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Thursday's Scrimmage Report

With just nine days before the season opener against Illinois, the Missouri Tiger football team held its third and final scrimmage in the Devine Pavilion Thursday morning. A majority of the starters did not participate in the scrimmage held inside to avoid a morning rainstorm.

With Chase Daniel not participating and Chase Patton sitting out because of a sore hamstring, Blaine Gabbert and Jimmy Costello took most of the reps with the offensive units. Gabbert completed 12-of-21 passes for 103 yards and Costello was 8-of-14 for 85 yards.

Two of their favorite targets continued to be the young tight ends--Michael Egnew and Andrew Jones. The two combined for seven catches and 66 yards.

Derrick Washington was one of the few starters who did scrimmage. The sophomore totaled 32 yards on just two carries, including a 25-yard gain that was aided by a key downfield block from former running back Earl Goldsmith.

Defensive highlights included a Terrell Resonno recovery of a bobbled snap; sacks from Jacquies Smith, Kevin Rutland, Tru Vaughns, and Marcus Malbrough; and good tackles from Hardy Ricks, Kip Edwards, and Tyler Crane.

The play of the day came when Trey Hobson jumped a pass from Gabbert, tipped the ball to himself and headed toward the endzone before Gabbert made a shoestring tackle.

Shortly after the interception, Gabbert threaded a pass through several defenders to Gahn McGaffie, who was tackled inside the 1-yard line for a 33-yard gain. On the next play, Moore finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

LB Van Alexander (knee) scrimmaged and recorded a pass break-up.

The Tigers have the day off tomorrow and begin preparing for the Illini Saturday morning. The Aug. 30 kickoff at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Updated Thursday, August 21, at 1:45 PM by McClain Thompson (top)

Thursday's Scrimmage Statistics

Scoring Plays

Wolfert 29 yard field goal
Wolfert 46 yard field goal
Moore 1 yard run (Wolfert Kick)

Updated Thursday, August 21, at 1:33 PM by Chad Moller (top)

Wednesday's Video

Coach Pinkel offers some comments on what to expect from Thursday's scrimmage; an update in the status of WR Danario Alexander; Aldon Smith's first day with the Tigers; and comments on freshman WR Wes Kemp.

• Head Coach Gary Pinkel  

Updated Wednesday, August 20, at 11:38 AM by Kevin Fletcher (top)

Wednesday's Practice Report

Wednesday was a happy day in the Tiger Football camp, as it represented the final practice day of preseason camp, with the only thing left being Thursday's camp-closing scrimmage. Head Coach Gary Pinkel again let his team avoid beating each other up and had the team work out Wednesday in shorts and shoulder pads. The workout was a bit shorter than normal, going about 2 hours in length under overcast Columbia skies and mild weather.

The Tigers will not hold an afternoon practice today, but instead will do film study and have meetings to continue their preparation for the Aug. 30th opener against Illinois. Here are some notes and tidbits from today's practice...

• A great sight was seen today as senior TE Chase Coffman returned to catching passes. He still wore the red injury pullover jersey, but with today being a non-contact day anyway, he was out there quite a bit, and looked as if he isn't suffering any ill-effects from his recent finger injury. Coffman displayed his usual sticky hands, and at one point caught two straight bullet passes from QB Chase Daniel in 7-on-7 work, and then later made a beautiful catch in coverage in the end zone in red zone 7-on-7 drills...
• Speaking of the Tiger tight ends, freshman Andrew Jones made a sweet one-handed grab near the sideline in 7-on-7 work that had his teammates buzzing...
• Senior CB Castine Bridges returned to practice after resting Tuesday, and he participated in most everything, despite donning the red injury bib still. Bridges broke up a pass intended for WR Jeremy Maclin at one point early on in 11-on-11 work. Later in the session, freshman LB Will Ebner intercepted a ball over the middle as the reserves went against each other...
• Later, in red zone 11-on-11 situational work, Daniel and Maclin made their customary connection for a nice gain over the middle, but then the defense turned it up, as S Justin Garrett intercepted a deflected pass, and S Del Howard broke up a pass on consecutive plays against the #1 offense. Later on, with the #2 units doing battle, CB Carl Gettis (working as a nickel back) broke up a pass, and CB Trey Hobson picked off a deflected pass and would have likely returned it for some 85 yards and a touchdown, had the whistles not blown the play dead...
• Freshman DE Aldon Smith was in attendance Wednesday, after being cleared Tuesday afternoon by the NCAA Clearinghouse. Missouri is awaiting word on the other two freshmen hung up in the clearinghouse - Rolandis Woodland and Drew Temple, and hopes to get positive news soon...
• In off-field news, four more NFL scouts were on hand Wednesday, as representatives from the Oakland Raiders, the New York Jets, the Washington Redskins and the Indianapolis Colts were roaming the sidelines today...
• Friday brings the renewing of a longstanding tradition at Memorial Stadium, when a group of incoming freshman students will gather to paint the landmark Rock M on the north endzone hillside. Each year, hundreds of freshmen come out to partake in the annual rite of fall, and another big crowd is expected to help again...

We promised more details on the new semi-trailer that rolled into town yesterday, and here they are, straight from Director of Equipment Operations Don "El Guapo" Barnes...

The new trailer was purchased by the Athletic Department from Kentucky Trailers out of Louisville, Ky. for $40,000. The "van," as it is known in the industry, is a 53-foot Kentucky Electronics Van with an Air Ride shock system, which makes it a smooth enough ride that this type of trailer can be used to transport flat screen TVs. Barnes said that while the team doesn't transport anything as fragile as that, it still is reassuring knowing that all of the equipment - especially the $95,000 headphone system it lugs around to each game - will be safe and secure. The new trailer replaces the old trailer that MU had been using since 1985 when it was purchased used from Frito-Lay for $7,000 - the old trailer was used to transport Doritos, among other Frito-Lay products, before it became Mizzou's.

Barnes said the new trailer was purchased as a stock white unit, and was taken to St. Louis, Mo., where it was customized and remodeled by Craftsmen Industries, with much help from company president Joe Helmsing. Helmsing's company painted the trailer black and applied the decals that can be seen all over, and the decal system allows for the flexibility to add other information in an efficient manner. The new trailer has hardwood floors on the inside, a translucent ceiling which allows for more light which is helpful for loading purposes, and has the ability to add moveable floor sections around, as well as straps to secure items - something the old truck wouldn't support.

Speaking of the old truck, plans call to house the old one in the parking lot just behind the south endzone stands at Faurot Field, where various items will be stored there throughout the year. In case you were wondering, the old truck was depreciated down to a worth of exactly zero dollars by University adjusters!

With no afternoon practice, that wraps up today's report. We'll have Coach Pinkel's post-practice comments up shortly; thanks for reading and be sure to come back tomorrow for full scrimmage details and stats...

Updated Wednesday, August 20, at 10:36 AM by Chad Moller (top)

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