Tigers, Razorbacks Renew Rivalry on Black Friday
11/24/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 24, 2014
| Opponent | Location | Day/Time (CT) |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | Memorial Stadium / Faurot Field - Columbia, Mo. | Friday / 1:39 p.m. CT |
| Game Media | CBS | Live Video  | Live Stats | Live Audio | |
| Arkansas Prep | Pinkel Press Conference | Quotes | |
Game Notes  | Depth Chart | ||
TIGERS, RAZORBACKS RENEW RIVALRY ON BLACK FRIDAY
The #17 Missouri Tigers (9-2 overall, 6-1 in SEC play) return home for one final appearance as they play host to the upstart Arkansas Razorbacks (6-5, 2-5) in a unique Friday afternoon game. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field is set for 1:30 p.m., with the game being televised on CBS. Friday's contest is Mizzou's annual Blackout Game, where fans are encouraged to wear black.
The game will be the start of a new rivalry for the bordering state neighbors, as they will play every year in football going forward. It's being called the Battle Line Rivalry presented by Shelter Insurance, and the cross-divisional rivalry gets its start today.
Mizzou and Arkansas have met just five times previously, with MU holding a 3-2 series edge. The schools have alternated wins each outing, with the last two coming in bowl games. Mizzou claimed the last meeting in style, taking a 38-7 win in the 2008 Cotton Bowl to cap a 12-2 season that saw the Tigers finish ranked 4th in the national polls (the highest final ranking ever for MU). Arkansas took the prior meeting in the 2003 Independence Bowl by a 27-14 count. The first meeting between Mizzou and Arkansas was way back in 1906 in Columbia, with MU winning 11-0. The teams wouldn't meet again until 1944 in St. Louis, with Arkansas winning that one by a 7-6 margin. The next game would come in 1963 in Little Rock, Ark., with Mizzou returning the favor with a 7-6 win of its own.
Mizzou is coming off of a solid 29-21 road win at Tennessee, in a game which most pundits had the Volunteers favored. The Tigers relished the underdog role, and quickly established themselves by taking the opening drive of the game and marching 75 yards for a TD and a 7-0 lead. After taking a 16-13 lead into the 4th quarter, QB Maty Mauk threw a pair of 4th-quarter TD passes (73 yards to Jimmie Hunt and 13 yards to Bud Sasser), and the Tiger defense held UT's much-ballyhooed offense in check most of the night, allowing only one offensive TD. MU outgained UT by a 410-to-279 margin in total offense, after the Vols' offense had averaged 47.5 points and 578.0 yards of offense in its last 2 games. The road win gave MU a program-record 10th-straight road win, as the Tigers haven't dropped a road contest since November 2012 at Texas A&M.
Arkansas is the talk of the SEC after the Razorbacks have won the last two weeks against ranked opponents via a shutout (W, 30-0 vs. #8 Ole Miss Saturday and W, 17-0 vs. #20 LSU the previous week). It's the first time in the history of the Associated Press poll era (since 1937) that an unranked team had won shutouts in consecutive weeks over ranked teams.
PLAYING FOR ALL THE MARBLES
Already guaranteed no worse than an Eastern Division co-championship, the Tigers need a win over Arkansas to take the division outright, and earn a second-straight trip to Atlanta to play in the 2014 SEC Championship Game on Dec. 6th.
This means that Mizzou has won or shared conference division titles in five of the past eight seasons under Head Coach Gary Pinkel. The Tigers were picked to finish 6th in the SEC Eastern Division in 2013, but raced to a 7-1 league mark (12-2 overall) and claimed the division crown in only their second year in the league. Mizzou was picked 4th this year by the pundits, and they've done no worse than tie for first once again.
Mizzou's division titles under Pinkel include 2007 (outright), 2008 (shared/won tiebreaker to play in Big 12 title game), 2010 (shared), and 2013 (outright). Prior to that, the last time Mizzou had won a conference title in football of any kind was back in 1969 (Big 8) under Hall of Fame Coach Dan Devine.
IT'S SENIOR DAY AT THE 'ZOU
It's always a special day full of emotion when members of the senior class take the field for the final time in their careers. Mizzou is honoring 21 seniors before Friday's game, and they'll continue the time-honored tradition after the game ends of walking to the historic Rock M beyond the north end zone, and claiming a rock as a personal memento of their time in the program.
The 2014 senior class has been part of some very special achievements during their time here. They've been part of 34 wins the past four seasons, and played a key role in Mizzou's magical 2013 season that saw the Tigers go 12-2, win the SEC Eastern Division title, and go on to win the Cotton Bowl and finish ranked 5th in the country. Many of them were redshirting as true freshmen in 2010 when the Tigers shared the Big 12 Conference North Division title, so they've become accustomed to winning. This group will be taking part in their fourth bowl trip later this season.
The seniors being honored include:
- Christian Brinser (P - Liberty, Mo.)
- David Butler (DL - Kansas City, Mo.)
- Stephen Carberry (OL - Belleville, Ill.)
- Alex Demczak (Springfield, Ill.)
- Adam Franklin (Raytown, Mo.)
- Anthony Gatti (OL - St. Louis, Mo.)
- Markus Golden (DL - St. Louis, Mo.)
- Matt Hoch (DL - Harlan, Iowa)
- Jimmie Hunt (WR - Cahokia, Ill.)
- Denzel Martin (LB - Ladue, Mo.)
- Mitch Morse (OL - Austin, Texas)
- Marcus Murphy (TB - DeSoto, Texas)
- Gavin Otte (WR - Rolla, Mo.)
- Darvin Ruise (LB - Jacksonville, Fla.)
- Bud Sasser (WR - Denton, Texas)
- Duron Singleton (S - New Orleans, La.)
- Kyle Starke (OL - Liberty, Mo.)
- Lucas Vincent (DL - Olathe, Kan.)
- Jordan Wade (TB - Lee's Summit, Mo.)
- Braylon Webb (S - Gilmer, Texas)
- Darius White (WR - Fort Worth, Texas)
More importantly, seven from this outstanding group have already earned their undergraduate degrees from Mizzou (Brinser, Carberry, Gatti, Hoch, Morse, Murphy and White), while every other senior is on pace to graduate by May.
START FAST, SCORE FIRST
Mizzou has been getting out of the gates fast of late, and the Tigers hope to see more of the same Friday against Arkansas. In Mizzou's current 5-game winning streak, the Tigers have scored first in every game, and that includes getting points the very first time they've touched the ball in four of those games. Here's a quick look back:
- Nov. 22 at Tennessee - Mizzou took opening kick, drove 75 yards (12 plays, 4:37 TOP) for a 7-0 lead on a Marcus Murphy 1-yard TD run.
- Nov. 15 at Texas A&M - Mizzou's defense stopped A&M on their opening drive, then the offense drove 60 yards (9 plays, 4:36 TOP) for a 38-yard FG by Andrew Baggett and a 3-0 lead.
- Nov. 1 vs. Kentucky - After a scoreless 1st quarter, Mizzou drew first blood with a 55-yard (9 plays, 4:15 TOP) drive that resulted in a 3-yard TD pass from Maty Mauk to Bud Sasser for a 7-0 lead at the 12:56 mark of the 2nd quarter.
- Oct. 25 vs. Vanderbilt - Mizzou took the opening kick and drove 44 yards (10 plays, 4:01 TOP) for a 37-yard field goal by Andrew Baggett and a 3-0 lead.
- Oct. 18 at Florida - Mizzou received the opening kickoff of the game, and Marcus Murphy kickstarted the night by housing it, going 96 yards the other way for a lightning-quick 7-0 lead just :11 seconds into the game.
- In looking at MU's 9-2 record so far, a tendency that has held true all year relates to which team scores first. The Tigers have scored first in all of their 9 wins, and opponents have scored first in both of MU's losses (Indiana, Georgia).
