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What's On
Duh, scrimmage highlights!
MU defense is strong in final scrimmage : Sports
After forcing just one turnover in 277 plays during the first two scrimmages, MU’s defense picked off three passes, had seven sacks and allowed just two touchdowns, both by the reserve units, in the 72-play scrimmage on Faurot Field.
"We know we can get interceptions. We know we can get turnovers," said safety Anthony Sherrils, who picked off the day’s second pass attempt, a mistimed throw by backup quarterback Eddie Printz. "We know they were going to come sooner or later. We really weren’t that upset about not getting any. With the pressure we’re getting and the coverage we apply, we knew we’d get some."
Missouri’s left guard position is in flux, and there's still a chance somebody other than senior Taylor Chappell or senior Brad McNulty takes the position. When Alec Abeln trotted out with the first-team offense early in Thursday's scrimmage, that much was made clear.
Abeln, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound sophomore from St. Louis, opened camp as the second-string center behind Evan Boehm. He also participated at left guard during the team's second scrimmage, but Thursday was the first time he participated with the first team.
"Not only is he a backup center, but he's a guy we think has been doing a lot of good things at guard," coach Gary Pinkel said.
PowerMizzou.com - Mizzou wraps camp with scrimmage
Missouri's top two defensive ends, Charles Harris and Marcell Frazier, each had solid days. Harris had two tackles-for-loss and a sack; Frazier had 1.5 TFL and a sack. Also impressing (and receiving reps with the second-team defense) was freshman Nate Howard, who had two tackles-for-loss.
So ... Drew Lock
University of Missouri Athletics - #MIZCamp - Scrimmage No. 3 - Aug. 27
Freshman QB Drew Lock went 9-for-12 passing for 177 yards, including a 56-yard hookup to WR Ray Wingo. Lock showed poise as he stepped up in the pocket to deliver a strike to Wingo, who was streaking over the middle of the field. Wingo led all receivers with 74 receiving yards during the scrimmage. WR Richaud Floyd hauled in a 30-yard TD reception from QB Eddie Printz, as Floyd caught the ball in the middle of the secondary and reversed field to find the end zone. RB Chase Abbington added a 4-yard TD catch from QB Marvin Zanders.
MU Scrimmage No. 3: Statistics and Reflections - Columbia Daily Tribune | David Morrison
He saw 17 snaps with the second team, compared to nine for Zanders and six for Printz. He led five drives for the second team (though Zanders finished one), Zanders led three and Printz led two.
Lock led three drives against the one defense, Printz two and Zanders one. And here's how those numbers shook out:
Printz: 2 of 3, 3 yards, INT; Offense: 6 plays, -4 yards, 1 first down (via penalty)
Zanders: 2 of 2, 7 yards; Offense: 3 plays, 9 yards, 0 first downs
Lock: 3 of 5, 58 yards; Offense: 11 plays, 37 yards, 2 first downs (1 via penalty)
PowerMizzou.com - Still Seeking Answers
It's hard to ignore what Lock has done. He was 9-for-12 overall on Thursday for 177 yards, more than triple the output of any other quarterback. In three scrimmages combined, Lock was 38-for-51 for 484 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. [...]
Zanders was 19-for-30 for 293 yards, three touchdowns and an interception over three scrimmages. Printz was 21-for-41 for 275 yards, two touchdowns and a pick.
MU quarterbacks make final statements : Dave Matter
Pinkel said all decisions on which freshmen will play this year will be announced Monday. The staff will make personnel decisions and decide on the depth chart on Friday and post the depth to the team on Saturday.
"I’ve been doing this so long. It’s a constant evaluation," he said. "This isn’t about a scrimmage or a play. This is about the day they get in here and all these practices we’ve had. These things are very well thought of to this point. I’ve been faced with decisions like this a lot in my career, some very similar. But you know, that’s what we do. Ultimately, it’s really simple: You do what’s best for your football team. That’s what you do. You do what’s best for your football team. That’s pretty easy to do when that’s the parameters you’re working with. I think all the guys that have played have done some really good things and improved. At the end of the day, we’ve got to do what’s best for our team."
When it comes to quarterbacks, it's nice to see the progression and lineage years out. Heading into fall camp, it made perfect sense for Drew Lock to redshirt -- that way he'd be a redshirt freshman when Maty Mauk was a senior, and then he'd start as a sophomore like Chase Daniel, Blaine Gabbert, James Franklin, and Mauk all did.
It sounds like Lock's fall camp has made things messy. I recently wrote/said on the radio that we shouldn't take seriously the idea of him playing in 2015 until he starts getting a lot more second-string duty in scrimmages. Well ... he got the most second-string duty yesterday.
Lock bulled his way into second-string reps, and then he outplayed everybody with his second-string performance. That he took more snaps, played more series, and did more against the No. 1 defense than Printz or Zanders tells me he's going to be the No. 2 QB when the new depth chart is posted next week. And ... well ... if he's No. 2, he almost certainly plays this year.
It's not official, and it still wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to sit him, but it's sounding more and more like there will be no redshirt. I guess if he's good enough, you swallow hard, take your eyes off of 2017, focus on 2015, accept that you might end up with the nastiest case of 'the backup QB's the most popular guy on the team' that you've ever had, and move forward. We'll see what happens.
(I'm sure Fullback U. will have more about this soon, but one thing that is pretty worrisome with Lock: he takes a ton of sacks. Well, 'sacks.' He hangs tall in the pocket, waiting for the right read to come open, and he's not afraid to get hit. But in the one-hand touch universe that QBs inhabit in scrimmages, he got touched a lot. Some of those touches wouldn't have resulted in real sacks, but if you're looking for a red flag, there you go. But I doubt that's enough to keep the redshirt on him. His passing has been too incredible.)
This ... this is a good tweet
I'm not supposed to but here's a highlight from Mizzou's scrimmage where 6'7 WR Justin Smith goes up for the catch http://t.co/OmXV2FU4Oh
— W.E.B. BLOGGER (@oscargambler) August 28, 2015
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MUtigers.com: Mizzou Sends Condolences to Family of Jane Faurot Hazell
The Mizzou Department of Athletics would like to extend its condolences to the family of Jane Faurot Hazell, who passed away on Aug. 22 at her home. Jane is the daughter of legendary Mizzou head football coach Don Faurot, whose name adorns the field at Memorial Stadium.
Jane was a 1955 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism where she was a proud member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She later served as a board member for the sorority in her adult years. Jane was a proud teacher as well, working in education at all levels while living in Louisiana and Colorado before returning to Columbia permanently in 1987.
Condolences.