feat by games. He is averaging nearly 74 yards per game in his career.
He is the fourth-fastest Mizzou player to rush for 2,000-yards in a career, crossing the threshold on his 374th career carry. He trails only Damarea Crockett (334), Henry Josey (293) and Bob Steuber (281).
Heading into Saturday's game, he has a realistic chance if he hits his career single-game average to pass two more Tigers. Below is a look:

Rank. Player (years)	Yards	Total Carries
14. Derrick Washington (2007-09)	2085	403
15. Tommie Stowers (1986-89)	2077	469
16. Larry Rountree III (2017-19	2064	384

"Trey"is coming off of a big sophomore campaign, when he led the Tigers with 1,216 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, on 225 carries (5.4 avg.). His yardage total was the third-most in MU season history, and ranked fourth in the SEC and 22nd nationally.
He is the SEC's second-leading returning rusher from last year, trailing only Ke'Shawn Vaughn of Vanderbilt (1,244 yards in 2018).
After running for 703 yards and six TDs as a true freshman in 2017, Rountree's 1,919 career yards are the most by any Tiger running back through his first two years.
Additionally, "Trey" is only 298 yards from cracking Mizzou's Top-10 career rushing list (No. 10 is James Wilder with 2,357 yards from 1978-80). The MU career record is 4,289 by former QB Brad Smith, while the top mark by a dedicated running back is 3,198 by Zack Abron from 2000-03.
A member of the SEC's 2018 Academic Honor Roll, Rountree was voted preseason third-team All-SEC by the league coaches heading into 2019.

SPEAKING OF 2,000 YARD PERFORMERS

The nation's best slot receiver may indeed play at Mizzou in senior Johnathon Johnson, known affectionately by his teammates and those around the program as JayJay.
Last week, Johnson caught three passes for 25 yards and now has 93 over the season's first two games.
Those 25 yards last Saturday moved his career total to 1,989 career receiving yards – which is just 790 away from Mizzou's all-time career mark and 11 shy of the 2,000-mark. That would put him with some pretty elite company considering the likes of Jeremy Maclin, Danario Alexander and countless other WRs set the standard for receiving in the late 2000s at Mizzou. He currently sits No. 11 on Mizzou's all-time yards chart, an impressive feat considering all 10 players ranked ahead of him have played in the NFL.
Below is a look at Mizzou's all-time career receiving yards chart:

Career (by yardage)	Yds.	Rec.	TDs	Years
1. Danario Alexander	2778	191	22	2006-09
2. Justin Gage	2704	200	18	1999-02
3. Chase Coffman (TE)	2659	247	30	2005-08
4. J'Mon Moore	2477	158	21	2014-17
5. Jeremy Maclin	2315	182	22	2007-08
6. Martin Rucker (TE)	2175	203	18	2004-07
7. Victor Bailey	2144	128	12	1990-92
8. William Franklin	2125	143	13	2004-07
9. T.J. Moe	2101	188	11	2009-12
10. Emanuel Hall	2016	97	16	2015-18
11. J. Johnson	1989	134	13	2016-19

NO FLY ZONE!

One of the perceived bugaboos for Mizzou coming into the season was its pass defense, which a year ago allowed 262.0 yards per game, last in the SEC and 112th nationally. But if the first two games of 2019 are any indication, Mizzou seems to have hopefully shored up some of those issues in pass defense.
Through two games, Mizzou is allowing just 116.5 yards through the air, 10th-best nationally and the SEC's best mark.
Additionally, Mizzou's three interceptions rank as the ninth-most nationally and second-most in the SEC.
Mizzou has allowed just 22 completions through the first two weeks of play - only 12 teams nationally have allowed fewer. Also, Mizzou's opponent completion percentage of 51.2 is the nation's No. 14 mark.
Mizzou limited Wyoming to just 92 passing yards on six completions in the opener. The 92 passing yards were the fewest allowed by a Mizzou defense since Sept. 24, 2016, against Delaware State (a span of 34 games). It was the fewest passing yards allowed by Mizzou against an FBS team since Nov. 21, 2015, against Tennessee (89).
The six receptions allowed were the fewest since limiting Western Illinois to just four on Sept. 17, 2011.
Mizzou has allowed fewer than 10 completions in just eight games since the start of the 2009 season - but did so in week one at Wyoming.
Last week, Mizzou allowed just 141 yards through the air, 46 of which came on a third-down trick play late in the fourth quarter with Mizzou on top 38-0 with its reserves in the game.
Mizzou is also 12th nationally in pass efficiency defense (90.4).

GARRETT IS STUFFING THE STAT SHEET

Mizzou senior LB Cale Garrett, a preseason first-team All-SEC pick by multiple outlets and third-team preseason All-American by College Football News, has been filling up the stat sheet during the first two weeks of action.
On the year, Garrett leads the team and is seventh nationally with his 23 total tackles. His 16 solo tackles are the fifth-most nationally.
In addition to his 23 total tackles, Garrett has 2.0 tackles for loss (nine yards lost), 1.0 sack and leads the team with his two pass deflections. He also had a tipped pass that led to an interception last week vs. West Virginia.
In last Saturday's contest vs. West Virginia, he finished with seven tackles, 1.0 sack and 2.0 tackles for loss and a pass deflection.
In the season-opener vs. Wyoming, Garrett posted a team- and career-high 16 tackles, 12 of which were solo stops.
Garrett's 16 tackles at Wyoming were the most for a Mizzou player since Kentrell Brothers had 17 on Oct. 17, 2015, at Georgia.
It also marked the 11th time in his career that he has eclipsed the 10-tackle plateau.
Wyoming ran 58 offensive plays against the Tigers. With three ending in touchdowns, 10 in incompletions and one team kneel down, there were 44 total plays that ended with tackles. Of those 44, Garrett had tackles on 16 of them (36 percent).
Garret is coming off of a 2018 season during which he led the team with 112 total tackles, the third-most of any returning SEC defender. Looking deeper at his stats, Garrett's 287 career tackles are the fourth-most of any Power 5 defender and are the fifth-most of any active FBS defender.
While the traditional stats all look great for Garrett, he also jumps out on official game film. ProFootballFocus.com graded him as the SEC's top-returning linebacker this season after he made a staggering 93 percent of attempted tackles a year ago, fourth-best at any position in the SEC.
Garrett's 287 career tackles rank 19th in program history. Should he produce at a rate similar to last season, Garrett would finish his storied Mizzou career with 378 career stops, good for sixth all-time at Mizzou, and two places higher than his current head coach Barry Odom. He needs seven against SEMO to catch Van Darkow (294 from 1978-81) for 18th place.

KELLY BRYANT PROVING HIMSELF AS A THROWER

Graduate transfer QB Kelly Bryant had one memorable debut in a Mizzou uniform at Wyoming, as the affable leader threw for a career-best 423 yards (on 31-of-48 passing) and two touchdowns (both going to fellow grad transfer WR Jonathan Nance) in the narrow defeat. Bryant added 20 yards on the ground for a total offense output of 443 yards, as he led a furious fourth-quarter comeback that nearly led the Tigers to a dramatic win.
Bryant's passing yardage total was the 11th-best in Mizzou history, and it was the most-ever by a Tiger QB in his debut.
In the fourth quarter, Bryant had a QB rating of 171.6, as he completed 10-of-15 passes for 148 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown strike to Nance that closed Mizzou to within 37-31 with 6:19 left in the game.
He followed that performance with a 150-yard, three-score outing in a game that he left early due to overheating and the fact that Mizzou was up 31-0 at the time.
Bryant came to Mizzou from Clemson hoping to prove himself as a passer under the tutelage of QB coach Derek Dooley, and so far he has done just that, ranking highly in plenty of national passing categories. Below is a look:
- 21st - Passing Yards (573)
- 21st - Completions Per Game (24.0)
- 22nd - Passing Yards Per Game (286.5)
- 38th - Points Responsible For (30)
- 42nd - Points Responsible For Per Game (15.0)
- 46th - Completion Percentage (65.8)
Below are his ranks in the same categories among SEC quarterbacks:
- 2nd - Passing Yards (573)
- 2nd - Completions Per Game (24.0)
- 2nd - Passing Yards Per Game (286.5)
- 3rd - Points Responsible For (30)
- 3rd - Points Responsible For Per Game (15.0)
- 6th - Completion Percentage (65.8)
Bryant's start at Wyoming was also historical for a couple of facts: he became the first senior QB to make his first career start as a Tiger since 1980, when Dan McDaniel made a spot start in game No. 7 at Kansas State (a 13-3 Mizzou win) for the injured Phil Bradley (Oct. 25). Additionally, Bryant became the first transfer QB to start in his first year at Mizzou since 1989, when transfer Kent Keifer started the season opener (Kiefer made all 11 starts that season for the Tigers).

ALL-PURPOSE BADIE

Mizzou true sophomore RB Tyler Badie was one of the Tigers' all-purpose standouts a year ago, earning SEC All-Freshman team honors after ranking third on the team with 809 all-purpose yards.
If the first two weeks are any indication, Badie looks primed to take a step forward in that role this season. Badie posted a team-high 102 all-purpose yards (53 rushing, 49 receiving) while scoring a touchdown in the opener at Wyoming. He finished the game with a career-high seven catches as one of Kelly Bryant's favorite targets.
Badie added a career-high 71 rushing yards and 15 receiving yards, good for 86 all-purpose yards, vs. West Virginia.

YES, He McCANN

Senior PK Tucker McCann has a shot at leaving his name all over the Mizzou record book. He enters week three with 291 career points, which is fourth on the MU chart, and 71 points behind the record of 362 set by former great Jeff Wolfert (2006-08).
Last week, McCann passed Brad Smith (284 points from 2002-05) on Mizzou's all-time scoring list to rank third (291 total points).
McCann ranked second in the SEC (eighth nationally) in 2018 with his 123 points (third-most in MU season history), and his 24 field goals were the second-most in MU season history.
With 47 career field goals (63 attempts), McCann is 19 behind record-holder Andrew Baggett (66 from 2012-15).
McCann made a 57-yarder in the final two minutes at South Carolina last season that gave MU a lead – it was the longest made field goal in the NCAA in 2018 by any kicker.