Mizzou Begins Five-Game Homestand With West Virginia Saturday on ESPN2

Mizzou defensive back Adam Sparks (14), Mizzou wide receiver Jonathan Nance (4) and Mizzou wide receiver Kam Scott (13). Mizzou Tigers vs. Wyoming Cowboys at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wy. on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2019. Zach Bland/Mizzou Athletics

Mizzou Begins Five-Game Homestand With West Virginia Saturday on ESPN2

9/3/2019 10:05:00 AM | Football

SEC Network's traveling pregame show - SEC Nation - will be in CoMo before the game

MIZZOU BEGINS FIVE-GAME HOMESTAND WITH WEST VIRGINIA ON ESPN2
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
vs. West Virginia	Columbia, Mo.	Saturday, Sept. 7	11:00 AM	ESPN2	Stats

#ShowMe Mizzou Game Notes

MIZZOU BEGINS FIVE-GAME HOMESTAND WITH WEST VIRGINIA ON ESPN2

Mizzou Football opens a five-game homestand as Big 12 foe comes to Memorial Stadium for an 11:01 a.m. kickoff on ESPN2 this Saturday (Sept. 7). Mizzou is looking to improve to 1-1 after falling in a close road contest at Wyoming, 37-31, last Saturday. The SEC Network's traveling pregame show, SEC Nation, is in town and it will broadcast live from the Hearnes Center West Lawn from 9-11 a.m. and fans are encouraged to watch the show from Tiger Town.

LAST WEEK AT WYOMING

Mizzou Football dropped its 2019 season opener, 37-31, to Wyoming last Saturday night (Aug. 31) at War Memorial Stadium. Mizzou jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to a pair of long scoring drives and took that lead into the second quarter. That's when the game flipped as Wyoming scored 27 points in the second, connecting for touchdowns on runs of 61 and 75 yards while also getting a 30-yard, scoop-and-score fumble recovery. The Cowboys led, 27-17, at intermission and held off the Tigers in the second half to seal the win.
Mizzou got a big 53-yard touchdown from senior QB Kelly Bryant to classmate WR Jonathan Nance to cut the lead to 37-31 with just more than six minutes remaining. Mizzou's defense bowed up and stopped Wyoming on the ensuing possession, giving the ball back to the offense with a chance to win the game. Mizzou drove deep into Wyoming territory, but a key sack forced the Tigers to use their final timeout, facing a third-and-11 from the Poke's 26. Unfortunately, the next two plays were incompletions as Wyoming held on for the win.
Bryant, a graduate transfer QB from Clemson, reset career-highs in passing yards (423), completions (31) and attempts (48) in the loss and his play through the air kept Mizzou in the game. In fact, it was the first time Wyoming had allowed more than 400 passing yards since yielding 498 vs Hawaii (11/23/12). It was Mizzou's most passing yards since putting up 448 in victory at Arkansas (11/24/17) and the largest net difference in passing yards favoring Mizzou (331) since a victory over Delaware State (334) (9/24/16). The Tigers limited Wyoming to just six completions and 92 total yards through the air last Saturday.
Mizzou senior LB Cale Garrett was sensational as well, posting a career-high 16 tackles in the loss. That was the most tackles in a single game for a Mizzou player since Kentrell Brothers had 17 on Oct. 17, 2015, at Georgia, the year Brothers led the nation in tackling.

MIZZOU IN HOME OPENERS

In home openers, Mizzou's all-time record is 93-31-4 (74%), and that includes an active home opener win streak of 13, dating back to a 45-35 loss to New Mexico in 2005. Mizzou won last year's home opener against UT Martin, 51-14, to push its home opener winning streak to 13. The last time Mizzou played a Power 5 opponent in its home opener was back in 1993, when it drubbed Illinois, 31-3 that year.

MIZZOU IN MEMORIAL STADIUM OPENERS

Since 1926, when Memorial Stadium opened, Mizzou is 63-27-3 all-time in home openers (69.4%), and it has won 20-of-22 dating back to 1997.

MIZZOU-WEST VIRGINIA SERIES HISTORY

West Virginia is visiting #TheZou for the first time since 1994, a 34-10 triumph for the Mountaineers. It will mark the third time that Mizzou and West Virginia have met in CoMo. Mizzou and West Virginia last met in 2016 in head coach Barry Odom's first game at Mizzou. In a rebuilding year, the Tigers dropped that game, 26-11.
In all, Mizzou and West Virginia are tied at 3-3 in the all-time series. The series is split, 1-1, all-time in Columbia with Mizzou claiming a 13-0 win in 1927 before the aforementioned WVU win in 1994. Mizzou's most notable meeting between the two teams came in the 1998 Insight Bowl, a 34-31 win in Tuscon.
In that bowl game, Mizzou QB Corby Jones rushed for three TDs and Julian Jones was named the game's most outstanding player after tallying 10 tackles, an interception, a blocked punt for a safety and a 39-yard kick return. The duo helped Mizzou cling to a 34-31 win despite leading 24-3 over the Mountaineers, who were led by QB Marc Bulger and running back Amos Zereoue. It was Mizzou's first postseason win since the 1981 Tangerine Bowl. Brian Long's 18-yard field goal following a Mizzou 14-play, 76-yard drive that spanned 6:43 of the fourth quarter turned out to be the game-winning score. Mizzou RB Devin West had 46 yards on 12 carries during that game-winning drive as he finished fifth in Division I in rushing that season.

MIZZOU 'PASSING' THE TORCH

After ranking as one of the nation's top passing offenses under signal caller Drew Lock for the last four years, Mizzou's offense showed no signs of slowing down its aerial attack in the season opener vs. Wyoming. Mizzou threw for 423 yards against the Pokes, helping Mizzou rank fifth nationally after week one in passing offense.

TEN TIGERS MAKE DEBUTS AT WYOMING

Ten different Tigers made their Mizzou playing debuts in Saturday's game at Wyoming, including a pair of graduate transfers, four true freshmen, three redshirt freshmen and one sophomore.
QB Kelly Bryant and WR Jonathan Nance made their Tiger debuts quite memorable, with Bryant throwing for a career-best 423 yards and two TDs in nearly leading a huge late-game comeback win, while Nance was the recipient of both TD tosses, including a 3-yarder in the first quarter and a 53-yard catch-and-run job in the fourth. Nance finished the night with three catches for 63 yards in all, while Bryant added 20 yards rushing for 443 yards of total offense.
Four true freshmen saw the field in their first-ever opportunity, including DB Stacy Brown, TE Niko Hea, S Martez Manuel and WR Maurice Massey.
The three redshirt freshmen seeing the field for the first time included OL Xavier Delgado, LS Jake Hoffman and DB Chris Mills.
Sophomore DB Zion Sales also made his first Tiger appearance, playing on special teams.

TWELVE MAKE FIRST STARTS

Twelve different Tigers made their first starts at Mizzou on Saturday at Wyoming, including six on defense, four on offense and two specialists.
First-time starters on offense included the aformentioned graduate duo of Kelly Bryant and Jonathan Nance, as well as sophomore offensive linemen Hyrin White and Larry Borom.
Three defensive linemen made their first career starts, including junior DT Jordan Elliott (two tackles), sophomore DE Jatorian Hansford (two tackles) and junior DT Kobie Whiteside (one tackle). Other first-time starters on defense included sophomore LB Nick Bolton (nine tackles, one PBU), and a pair of secondary types in junior Joshuah Bledsoe (three tackles) and sophomore Jarvis Ware (two tackles, one PBU).
The specialists making their first starts included redshirt freshman long snapper Jake Hoffman, who snapped on all kicks, as well as senior PK/P Tucker McCann. McCann is no stranger to starting at placekicker, but he made his first-ever Tiger appearance at punter, and he performed nicely, averaging 43.0 yards on four punts, including a long of 58 yards. McCann was perfect on his other kicks Saturday, connecting on his only field goal try of the night from 22 yards, going 4-of-4 on extra points, and booting all six kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

GARRETT SHINES IN SEASON DEBUT

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, filled up the stat sheet during the week one matchup at Wyoming. In fact, Garrett posted a team- and career-high 16 tackles, 12 of which were solo stops.
Garrett's tackles at Wyoming are 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 last Saturday 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 270 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 is revered by his teammates and coaching staff and is a lead-by-example field general who has drawn comparisons to his head coach, Barry Odom, as the two share the same legendary toughness that Coach Odom played with during his time at Mizzou.
Garrett's 270 career tackles rank just outside the Top 20 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.

JAYJAY ENTERING RAREFIED AIR

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. Johnson is coming off of a 2018 season where he reset career-highs in receptions (59) and yards (737) and is a homerun threat every time he catches the ball, scoring 14 TDs in his career. He's also very dependable in short-yardage and possession downs as well, which was evident during the week one matchup at Wyoming. During that game, he caught a team-high seven passes for 68 yards.
Those 68 yards last Saturday moved his career total to 1,946 career receiving yards – which is just 815 away from Mizzou's all-time career 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	1945	131	13	2016-19

WELCOME KELLY BRYANT

Graduate transfer QB Kelly Bryant had one memorable debut in a Mizzou uniform last Saturday 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 total 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.
The beginning of Bryant's Mizzou career couldn't have gone more smoothly, as he promptly led the Tigers down the field for a pair of long TD drives to get out to a quick 14-0 lead. After MU's defense opened the season with a three-and-out of Wyoming's offense, Bryant directed a 12-play, 65-yard drive in 4:31 of clock time for a 7-0 lead that was capped by his three-yard TD toss to Nance on third-and-goal. After another defensive three-and-out, Bryant led an 11-play, 74-yard scoring drive for a 14-0 lead with 3:19 left in the first quarter, this one capped by a two-yard TD run by RB Larry Rountree III. Bryant's stats on his first two drives as a Tiger: 4-of-6 passing for 83 yards and one TD, with 16 rushing yards on four attempts.
Bryant's start was 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 week one at Wyoming is 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 loss.
Badie was a standout in the passing game as a major possession pass-catcher. He finished the game with a career-high seven catches as one of Kelly Bryant's favorite targets.
Badie also led the team with his 53 rushing yards.

RETURN GAME RETURNS TO FORM

It was no question that one of the major bugaboos for Mizzou Football in 2018 was its punt return game. In 13 games a year ago, Mizzou had just 52 total punt return yards (4.0/game) and that hurt the Tigers field position for much of the year.
Fast forward to Mizzou's week one matchup at Wyoming, and indications all point toward the Tigers doing much better in that area this season.
In fact, Mizzou had 50 punt return yards on a pair of returns from senior DB Richaud Floyd. Highlighting the 50 yards was a 43-yard scamper that helped Mizzou get back into the game in the fourth quarter. That was Mizzou's longest punt return since Floyd's 74-yard TD return at Vanderbilt on Nov. 18, 2017.
Floyd was a Preseason All-SEC pick in the return game a year ago before being sidelined with numerous injuries, which forced him to miss a lot of time.
In 2017, he returned a pair of punts for scores as one of the SEC's most lethal punt returners. Needless to say, Mizzou is happy to have him back in that role this season.

BOLTON SHINES IN FIRST CAREER START

This time a year ago, one Mizzou true freshman was turning heads in nearly every practice - LB Nick Bolton. Hailing from Frisco, Texas, Bolton impressed the coaches with his high football IQ and physical, tough demeanor on the field. He spent much of his initial season with the program as the understudy to Terez Hall, who represented Mizzou at 2018's SEC Media Day.
Fast forward to this year as Hall has moved onto the NFL, the weakside linebacker spot now belongs to Botlon, who made his first career start last week at Wyoming.
Bolton was tremendous, totaling a career-high nine tackles with a pass deflection.
With Mizzou running the two-linebacker scheme this year, look for Bolton to continue to be a high-impact player for the Tigers.

JAY-JAY, TREY BOTH APPROACHING 2,000 CAREER YARDS

As Mizzou enters its week two matchup against West Virginia, two offensive standouts are approaching 2,000 career yards.
Senior WR Johnathon Johnson sits just 54 receiving yards shy of the 2,000-mark. Should he eclipse that feat this week, he would be just the 11the player in school history to do so and first since Emanuel Hall did so a year ago.
Junior RB and team captain Larry Rountree rushed for 41 yards last week at Wyoming to move his career total to 1,960 in 27 games (72.6 per game average). He sits just 40 yards shy of becoming the program's 17th 2,000-yard rusher and first since Damarea Crockett ran for 2,252 yards in his first three seasons with the program from 2016-18 before leaving after last season for the NFL.

WHEN TREY IS UNO

Junior RB Larry Rountree III ("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. See the chart below for details.
Additionally, "Trey" is only 397 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.
Rountree had 41 yards and a score in the week one matchup vs. Wyoming as the Tigers had to go pass-heavy in an attempt to come back during the second half.

Most Rushing Yards Through First Two Seasons

Rank	Tiger	Yards	Seasons
1.	Larry Rountree III	1,919	2017-18
2.	Tony Galbreath	1,647	1974-75
3.	Joe Moore	1,634	1968-69
4.	Henry Josey	1,605	2010-11
5.	Brock Olivo	1,599	1994-95

ALBERT O IS A-OKAY

Junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam (or "Albert O" as most refer to him as) is primed for a big junior year – he's healthy and ready to go after recovering from a scapula injury in game nine last season at Florida that forced him to miss the remainder of the year. Despite missing those four-plus games, he still managed outstanding numbers (43 catches, 466 yards, 6 touchdowns) that earned him finalist status for the prestigious John Mackey Award.
Okwuegbunam played in his first game since that Florida contest last Saturday and Wyoming and looked like the player that was dubbed a first team Preseason All-American by multiple outlets. He caught three passes for 72 yards, averaging 24 yards per catch with a long of 32 yards.
Expectations both inside and outside the program are big for Albert O in 2019 – he's been named a pre-season first-team All-American by Sports Illustrated, College Football News, the Associated Press and Phil Steele and he also begins the season on both the Mackey and Biletnikoff watch lists.
His biggest outing in 2018 was a six-catch, 159-yard, three-touchdown game against Memphis. That marked the fifth multi-TD game of his career, which is already tied for most by a Mizzou tight end, along with former All-American and Mackey Award winner Chase Coffman (2005-08).
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."

PASS DEFENSE SOLID IN WEEK ONE

Mizzou limited Wyoming to just 92 passing yards on six completions last Saturday. The 92 passing yards are 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.

WELCOME JONATHAN NANCE

Another major storyline revolving Mizzou Football during the offseason was how it would replace senior WR Emanuel Hall who put together two of the best receiving seasons in program history over the last two years. One player who should help that transition is Arkansas graduate transfer Jonathan Nance.
Nance showed all the signs of being a big-threat wideout during Mizzou's week one matchup at Wyoming, tallying 63 yards on three catches, two of which were scores. He had a 53-yard catch-and-run TD in the fourth quarter to cut Wyoming's lead to six as Mizzou looked to make a comeback. He also caught the season's first TD, a three-yard strike from Mizzou QB Kelly Bryant.
Nance and Bryant were both instrumental in each other ending up at Mizzou, as the two stayed in touch throughout their transfer process. In fact, Bryant credits Nance as being a key reason he ended up at Mizzou.
Nance also had another connection to Mizzou before signing with the Tigers in the winter. He and senior CB Richaud Floyd were high school teammates and great friends at Gulfport High School in Mississippi.
In 2017, Nance played 11 games with six starts during his junior season at Arkansas. He led the team in receptions (37), receiving yards (539) and receiving touchdowns (five) and rushed five times for 62 yards, including a season-long 40-yard run. Nance's touchdown receptions of 49, 44, 34 and 31 yards and the average length of his five touchdowns was a stunning 32.2 yards. He had a catch in all 11 games and at least five receptions twice and led the team in 20-plus yard catches (nine).

YES, HE McCANN!

Senior PK Tucker McCann (O'Fallon, Ill.) has a shot at leaving his name all over the Mizzou record book. He enters week two with 283 career points, which is fourth on the MU chart, and 79 points behind the record of 362 set by former great Jeff Wolfert (2006-08).
This week, McCann enters the West Virginia contest just one point shy of former QB legend Brad Smith, who had 284 points in his storied Mizzou career from 2002-05.
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 46 career field goals (63 attempts), McCann is 20 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.
In addition to field goal kicking, McCann proved to be an all-around weapon for the Tigers during week one vs. Wyoming. In addition to his FG, he tallied six touchbacks on six kickoffs and made all four of his PATs. This year, McCann is also the starting punter for the first time in his career and he averaged 43.0 yards per kick on four punts last week, tallying a career-long boot of 58 yards on his first career attempt.