Mayor's Cup On the Line as Mizzou Welcomes South Carolina Saturday

Saturday, September 21

Columbia, Mo.

3 p.m.

University of Missouri

South Carolina

Tickets

Mizzou Tigers vs Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019. Hunter Dyke/Mizzou Athletics

Mayor's Cup On the Line as Mizzou Welcomes South Carolina Saturday

9/17/2019 10:05:00 AM | Football

Mizzou is playing the third of a five-game homestand as it opens SEC play

MIZZOU BATTLES WITH SOUTH CAROLINA FOR MAYOR'S CUP
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
vs. S. Carolina	Columbia, Mo.	Saturday, Sept. 21	3:00 PM	SEC Network (alt)	Stats

#ShowMe Mizzou Game Notes

SEC PLAY BEGINS AS MIZZOU AND SOUTH CAROLINA BATTLE FOR THE MAYOR'S CUP

After last Saturday's 50-0 win over FCS foe Southeast Missouri, the competition revs up for Mizzou Football as SEC East rival South Carolina comes to Columbia West for a 3 p.m. game this Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Saturday's game marks the SEC opener for Mizzou and is the third of a five-game homestand for the Tigers - the longest streak of home games for Mizzou since 1908. The game will air on SEC Network (alternate) and the Tiger Radio Network.

MIZZOU IN SEC OPENERS

Mizzou is 2-5 all-time in Southeastern Conference openers since joining the league prior to the 2012 season. Since winning its openers in both 2013 and 2014 en route to SEC East Division titles, Mizzou has dropped four straight league openers.
Mizzou has opened SEC play with South Carolina twice, splitting those two meetings. Mizzou claimed a 21-20 win in Columbia East to open SEC action in 2014, which is now dubbed 'The Comeback in Carolina' as Mizzou rallied from being down 20-7 with 7:35 remaining to earn the win. Mizzou also opened with South Carolina in 2017 and jumped out to a 10-0 lead in CoMo before falling, 31-13. Below is a look at Mizzou in SEC openers:
       • 2018 vs. Georgia - L, 43-29
       • 2017 vs. South Carolina - L, 31-13
       • 2016 vs Georgia - L, 28-27
       • 2015 at Kentucky - L, 21-13
       • 2014 at South Carolina - W, 21-20
       • 2013 at Vanderbilt - W, 51-28
       • 2012 vs. Georgia - L, 41-20

SERIES VS. SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina leads the all-time series with Mizzou, 5-4, after earning a 37-35 win over the Tigers last year as the two teams traded late, lead-changing field goals in the fourth quarter of a crazy, rain-filled game in Columbia East. K Tucker McCann hit a 57-yard field goal, the second-longest kick in Mizzou history, with 1:18 remaining to give Mizzou a 35-34 lead. But Carolina rallied and kicked a game-winning field goal from 33 yards out to secure the win.
Carolina owns a 5-1 record over Mizzou in SEC meetings, including a 2-1 mark at Mizzou's Memorial Stadium. That does, however, include a 2015 game that Mizzou won 24-10, but later had to vacate due to NCAA sanctions. That decision is currently under appeal by Mizzou's department of athletics.
Two of Mizzou's all-time meetings with the Gamecocks have come in bowl games, with Mizzou winning both contests. The first was the 1979 Hall of Fame Bowl, which Mizzou won 21-14. The next was the 2005 Independence Bowl, which is arguably one of the greatest Mizzou bowls ever played. In that game, Mizzou trailed 21-0 and looked to be in even more trouble until CB Marcus King picked off a Blake Mitchell pass on the one-yard line and returned it 99 yards for a score. That flung momentum in Mizzou's favor as it rallied for a 38-31 win, the largest comeback win in school history, in what was legendary Mizzou QB Brad Smith's final game. Smith ran for 151 yards and three scores among his 21 carries and completed 21-of-37 passes for 282 yards and a score.

LAST WEEK VS. SEMO

Mizzou Football won the 500th game at Memorial Stadium in dominating fashion, defeating Southeast Missouri, 50-0, last Saturday.
Mizzou scored in a variety of ways, scoring on a passing TD, rushing TD, punt return TD and an INT return TD in the game. Mizzou is the first team to score a touchdown in those four ways in 2019, and the first Power 5 team to do so since Mizzou accomplished the feat in 2017 at Vanderbilt.
Mizzou has scored at least 31 points in eight consecutive games, dating back to last season. The Tigers last accomplished this feat in 2007 when they had a 14-game streak (Nov. 25, 2006 - Dec. 1, 2007).
The Tigers' 27 points in the first quarter were the most they've scored in an opening quarter since Oct. 21, 2017 (scored 34 first-quarter points in a 68-21 victory over Idaho).
Mizzou has outscored its opponents 51-0 in first quarters this season, and 67-7 since Nov. 10, 2018.
The Tigers recorded more than 240 yards both through the air (242 passing yards) and on the ground (259 rushing yards) for the first time since Dec. 31, 2018 (recorded 373 passing yards and 264 rushing yards in a 38-33 loss to Oklahoma State in the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl).
Ending his day with 142 rushing yards, junior RB Larry Rountree III moved into 14th place all-time in rushing yards with 2,206 in his Mizzou career. The junior passed Derrick Washington and Tommie Stowers in the record books.
RS senior DB Richaud Floyd returned his third career punt for a touchdown. Floyd's 71-yard return for a TD in the first quarter was his first since Nov. 18, 2017 (74-yard touchdown punt in a 45-17 victory over Vanderbilt).

#ZOUNOTES - Stats You Need to Know

8: Yards needed by senior WR Johnathon Johnson to eclipse 2,000 in his career. He would be just the 11th Mizzou WR to enter the 2,000-yard club. The other 10 all played in the NFL.
4: Consecutive games with a TD for junior RB Larry Rountree III, dating back to last season. That is the longest such streak of his career and he has five scores in that span. Rountree also has two straight 100-yard games and has done so in five of his last six contests and is averaging 124.2 yards per game in that span.
46: Yards needed by Mizzou junior RB Larry Rountree III to move from 14th on Mizzou's all-time rushing list to 11th this week. He would pass Kendial Lawrence (2,232 from 2009-12), Joe Moore (2,244 from 1968-70) and former teammate Damarea Crockett (2,252 from 2016-18).
8: Consecutive games that Mizzou has scored at least 31 points, dating back to last season. The Tigers last accomplished that feat in 2007 when they had a 14-game streak (Nov. 25, 2006 - Dec. 1, 2007).
7: Total points allowed by the Tigers over the last two games (a 38-7 win over WVU and a 50-0 victory over SEMO). That's the fewest opponent points over two consecutive games since Kansas (14-0) and Iowa State (35-7) from Nov. 20-27, 2010.
3.95: Ratio of receptions to touchdowns for RS junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam. He has 20 career TDs (fifth all-time at Mizzou) on just 79 career catches. That's good for a TD once every 3.95 receptions in his tremendous career thus far.
95.7: Average passing yards allowed by Mizzou through the first three games of the season. That's good for second nationally. Mizzou finished the year ranked 112th in pass defense a year ago, so despite the small sample size, that is a stark contrast from 2018 to 2019.
21: Of Tucker McCann's 22 kickoffs have been touchbacks.

FAST STARTS FOR THE TIGERS

Something to keep an eye on as Mizzou welcomes the Gamecocks to #TheZou Saturday is its ability to start fast this season. In three games, Mizzou is outscoring its opponents, 51-0, in the first quarter. Daring back to Nov. 10 of last season, that mark is 67-7 as Mizzou is dominating the first quarter of play over its last seven games (5-2 overall record in that span).
Mizzou outscored Wyoming, 14-0, in the opening 15 minutes before taking a 10-0 lead over WVU in week two after the first. Mizzou then hung 27 points on SEMO last week during the first quarter of the shutout win.

AN IMPRESSIVE OFFENSIVE STREAK

As Mizzou gets set for South Carolina Saturday, it will do so with an impressive offensive streak in tote. After hanging 50 points on SEMO last Saturday, Mizzou has now scored at least 31 points in the last eight games. That is the longest such streak for Mizzou since doing do in 14 straight from Nov. 25, 2006 through Dec. 1, 2007. Below is a look:
- Sept. 14, 2019 vs. SEMO - W, 50-0
- Sept. 7, 2019 vs. WVU - W, 38-7
- Aug. 31, 2019 at Wyoming - L, 37-31
- Dec. 31, 2018 vs. Oklahoma State - L, 38-33
- Nov. 23, 2018 vs. Arkansas - W, 38-0
- Nov. 17, 2018 at Tennessee - W, 50-17
- Nov. 10, 2018 vs. Vanderbilt - W, 33-28
- Nov. 3, 2018 at Florida - W, 38-17
Over that span, Mizzou is 6-2 overall while averaging 38.9 points per game.

PASS DEFENSE PUTTING UP IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS

One of the perceived areas of weakness 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 three games of 2019 are any indication, Mizzou seems to have hopefully shored up some of those issues in pass defense.
Through three games, Mizzou is allowing just 97.5 yards through the air, second-best nationally and the SEC's best mark.
Additionally, Mizzou's four interceptions rank as the eighth-most nationally and second-most in the SEC.
Mizzou has allowed just 33 completions through the first three weeks of play - only seven teams nationally have allowed fewer. Also, Mizzou's opponent completion percentage of 44.0 is the nation's No. 4 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.
In week two vs. West Virginia, which just hung 44 points on NC State 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.
Last week against SEMO, Mizzou allowed just 54 passing yards. That's the fewest allowed by Mizzou since Sept. 17, 2011, when it limited Western Illinois to just 20.
Twice in three games this season, Mizzou has limited its opponent to fewer than 100 yards passing. Mizzou hadn't held two opponents to fewer than 100 passing yards in a season since 2015 and this marks the first time this decade that Mizzou has held two of three opponents during any stretch of a season to fewer than 100 passing yards.

MORE ON THE DEFENSE

The Missouri defense once again put up a solid front, holding the Redhawks to a shutout. They allowed only seven points over the last two games, the fewest since 2010 when they shutout Iowa State,14-0, on Nov. 20 and then beat Kansas 35-7 on Nov. 27.
Two weeks ago, the Tigers held West Virginia to 171 yards of offense, the fewest allowed since Sept. 24, 2016. Last Saturday, the Tigers once again broke that mark, holding SEMO to just 94 offensive yards. That is the fewest yards allowed by the Missouri defense since yielding 44 yards to Western Illinois in 2011.
The defense has also kept opponents under 200 yards of offense for two consecutive games for the first time since the Tigers held Murray State to 150 yards (Sept. 2, 2006) and Mississippi to 162 yards (Sept. 9, 2006).
Of the Redhawks' 94 offensive yards, just 40 of them were on the ground. This is only 10 more than last week, when the defense held West Virginia to just 30 rushing yards. The last time Mizzou held an opponent to 40 rushing yards or less in back-to-back games was against Colorado (Oct. 31, 2009) and Baylor (Nov. 7, 2009).

LINEBACKING DUO SCORES IN BACK-TO-BACK GAMES

Senior Cale Garrett's interception for a touchdown marks the second consecutive game the Tigers have logged a pick-6, with sophomore Nick Bolton grabbing one against West Virginia. This was the first time the Tigers had a pick-6 in back-to-back games since they did so against SEMO (Sept. 6, 2008) and Nevada (Sept. 13, 2008). This also marked Garrett's first defensive score of his career.
Bolton and Garrett are the first Mizzou players to tally at least five total tackles and return an interception for a touchdown in back-to-back games since Sean Weatherspoon did it in weeks one and two of the 2008 season.

SPEAKING OF THE DEFENSE SCORING...

Garrett's interception return for a 27-yard touchdown last Saturday gave Mizzou a defensive score in back-to-back games for just the second time under fourth-year head coach Barry Odom. Both of those occurrences have happened in the last six games. Mizzou last tallied defensive scores in games No. 11 and 12 at Tennessee (a 38-yard scoop-and-score by S Joshuah Bledsoe) and then at home vs. Arkansas last season (a fumble recovery in the end zone by DL Akial Byers following a Jordan Elliott strip sack).
Looking deeper into this, the defensive scores seem to be a growing trend for Coach Odom's defense. In Odom's first 31 games on the sideline, Mizzou had just three defensive scores (one every 10.3 games). Dating back to game No. 7 last year against Memphis, Mizzou now has five defensive scores over its last 10 games (one every two games). Mizzou has a defensive score in four of its last six games.
Another positive trend for Mizzou in the turnover game is its last six-game snapshot, during which the Tigers have forced 11 turnovers. The is a reversal of a trend as Mizzou forced just 10 turnovers in the previous 12 games prior to this stretch.

A RARE FEAT

Last Saturday against SEMO, Mizzou scored four first-quarter TDs in four different ways - rushing, passing, punt return and INT return. Mizzou is the nation's only NCAA Division I team to have recorded at least one punt return touchdown, one interception return touchdown, one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown in the same game this season.
Remarkably, the last Power 5 program to accomplish that feat was Mizzou! The Tigers did so on Nov. 18, 2017, in a 45-17 victory over Vanderbilt.
Last Saturday, junior RB Larry Rountree III scored on a three-yard run to open the scoring and then Cale Garrett housed a 27-yard pick six. Junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam caught a three-yard TD pass and then DB Richaud Floyd tallied a 71-yard punt return TD to account for those scores, all coming in the first 15 minutes of play.

ROUNTREE GETTING IT DONE ON THE GROUND

Mizzou junior RB Larry Rountree III posted his eighth career 100-yard rushing game last Saturday against SEMO. He ended his day with 142 rushing yards and is now 14th all-time in rushing yards with 2,206 in his Mizzou career.
Rountree's 142 yards were his most yards on the ground since Dec. 31, 2018 (racked up 204 rushing yards in a 38-33 loss to Oklahoma State in the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl), and his 7.9 yards-per-carry average was a single-game career-high (min. 10 carries). Saturday marked the eighth game of Rountree's career in which he rushed for 100 yards or more. He has accomplished this feat in five of the last six games dating back to last season. During that stretch, he is averaging 124.2 yards per game.
Rountree's 30-yard rush early in the first quarter was his longest of the young 2019 season. His last rush of 30 yards or more was a 55-yard run in the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
In addition to his plethora of rushing yards, Rountree's pair of touchdowns on Saturday gave him touchdowns in four straight games for the first time in his career.

TREY, WELCOME TO CLUB 2,000

Staying on the topic of Larry Rountree III, he entered elite company during Mizzou's week two game 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 ever accomplish that feat by games. He is averaging more than 76 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). Rountree's 1,919 yards coming into the season were the most-ever by a Mizzou RB in his first two seasons.
Heading into Saturday's game, he has a realistic chance if he hits his career single-game average, to pass three more Tigers on the all-time rushing list. He sits just 46 yards back of former teammate Crockett (now an Oakland Raider) for 11th place. Below is a look:

Rank. Player (years)	Yards	Total Carries
11. Damarea Crockett (2016-18)	2252	380
12. Joe Moore (1968-70)	2252	380
13. Kendial Lawrence (2009-12)	2232	444
14. Larry Rountree III (2017-19)	2206	402

BRYANT EFFICIENT AGAINST SEMO

Senior QB Kelly Bryant's 75% passing completion percentage marked the sixth time this century a Tiger QB connected on at least 75% of his passes in a game (min. 20 pass attempts). Legendary Tiger QBs Drew Lock and Chase Daniel are the only other Mizzou QBs to have accomplished this feat since 2000.
On the year, Bryant is ranked 33rd nationally in completions percentage (.677) and is completing a healthy 71.1 percent of his passes in Mizzou's two home games.

YES, HE McCANN DO IT ALL

Senior K/P Tucker McCann left his imprint all over the game in Mizzou's dominating 50-0 win over Southeast Missouri last Saturday, scoring 14 points, (including three field goals of 40 yards or more), while he averaged 55.4 yards on five punts (two inside 20-yardline, plus a career-long 62-yarder), and booted all nine kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks.
According to sports-reference.com, McCann became the first FBS player this century to average at least 50 yards per punt (minimum four punts), while making three field goals of 40 yards or more.
His three field goals were good from 42, 44 and 52 yards, with the latter giving him three career kicks of 50 yards or more (third-most in MU history).
McCann has been virtually automatic on kickoffs so far, as he ranks 2nd in the nation with a touchback percentage of 95.5% (21-of-22).
He ranks 12th nationally among kickers in scoring through three games (29 points), while he also ranks 25th nationally in punting (44.71 avg.).
McCann has a shot at leaving his name all over the Mizzou record book. He enters week three with 305 career points, which is fourth on the MU chart, and 57 points behind the record of 362 set by former great Jeff Wolfert (2006-08).
Against West Virginia, McCann passed Brad Smith (284 points from 2002-05) on Mizzou's all-time scoring list to rank third.
With 50 career field goals (66 attempts), McCann is 16 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.

DEFENSE KEEPING 'EM SHORT AND SWEET

After getting stung with a handful of long plays in the season-opener at Wyoming, the Mizzou defense has shored up its ranks quite nicely in the two games since. In outings versus West Virginia and Southeast Missouri, the Tigers have allowed just one play of 20 yards or more – a 46-yard TD pass by West Virginia in the final five minutes of the game on a busted coverage by the reserve defense.
The longest play SEMO could muster last Saturday in MU's 50-0 win was a 15-yard pass, with the longest rush covering just 12 yards.
Mizzou ranks eighth nationally in fewest 10-yard plays allowed (21) and fewest 20-yard plays allowed (five).
In the opener at Wyoming, the Cowboys logged four plays of 20 yards or more, including TD runs of 75 and 61 yards.

TIGERS DOMINANT OF LATE AT HOME

Mizzou's last three opponents at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium have gone home wearing sound defeats, dating back to the home finale last year. In MU's last three home games against Arkansas, West Virginia and SEMO, the Tigers have dominated to the tune of a combined 126-to-7 on the scoreboard. The only thing keeping the Tigers from three-consecutive home shutouts is a 46-yard TD pass in the last five minutes two weeks ago against West Virginia that came on a busted coverage by MU's reserve defensive unit.
Here's a breakdown of some key stats in those three contests:

Date	Opponent	Result	MU Offense	Opp. Offense	MU Rush	Opp. Rush
11-23-18	Arkansas	W, 38-0	408	187	181	52
9-7-19	W. Virginia	W, 38-7	382	171	232	30
9-14-19	SEMO	W, 50-0	501	94	259	40
TOTALS		126-7	1291	452	672	122
AVG.		42.0-2.3	430.3	150.7	224.0	40.7

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 three 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 then-career-high 71 rushing yards and 15 receiving yards, good for 86 all-purpose yards, vs. West Virginia.
The sophomore from Memphis made it back-to-back weeks with a career-high rushing yard performance last Saturday vs. SEMO. He posted 73 yards on just seven carries (10.4 avg.) and added a 17-yard catch. He also ripped off a season-long 49-yard run against SEMO and finished the game with 90 all-purpose yards.
On the year, Badie is averaging 92.7 all-purpose yards per game, second on the team behind only Larry Rountree III (317 yards).
He is also second on the team in total catches with 11 as he is a very dependable all-purpose back who the coaches can get creative with.

ALBERT O SCORING AT SCORCHING PACE

Stop us if you've heard this before, but Mizzou RS junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam found the end zone multiple times in Mizzou's week-two win over West Virginia. He posted touchdown receptions of 26 and 16 yards, good for his 18th and 19th career touchdowns.
A three-yard TD Saturday vs. SEMO moved Albert O into sole possession of fifth place in school history with 20 touchdowns.
Keep in mind, he's tallied those 20 touchdowns in just 24 career games.
Albert O is averaging a touchdown every 3.95 receptions in his career. He has seven catches this season and three 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.

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)*	20	79	3.95

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 his performance vs. WVU 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."
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.

JAYJAY APPROACHING 2,000 YARDS

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.
Heading into Saturday's game with Carolina, Johnson's career total to 1,992 career receiving yards – which is just 787 away from Mizzou's all-time career mark and eight 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	1992	137	13	2016-19

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 23rd nationally with his 28 total tackles. His 20 solo tackles are the ninth-most nationally.
In addition to his 28 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 vs. West Virginia and posted a 27-yard pick-six last Saturday against SEMO.
Against SEMO, he finsihed with five tackles (four solo) and the pick-six while playing considerably fewer snaps than usual as the game was in no doubt at the half.
Two weeks ago 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 292 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 PASSER

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.
Last week, his 75 percent completion percentage marked the sixth time this century a Tiger QB connected on at least 75% of his passes in a game (min. 20 pass attempts). Legendary Tiger QBs Drew Lock and Chase Daniel are the only other Mizzou QBs to have accomplished this feat since 2000.
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:
       • 23rd - Passing Yards (798)
       • 41st - Completions Per Game (21.0)
       • 29th - Passing Yards Per Game (266.0)
       • 33rd - Completion Percentage (67.7)
Below are his ranks in the same categories among SEC quarterbacks:
       • 3rd - Passing Yards (798)
       • 3rd - Completions Per Game (21.0)
       • 3rd - Passing Yards Per Game (266.0)
       • 5th - Completion Percentage (67.7)
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).