Last updated Sunday
at 08:49 AM
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Former Missouri standouts Martin Rucker, bottom, and Will Franklin, top, were picked in the fourth round of the NFL draft yesterday. The Chiefs chose Franklin, and the Browns took Rucker.
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Nick King and Gerik Parmele photos
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MU Football
Wingo more than a prayer
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
When 6-foot, 215-pound Derrick Washington seized the No. 1 tailback job this spring, it marked a turning point in the evolution of Missouri’s spread offense, a turn toward a taller, heavier back to carry the load.
[ 05/04/08 ]
Brown to try out in KC
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The NFL draft came exactly six months to the day after Missouri safety Pig Brown shredded his right Achilles’ tendon on Oct. 27 against Iowa State. The former Tiger, though, could have a football future. After going undrafted this weekend, Brown has been invited to a tryout with the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend with hopes of earning a rookie free-agent contract, his agent, Tim Rogers, said.
[ 04/29/08 ]
Tigers catch on with NFL teams
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Their wait lasted until the fourth round of the NFL draft, but Missouri wide receiver Will Franklin and tight end Martin Rucker landed in promising situations with potential for immediate playing time.
[ 04/28/08 ]
Fighting flawed logic
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
No height, no hands.
Former Missouri tailback Tony Temple has heard and read those words countless times the last few months.
[ 04/25/08 ]
Quite a QB collection
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
It’s up for debate whether the Big 12 will be the country’s best football conference this fall.
[ 04/23/08 ]
Rising to a higher standard
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
If there’s a legitimate beef Missouri football fans have this year, it was expressed to Tigers Coach Gary Pinkel yesterday as he made his way down to Faurot Field after the team’s Black and Gold scrimmage.
[ 04/20/08 ]
Happy at home
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Back in January, Ashley Patton was walking her dogs around the block when a neighbor stepped out and shared some troubling news.
[ 04/19/08 ]
Missouri football team ready for its close-up
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
A decade ago, the concept of televising a spring football scrimmage would have been as foreign to Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel as, say, lining up five wide receivers and never putting the quarterback under center. [
04/18/08 ]
Crane could give Tigers lift at linebacker
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri might have found a long-term solution to its position of attrition.
[ 04/16/08 ]
MU football player busted for pot, alcohol
Missouri offensive lineman Austin Wuebbels was arrested Sunday morning after a traffic stop by Columbia police discovered marijuana and alcohol in his car.
[
04/15/08 ]
Loaded in the backfield
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
It was among the shortest runs during yesterday’s scrimmage, but as Derrick Washington catapulted himself into the end zone, he might have assuaged any fear that Missouri’s running game ran away with Tony Temple.
[ 04/13/08 ]
Hard-luck Alexander has ACL tear
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
When Missouri’s Sean Weatherspoon visited the team doctor Monday to get treatment for a shoulder injury, he’s afraid he might have jinxed fellow linebacker Van Alexander.
[ 04/11/08 ]
Dome that glitters
isn’t gold for Prince
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Like many of the high school players who get the opportunity, Munir Prince couldn’t resist Touchdown Jesus, the Four Horsemen and the Grotto - all staples in the lore of playing football for Notre Dame.
[ 04/09/08 ]
Already an All-American, Maclin gets better
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Here’s a dreadful thought for Missouri’s opponents this fall: Gary Pinkel doesn’t believe Jeremy Maclin grazed the surface of his potential last season, when all he did as a redshirt freshman was become a consensus All-American and set new standards for all-purpose production.
[ 04/06/08 ]
From scoring TDs to preventing them
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The scene was almost four years ago, but the sight of Gilbert Moye slashing through the Texas Class 3A state championship game is still fresh in Sean Weatherspoon’s mind.
[ 04/04/08 ]
Missouri loses another linebacker
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri’s depth at linebacker took its second hit in as many weeks when junior-to-be Connell Davis returned from spring break only to quit the team, Coach Gary Pinkel confirmed after yesterday’s practice.
[ 04/02/08 ]
’09 draft already in sights of duo
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
If you’re an NFL team rummaging the college market for the next great tight end or safety, next month’s draft isn’t considered particularly loaded with players at those positions.
[ 03/23/08 ]
Coffman already is back in usual form
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
It’s third-and-goal from the 2-yard line - where some Missouri fans would still prefer a fullback and an I-formation - but Chase Daniel takes two steps and fires a bullet to his biggest and best weapon for such snug but precious territory.
[ 03/21/08 ]
Booker dismissed
from football team
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri linebacker Marquis Booker became a former Missouri linebacker a little more than 48 hours after his arrest Sunday morning for suspicion of unlawful use of a weapon. MU Coach Gary Pinkel announced after yesterday’s spring practice that Booker was dismissed from the team, effective immediately.
[ 03/19/08 ]
MU player
arrested on gun charge
By DEREK KRAVITZ
of the Tribune’s staff
A University of Missouri football linebacker was arrested for allegedly pulling a handgun out of a car, and two other players were interviewed after an early morning argument yesterday near a south Columbia apartment.
[ 03/17/08 ]
Who’ll step into punter job?
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
On one hand, the fact that Missouri’s punting auditions qualify as big news this offseason speaks to the depth and strength of MU’s returning personnel. On the other hand, that doesn’t make Kent McCullough’s job any easier.
[ 03/16/08 ]
Protecting Daniel is Wise investment
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Aboard a bus headed to Omaha, Neb., for an exclusive field trip, Chase Daniel couldn’t have found a more appropriate traveling companion last night.
[ 03/14/08 ]
MU defense hopes to change from good to great
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The last time Missouri’s football team took the field, the Tigers smothered the prolific Arkansas running attack at the Cotton Bowl with an impressive defensive showing that would make 2008 all the more promising.
[ 03/12/08 ]
Tigers ready to spring into action
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Ever since ambitious Harvard football captain Arthur Cumnock and his Crimson teammates took the field for an unprecedented March practice back in March 1889, spring football workouts have become a tradition on college campuses. But back then, in Cambridge, Mass., the offseason sessions attracted little attention.
[ 03/11/08 ]
AREA SCENE: MU sells advance scrimmage tickets [
03/10/08 ]
Put the best foot forward
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
If the NFL truly wants to shed the shadowy impressions cast by knucklehead athletes such as Michael Vick and Pacman Jones, then surely there’s a place for Missouri’s Lorenzo Williams among the league’s 32 teams.
[ 03/09/08 ]
Franklin’s stock rises with pro-day performance
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
In a game that’s played by 300-pound men on a 100-yard field with three hours of collision sequences, the passageway into the NFL goes through a scrupulous process that comes down to tenths of a second and half inches.
[ 03/07/08 ]
AREA SCENE: Missouri gets football
commitment [
03/04/08 ]
AREA SCENE: MU football team to be honored
[ 02/25/08 ]
MU recruiters turn DeSmet into farm team
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Start your tractors! Start your tractors!
Working
under the assumption that everything east of Kansas City and west of St. Louis
is bumpkin country, the all-male student crowd at DeSmet High School chanted
that slogan two seasons ago as Rock Bridge took the field for a Class 6 playoff
game. [ 02/10/08 ]
Sign of
the times
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Last fall, as his football team ascended to the top of the national rankings, Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel told a story of a much darker time in the program’s history. Spring of 2001, newly hired at
MU, Pinkel went on a statewide tour to meet the high school coaches from all corners of Missouri. He discovered, in parts of St. Louis especially, the team’s reputation had decayed so badly that a coach there refused to meet with Pinkel and assistant Cornell Ford.
[ 02/07/08 ]
University of Missouri football recruits
[ 02/07/08 ]
On second thought, it’s Missouri
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Back in November, Blaine Gabbert knew it was time to make the call. The blue-chip quarterback from Ballwin had to confirm what had become a terribly kept secret. He dialed the embattled coaches at Nebraska to break his verbal commitment. Six months since pledging his allegiance to the Cornhuskers, he took back his word and delivered it to Missouri.
[ 02/06/08 ]
Tigers stockpile defensive help
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The name Carl Gettis didn’t generate much buzz last February on national signing day. Overshadowed by more celebrated prospects, the Missouri recruit from Fort Zumwalt West wasn’t even pinned down for a specific position. By August, everyone around the MU program knew his name as Gettis emerged as Missouri’s starting cornerback by the fourth game. By season’s end, the true freshman was named the team’s cornerback of the year.
[ 02/05/08 ]
With eye on future, MU loads up on D-linemen
By DAVE MATTER of the Tribune’s staff
The Missouri football team must replace just one starter from its 2007 defensive line, albeit an important one in All-Big 12 Conference nose tackle Lorenzo Williams. [
02/04/08 ]
Future of QB position
in hands of Gabbert
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
BALLWIN - It’s impossible to ignore the hands. [ 02/03/08 ]
Temple will carry on family tradition at MU
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Earlier this week, Tony Temple officially became a former Missouri football player when he dropped his NCAA appeal for a fifth year of eligibility. The roster won’t be Temple-free for long.
[ 02/02/08 ]
Missouri restocks receiver corps
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri recruit Gahn McGaffie was the starting quarterback at Galena Park, Texas, High School the last three years, but with the Tigers’ spread-the-wealth philosophy on offense and the robust supply of quarterbacks headed to Columbia, it’s no wonder McGaffie plans to begin his MU career catching passes, not throwing them.
[ 01/31/08 ]
Temple ready to turn pro
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Tony Temple sure knows how to make an exit. [
01/30/08 ]
Smith brought hope to Tigers
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The cover of the 1994 Missouri football media guide featured Larry Smith, the Tigers’ new head coach, wearing a dark suit, looking into the bright sun, with the campus in the background. The headline read, "The Sky’s The Limit."
[ 01/30/08 ]
Missouri's Larry Smith Era: A Look Back
[ 01/30/08 ]
‘He restored the roar‘
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Back in October, former Missouri football Coach Larry Smith and his wife Cheryl had dinner with former Missouri player David Rowe, a defensive lineman whose playing career was known more for his inspiring survival of cancer than for any play he made on the field.
[ 01/29/08 ]
By any name,
Smith was the real deal
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
To Larry Smith, I was always Joel. I had good company in being mildly misidentified. During a puzzling quarterback battle during the spring of 1999, Kirk Farmer was usually Kurt and Kurt Propst was usually Kirk, making it virtually impossible to determine who might end up the starter. When he drew a complete blank, Smith would refer to a player as "the kid from Illinois" or some such.
[ 01/29/08 ]
AREA SCENE: Missouri lineman leaves team [
01/28/08 ]
Several teams reloading for spring practice
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
On the college football calendar, if February is the month that giveth - national signing day is the first Wednesday of the month - then January is the one that taketh away. [ 01/20/08 ]
Tigers finish No. 1 in computer poll
There’s at least someone, more like some thing, that believes the Missouri football team was the national champion. [ 01/18/08 ]
MU aide Walker passed over; Pinkel getting key to St. Louis
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Gary Pinkel still appears to have the longest tenured coaching staff in major college football. [ 01/18/08 ]
Stull arrested, kicked off football team
Missouri defensive lineman John Stull was arrested by the Columbia Police Department at 1:25 a.m. yesterday on suspicion of three counts of possession of a controlled substance, among other charges.
[ 01/11/08 ]
MU juniors
will return for senior years
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Underclassmen have until Jan. 15 to declare their intentions to enter the NFL draft, but all five Missouri players who submitted their names to the NFL draft advisory board told Coach Gary Pinkel they will return to MU for their senior season, the school announced yesterday.
[ 01/09/08 ]
DeSmet WR switches commitment to Tigers
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri’s recruiting class got an unexpected change of heart yesterday when wide receiver Wes Kemp of DeSmet High School in St. Louis swapped his verbal commitment from Wisconsin to Missouri.
[ 01/08/08 ]
The season that set the tone
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
From the day Gary Pinkel and Missouri’s contingent landed in San Antonio for the Big 12 media days last summer, the Tigers embraced the elevated expectations that greeted their program but never compromised the work required to reach them.
[ 01/06/08 ]
Looking forward to the sequel
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Green stains from the Cotton Bowl’s painted grass were still fresh on the Missouri Tigers’ uniforms Tuesday afternoon when attention turned to 2008. Well, the calendar had already turned to ’08, and with a blockbuster season officially in the books, why not look forward to the sequel?
[ 01/03/08 ]
Holy Temple
By DAVE MATTER of the Tribune’s staff
DALLAS - Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden cruised into Texas last week, arriving in style behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade.
[ 01/02/08 ]
Hog tied
By BOB THOMPSON
Special to the Tribune
DALLAS - Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs wasn’t worried.
[ 01/02/08 ]
Missouri is for real … and built to last
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
DALLAS - Lorenzo Williams thought something might be different with this Missouri football team last January. Guys were showing up at offseason conditioning workouts and actually working. He could never remember spring practices being so physical. And in the summer, he noticed how much bigger, faster and stronger his teammates were.
[ 01/02/08 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri 38,
Arkansas 7 [ 01/02/07 ]
SLIDE
SHOW: Missouri 38, Arkansas 7 [
01/01/07 ]
Conference
superiority is debated
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
IRVING, Texas - Pardon the Missouri Tigers for not genuflecting before the Southeastern Conference during their last five days here in Texas. As tomorrow’s Cotton Bowl against No. 25 Arkansas draws closer, the seventh-ranked Tigers have heard enough SEC glorification.
[ 12/31/07 ]
Living out
his lessons
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
IRVING, Texas - Kathy Grinch chuckles at the thought of her baby brother reinventing his character. She’s read the stories and heard the tales of the softer, kinder, more approachable Gary
Pinkel. But that’s the guy she’s known for more than half a century. [
12/30/07 ]
STAR
POWER: Cotton Bowl Preview [
12/30/07 ]
SLIDE SHOW: 2007 MU Football: A look back [
12/30/07 ]
Missouri finds consistency with stable staff
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
IRVING, Texas - Over the last month, Arkansas football players have lost their head coach to a conference rival and watched their program go through a grueling search for his replacement, a process that’s left the Razorbacks with a patchwork staff of coaches, half of whom will bolt for Mississippi to join former boss Houston Nutt as soon as Tuesday’s Cotton Bowl is complete.
[ 12/29/07 ]
Riding into the postseason
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
DALLAS - Chase Daniel’s Christmas present didn’t fit under the family tree in nearby Southlake, Texas.
[ 12/28/07 ]
A rewarding year for Alden
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
MU’s athletic director looks back on 2007, a year that will be remembered for the success of the Tigers’ football program, in a Q&A with Tribune sports editor Joe Walljasper.
[ 12/24/07 ]
The spoils of victory
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Having the richest contract doesn’t interest Missouri’s Gary Pinkel as much as having a fair contract.
[ 12/24/07 ]
Extra Cotton Bowl tickets on sale
About 100 Cotton Bowl tickets in the Missouri section were released for sale this morning and were available at www.mutigers.com.
Tickets cost $90 and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. All other tickets have been sold.
[ 12/24/07 ]
BEHIND THE STRIPES:
Tribune writer responds
By JORDAN RAUBOLT of the Tribune’s staff
The power of the printed word never ceases to amaze me. Case in point: “Fans sour on Orange,” a story I wrote about ticket sales for the Cotton and Orange bowls. In a true testament to the fierce Missouri/Kansas rivalry, the story sparked a whirlwind of discussion resulting in a bombardment of heated e-mail responses, the likes of which I haven’t seen in quite some time.
[ 12/21/07 ]
There’s no avoiding McFadden for Tigers
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Through the fortune of scheduling and injury, the Missouri defense avoided Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson during his three-year career with the Sooners. Peterson was out with a broken collarbone for the only possible matchup during the 2006 season.
[ 12/21/07 ]
MU’s Barnes, Baston excited to get in line
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Center Tim Barnes and nose tackle Jaron Baston show up back-to-back on Missouri’s alphabetical roster, but they were nose-to-nose yesterday.
[ 12/19/07 ]
Bracey suspended after arrest
Missouri suspended backup senior Greg Bracey for the rest of the season after he was arrested early Friday morning on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana and failure to signal a turn.
[ 12/18/07 ]
Keck gets comfortable in familiar spot
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Some time late in Missouri’s regular season, freshman linebacker Michael Keck figured it was time to put his hand back on the ground.
[ 12/18/07 ]
Fans sour on Orange
By JORDAN RAUBOLT
of the Tribune’s staff
If the demand for tickets is any indicator, Orange Bowl officials might be second-guessing their controversial decision to invite the Kansas Jayhawks instead of the Missouri Tigers.
[ 12/17/07 ]
Missouri players seek feedback about draft stock
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Someday soon an oil painting of Missouri tight end Martin Rucker will hang in the Mizzou Athletics Training Complex to commemorate Rucker’s All-American senior season. Alongside portraits of former Missouri greats such as Johnny Roland, Roger Wehrli and Kellen Winslow, Rucker’s painting will serve a purpose beyond wall décor: The next time an underclassman considers bolting early for the NFL, Missouri coaches can point to Rucker’s likeness as a reminder to stay in school.
[ 12/17/07 ]
Tigers get back to business
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
During their two-week layoff, the Missouri Tigers advanced through the early stages of mourning about their missed opportunity to play in a BCS bowl game - denial, anger, bargaining, depression. Then they skipped straight on through to acceptance, which came long before the Tigers suited up for yesterday’s practice, their first since the Dec. 1 Big 12 championship game.
[ 12/16/07 ]
Missouri ready to move forward
By DAVE MATTER of the Tribune’s staff
The Missouri Tigers hold their
first December practice this morning in preparation for the Jan. 1 Cotton Bowl,
their fourth bowl game in five years and first New Year’s Day bowl in nearly
four decades. Here’s four storylines to follow in the next two weeks as MU’s
season winds down in Dallas. [ 12/15/07 ]
Maclin, Rucker honored
From staff and wire reports
A few Missouri football players were shut out of individual awards last week, but postseason honors rolled back in for the Tigers yesterday when senior tight end Martin Rucker and redshirt freshman receiver Jeremy Maclin were named to The Associated Press All-America first team.
[ 12/12/07 ]
QB enjoys New York
moments
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The last time we saw Chase Daniel, he was dodging crimson-and-cream bullets at the Alamodome, where he lost more than the Big 12 championship nine days ago. In San Antonio, Daniel lost the one thing that makes him such a brilliant college quarterback: his cool.
[ 12/10/07 ]
Tebow wins Heisman; Daniel places fourth
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
NEW YORK - Missouri’s Chase Daniel came here knowing he wouldn’t be lugging home an extra carry-on item back to Columbia, namely college football’s most famous 25-pound hunk of bronze. Daniel figured Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was such a lock to become the 73rd winner of the Heisman Memorial Trophy, he didn’t bother preparing a speech.
[ 12/09/07 ]
Exposure not just for Daniel
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
NEW YORK - Missouri’s head football coach and recruiting coordinator will be nowhere near Columbia today when a host of high school prospects gather on campus for their official recruiting visits. It might not matter. The staff has a different recruiting tool to brandish: the TV.
[ 12/08/07 ]
Heisman moments rare for Tigers
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Back in 1960, Missouri’s Danny LaRose never would have predicted he’d receive a few votes for the Heisman Trophy. The senior end from Crystal City never figured he was a candidate. Actually, he didn’t know anybody who was a candidate, including the eventual winner, Navy senior halfback Joe Bellino.
[ 12/07/07 ]
MU’s Daniel, Rucker shut out in Orlando
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The Missouri Tigers went 0 for 2 on the award circuit last night.
[ 12/07/07 ]
Daniel a long shot to win Heisman
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Back in July, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Hawaii’s Colt Brennan worked alongside one another as counselors at the EA Sports Elite 11 QB Camp in Aliso Viejo, Calif. At the time, Brennan wore his hair in mini dreadlocks as an homage to his Samoan teammates.
[ 12/06/07 ]
Daniel gets invitation to New York
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Someone get Chase Daniel a fancy suit. He’s headed to the Big Apple.
[ 12/05/07 ]
The Heisman winner? It’s debatable
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Google the word "homer" and up pops the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Simpson.
[ 12/05/07 ]
After much deliberation, Tebow squeezes in
By JOE WALLJASPER,
Tribune sports editor
Here’s the best thing about being a Heisman Trophy voter:
[ 12/05/07 ]
Alexander to miss bowl game
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Danario Alexander’s 19-yard run helped extend Missouri’s lone touchdown drive Saturday in San Antonio, but the sophomore receiver came up limping immediately after the play and never returned to the Big 12 championship game.
[ 12/04/07 ]
Tigers still high on Cotton
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
After arriving in Columbia around 3 a.m. yesterday morning, Missouri’s Lorenzo Williams and some teammates stayed up until dawn looking for a silver lining to their loss to Oklahoma just a few hours earlier in the Big 12 championship game.
[ 12/03/07 ]
Boom! It’s bust
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
SAN ANTONIO - So much for the Big Easy. [
12/02/07 ]
Charmed year takes frustrating detour
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
SAN ANTONIO - Chase Daniel skipped out of the way of a diving pass rusher, scrambled to his right and searched desperately downfield for an open receiver. Finally, with nowhere left to run and no one open, he tossed the ball out of bounds and ripped off his helmet in frustration.
[ 12/02/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Oklahoma 38,
Missouri 17 [ 12/02/07 ]
SLIDE
SHOW: Oklahoma 38, Missouri 17 [ 12/02/07 ]
Loose on the world
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
As if there weren’t enough on the line for the 116th edition of the Border Showdown.
[ 12/01/07 ]
Get it straight:
OU’s been here
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
SAN ANTONIO - As Bob Stoops made his way to the dais to join Gary Pinkel for a photo op, he stopped and asked someone to check out his tie.
[ 12/01/07 ]
Defenseless? Numbers say otherwise
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
The best defense in the conference will be represented in tonight’s Big 12 championship game in San Antonio. It might surprise you to know that it will be wearing black and gold.
[ 12/01/07 ]
Tigers thriving thanks to impressive accuracy
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
Last week, during the 11-on-11 portion of practice, Chase Daniel threw an incompletion.
[ 12/01/07 ]
REMATCH REWIND: OKLAHOMA 41, MISSOURI 31
Give or take: Turnovers were the difference
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
SAN ANTONIO - As the ball skittered away on Owen Field, Missouri’s chance at victory went with it.
[ 12/01/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: (1) Missouri vs.
(9) Oklahoma [ 12/01/07 ]
View improves for healthy Temple
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
SAN ANTONIO - He knew the text messages and phone calls would go unanswered, but that didn’t stop Tony Temple from tapping away at his cell phone while he sat on the couch at his Columbia apartment back on Oct. 13.
[ 11/30/07 ]
Saving Daniel’s backside is Luellen’s business
By JOEL A. ERICKSON
of the Tribune’s staff
With the way Chase Daniel has been playing this season, Missouri opponents only have one option in the passing game.
[ 11/30/07 ]
Writers pick
eight Tigers as All-Big 12
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
SAN ANTONIO - If there were uniform colors for the Associated Press All-Big 12 football team, they would be black and gold. Eight Missouri players received first-team honors on the all-conference team voted on by 20 newspapers reporters who cover the league. Only nine players from the entire South Division earned first-team recognition.
[ 11/30/07 ]
Stryking
difference
By TROY SCHULTE
of the Tribune’s staff
Stryker Sulak has never experienced anything quite like this season.
[ 11/29/07 ]
Daniel wins another Big 12 award
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Back on Oct. 13 in Norman, Okla., Oklahoma linebacker Curtis Lofton gave Chase Daniel a ride the Missouri quarterback would like to forget.
[ 11/29/07 ]
Mucho Danario, por favor
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
He caught the two most important passes in Missouri’s most important game, and technically, he’s not even a starter.
[ 11/28/07 ]
Tigers pick up individual Big 12 honors
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The top-ranked Missouri Tigers earned more individual postseason honors from the Big 12 Conference coaches than in the 11 previous seasons combined.
[ 11/28/07 ]
Pinkel Big 12’s top coach
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
They shared the biggest stage in the Big 12 Conference this season, and three days later they share an award: Missouri’s Gary Pinkel and Kansas’ Mark Mangino were voted co-Big 12 coaches of the year today by a panel of conference media. The rival coaches evenly split the 20 votes.
[ 11/27/07 ]
Sprained ankle could keep Coffman on sidelines
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Gary Pinkel can’t recall a player ever getting injured on a PAT kick, but just that happened in Saturday’s game against Kansas - and to a valuable player, at that.
[ 11/27/07 ]
Tigers are No. 1
By JORDAN RAUBOLT
of the Tribune’s staff
"Armageddon at Arrowhead" is over, but Tigers fans now face another doomsday scenario.
[ 11/26/07 ]
Tigers on top
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
When Gary Pinkel and offensive coordinator Dave Christensen paid a recruiting visit to Lorenzo Williams nearly five years ago, they brought with them a promise.
[ 11/26/07 ]
Title game might hurt conference
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Bob Stoops knows all about the dangers of the conference championship game.
[ 11/26/07 ]
‘We showed everybody’
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
KANSAS CITY - The sleeping giant is awake and taking over the college football world. Introducing the No. 1 team in the country, the Missouri Tigers.
[ 11/25/07 ]
Slide Show: Missouri
vs. Kansas [ 11/25/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri 36, Kansas
28 [ 11/25/07 ]
Stakes high for
Tigers, Jayhawks
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
As if there weren’t enough on the line for the 116th edition of the Border Showdown.
[ 11/24/07 ]
Reversal didn’t change Missouri’s fortunes
By RYAN NILSSON of the Tribune’s staff
In the week leading up to the game against Kansas in 1960, members of the Missouri football team had to deal with the distractions that come with being the top-ranked team in the country for the first time in school history.
[ 11/24/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: (3) Missouri vs.
(2) Kansas [ 11/24/07 ]
Man who moves the chains
By JOEL A. ERICKSON of the Tribune’s staff
You know Tommy Saunders.
[ 11/23/07 ]
Rethinking Pinkel
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
A few weeks ago, while discussing his policy on playing true freshmen, Missouri football Coach Gary Pinkel said the decision is based strictly on whether the player can help the Tigers win immediately and has nothing to do with getting the player experience for the next year.
[ 11/21/07 ]
Kansas cornerback likes what he’s seen of Tigers
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Most Kansas players interviewed during yesterday’s weekly media session at Hadl Auditorium said they hadn’t watched enough Missouri game film to familiarize themselves with the Tigers.
[ 11/21/07 ]
Tigers facing Kansas team they expected
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Count Gary Pinkel among the very few not surprised by Kansas’ unprecedented success this season. After Missouri suffered its first defeat Oct. 13 at Oklahoma, Pinkel looked at the Big 12 Conference standings and schedule and placed his team on a six-game mission, knowing full well the potential stakes for Saturday’s Border Showdown at Arrowhead Stadium.
[ 11/20/07 ]
Rivalry education
began early
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
With their colossal showdown just five days away, Gary Pinkel and Mark Mangino shared nearly identical versions of their first impression of the Missouri-Kansas rivalry.
[ 11/19/07 ]
Tigers take Manhattan
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
MANHATTAN, Kan. - As the final minutes of another milestone Missouri victory ticked away, Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel cozied up to Gary Pinkel on the Tigers’ sideline, wrapped his arm around the coach and said the magic word.[ 11/18/07 ]
With talent to spare, this Missouri team flies in face of forgettable past
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
MANHATTAN, Kan. - History told us that a November game at Kansas State meant miserable cold, biting wind and a dispiriting loss for the Missouri football team.
[ 11/18/07 ]
SLIDE SHOW: Missouri at Kansas State
[ 11/18/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri 49, Kansas State 32
[ 11/18/07 ]
‘State’ the obvious:
Today matters
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
If Missouri’s road to San Antonio goes through Kansas City, then the road to Kansas City goes through Manhattan, Kan.
[ 11/17/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri at Kansas
State [ 11/17/07 ]
Three is a magic number
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Just a few days after Nebraska put up nearly half a mile of yardage on his defense, Kansas State’s Ron Prince was buttering up Missouri’s offense, offensive coordinator and offensive line with such glorification you’d think the Wildcats were playing host to the New England Patriots tomorrow rather than the Tigers.
[ 11/16/07 ]
Tigers might need help from above
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
How far can Missouri’s dream season go? A national championship might require help from above.
[ 11/14/07 ]
Temple ‘on a mission’ on emotional senior day
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Tony Temple never wanted a game to finish so quickly as he did Saturday’s against Texas A&M.
[ 11/13/07 ]
Enjoying the moment
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Martin Rucker’s final steps on Faurot Field came around the 10-yard line near the south end zone yesterday. That’s where two teammates gave the senior tight end a boost and put him on their shoulders for a personal chariot ride into the locker room. All the while, he clutched a white rock pilfered from the "M" on the north hill.
[ 11/11/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri 40, Texas
A&M 26 [ 11/11/07 ]
SLIDE
SHOW: Texas A&M at Missouri [
11/11/07 ]
Daniel
makes case
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
For the first time in a month, the Missouri football team had a game on its hands in the fourth quarter. Chase Daniel and his offensive mates had spent the better part of the second half watching Texas A&M chew up the clock. The Tigers’ comfortable lead had been reduced to five points, with the Aggies threatening to do more damage.
[ 11/11/07 ]
Temple at his best after tough stretch
By RYAN NILSSON
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri senior tight end Martin Rucker said teammate Tony Temple probably played his best game as a Tiger yesterday against Texas A&M.
[ 11/11/07 ]
MU trying to pack ‘Zou’ one last time
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel tells the story that four years ago he was driving through town - perhaps scooting around on his Harley - when he came up with a name for his team’s Saturday home, which already had two names, Memorial Stadium and Faurot Field. But he wanted a third, something catchy. Playing off the school nickname Mizzou, Pinkel thought of "The
Zou," and has since referred to it incessantly, even if his players are the only other ones doing so.
[ 11/10/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Texas A&M at
Missouri [ 11/10/07 ]
MU wary of
Texas A&M’s ground game
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus kept his distance from the media during Monday’s weekly interview session, though not because he was ducking any tough questions. He was sick with a high fever.[ 11/09/07 ]
This Chase is still on
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The notion of Daniel being a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate suddenly seems quite conceivable.
[ 11/07/07 ]
Big 12
crashing BCS party
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
It’s a Big 12 world, and everyone else is living in it. At least that’s one way to look at the latest BCS standings.
[ 11/05/07 ]
Rollin’ in Boulder
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
BOULDER, Colo. - On a night when Missouri’s absurdly rich assortment of receivers painted Colorado’s Folsom Field with some of the most eye-pleasing catches you’ll ever see, the best of the night might have been the shortest.
[ 11/04/07 ]
Proof is in the
Buffalo stew
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
BOULDER, Colo. - When asked Monday if the Missouri Tigers were ready to break their pattern of November futility, Gary Pinkel’s eyes twinkled.
[ 11/04/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri 55,
Colorado 10 [ 11/04/07 ]
SLIDE SHOW: Missouri at Colorado
[ 11/04/07 ]
November pain
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The parallels between Missouri’s current season and its last weren’t lost on nose tackle Lorenzo Williams minutes after last Saturday’s bittersweet victory over Iowa State, one that gave the Tigers a 7-1 record but cost them their defensive co-captain.
[ 11/03/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: (9) Missouri at
Colorado [ 11/03/07 ]
Team effort needed to replace Pig
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
When Missouri defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus met with his safeties Sunday afternoon, he delivered a message from the one conspicuous absentee. From his hospital bed across town, senior safety Pig Brown had asked Eberflus to tell the others, "Catch me if you can."
[ 11/01/07 ]
Whatever happened to Will?
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Where’s Will Franklin?
[ 10/31/07 ]
MU, KU can’t shake each other
By JOE WALLJASPER,
Tribune sports editor
On Sunday, the Missouri football team learned it had earned the No. 9 ranking in the nation. It was kind of like looking out at your driveway and seeing a new Mercedes S-Class.
[ 10/31/07 ]
Tigers try to fill in the blank
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri safety Justin Garrett ran off Faurot Field after Saturday’s game, never thinking to stop and shake hands with Iowa State’s coaches and players. He wanted to check on his teammate.
[ 10/30/07 ]
MU’s Pig gone, not forgotten
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri safety Pig Brown had his ruptured Achilles’ tendon surgically repaired yesterday morning, but the Tigers’ secondary is still under construction.
[ 10/29/07 ]
No apologies necessary
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Chase Daniel wasn’t sure about his teammates, but he planned to settle in last night and watch another day of mayhem in college football. By the time Daniel’s No. 13 Missouri Tigers had knocked off Iowa State 42-28 to avoid catastrophe on Faurot Field, four teams ranked higher had already lost, putting in context the importance of surviving each week no matter how ugly the surviving gets.
[ 10/28/07 ]
Missouri defense
takes a step back
By STEVE WALENTIK
of the Tribune’s staff
Maybe the Missouri defense was due for a letdown.
[ 10/28/07 ]
Tigers left
with mixed emotions
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
No need to remind Missouri’s football players that they could spend no more than 24 hours celebrating their 42-28 victory over Iowa State yesterday. The sight of star safety Pig Brown hobbling around the locker room with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon was an immediate buzz kill.
[ 10/28/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri 42, Iowa
State 28 [ 10/28/07 ]
SLIDE
SHOW: Missouri 42, Iowa State 28 [ 10/27/07 ]
Double trouble?
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Once Gene Chizik settled into the head-coaching job at Iowa State after a career as a defensive assistant, he realized one significant difference between the jobs: He’d have to start paying attention to both sides of the ball.
[ 10/27/07 ]
TIGER
EXTRA: Iowa State at (13) Missouri [
10/27/07 ]
Standing pat with spread
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Lurk around a message board or a chat room long enough, and you’ll become familiar with the mysteries of the Missouri football program, most of which have something to do with secret gold jerseys, Blaine Gabbert’s latest mood swing or perhaps whatever compels fans to leave the stadium in the third quarter.
[ 10/26/07 ]
Safeties with numbers
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
There’s no debating that Texas Tech’s wide receivers littered Faurot Field with dropped balls in Missouri’s 41-10 victory Saturday.
[ 10/24/07 ]
Controversial
loss still bugs MU lineman
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Monte Wyrick still doesn’t understand how an offensive lineman gets called for holding while lying down.
[ 10/23/07 ]
Pinkel has
no desire to reflect
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
With Iowa State coming to town on Saturday, Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel made it clear this morning how he plans to address last year’s debacle against the Cyclones.
[ 10/22/07 ]
Unleashing a beast
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Pig Brown came scurrying off Faurot Field wildly grunting the same word over and over again: "Unleashed! Unleashed! Unleashed!"
[ 10/21/07 ]
MU defense
defies logic, denies Tech
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
There are some logical places to find a defensive coordinator after a game against Texas Tech. In the fetal position under a desk, locked in a bathroom stall, inquiring about the specifics of the witness protection program - these are all popular choices.
[ 10/21/07 ]
Fourth-down gambles fail
for Texas Tech
By JOEL A. ERICKSON
of the Tribune’s staff
Fourth down is a kicking down … for most teams.
[ 10/21/07 ]
Tigers stay grounded without Temple, thanks to committee
By STEVE WALENTIK
of the Tribune’s staff
Many members of the Missouri football program, including Coach Gary Pinkel and quarterback Chase Daniel, have referred to senior running back Tony Temple as the team’s catalyst.
[ 10/21/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri 41,
Texas Tech 10 [ 10/21/07 ]
SLIDE
SHOW: Missouri 41, Texas Tech 10 [
10/21/07 ]
Tigers rip through Red Raiders
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Winning with defense and a punishing running game wasn’t supposed
to be the recipe for the Missouri Tigers this year. Tell that to Texas Tech. [ 10/20/07 ]
Look, in the sky
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Not long ago, the Missouri vs. Nebraska game was billed as a shootout that would determine the Big 12 North Division.
[ 10/20/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: (22) Texas Tech at
(15) Missouri [ 10/20/07 ]
Setback sidelines Temple again
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri tailback Tony Temple will miss his second consecutive game tomorrow when the Tigers play host to Texas Tech.
[ 10/19/07 ]
Midway marvels
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Here’s the Tribune’s midseason All-Big 12 team - with
a twist.
[ 10/19/07 ]
Born-again football fanatics
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
This is probably the wrong week to pose the question. Asking whether Missouri is ready to become a full-fledged football school is, at the moment, like asking a social drinker whether he might like to become a degenerate alcoholic one day.
[ 10/18/07 ]
Tigers not interested in pats on the back
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The Missouri football team took little solace in hanging with Oklahoma for 3½ quarters Saturday in Norman, Okla.
[ 10/16/07 ]
Vultures
will circle
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The leading story line heading into Texas A&M’s game at Nebraska - a matchup one newspaper columnist dubbed the "Contract Buyout Bowl" - revolves around the embattled men on the sidelines.
[ 10/15/07 ]
Too much static
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
NORMAN, Okla. - Jeremy Maclin could have been an Oklahoma Sooner. Instead, he played a starring role in his first game against them. Missouri’s redshirt freshman all-purpose dynamo threw the Tigers out of last night’s game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Then he ran them back. Finally, he bobbled them back out.
[ 10/14/07 ]
Odyssey goes awry but deserves a sequel
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
NORMAN, Okla. - In the past week, the nation discovered the Missouri football team and its freewheeling offense. Quarterback Chase Daniel was heralded as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Offensive coordinator Dave Christensen was lauded for his flights of play-designing fancy.
[ 10/14/07 ]
TIGER
EXTRA: (6) OKLAHOMA 41, (11) Missouri 31 [
10/14/07 ]
SLIDE
SHOW: MISSOURI AT OKLAHOMA [
10/14/07 ]
Christensen has Tigers dialed in
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The last time Missouri’s Gary Pinkel coached a game from the press box as an offensive coordinator, he rode the play-calling wave. It was Jan. 1, 1991 - the Rose Bowl. That day, Don James’ Washington Huskies outlasted Hayden Fry’s Iowa Hawkeyes 46-34 as UW quarterback Mark Brunell threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for two more. As James’ play-caller, Pinkel could do no wrong.
[ 10/13/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: (11) Missouri at
(6) Oklahoma [ 10/13/07 ]
BEHIND THE STRIPES: No Temple at OU
Senior tailback Tony Temple will not be traveling with the team this afternoon for tomorrow’s game at Oklahoma. Temple suffered a sprained ankle in the second quarter of last Saturday’s 41-6 victory over Nebraska and did not return in the second half.
[ 10/12/07 ]
Sooners hide behind mountainous O-line
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Forget the term "book-end tackle" to describe 6-foot-8, 352-pound Oklahoma offensive lineman Phil Loadholt. He’s the entire shelf.
[ 10/12/07 ]
This Van was rockin’
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
Van Alexander has attended Missouri football games since he was 3 or 4 years old. Saturday night, though, was Faurot Field as he’d never seen it - filled with 70,000 fans, the vast majority of whom were wearing gold and roaring their approval as the Tigers trounced Nebraska 41-6.
[ 10/11/07 ]
You’ve got to hand it to Maclin
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Second-and-6 from Nebraska’s 49. Missouri is in a two-by-two formation: two receivers split wide to the left, two to the right with tailback Earl Goldsmith next to quarterback Chase Daniel in the shotgun.
[ 10/10/07 ]
Williams’ foot, mouth motivate Missouri
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Between Lorenzo Williams’ dry-wall attack and William Moore’s I-back demolition, Missouri’s defense had all the inspiration it needed to piece together its best outing of the season Saturday night.
[ 10/09/07 ]
MU-KU football game almost sold out
Fewer than 1,500 tickets remain available for Missouri’s football game against Kansas on Nov. 24 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
[ 10/09/07 ]
Fans feel the heat of rivalry
By JOEL A. ERICKSON
of the Tribune’s staff
Saturday morning dawned hot, a day better suited for early July than early October. It was a day better suited for Albert Pujols and Tony La Russa than Chase Daniel and Gary Pinkel.
[ 10/08/07 ]
Belated
present for Daniel
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Late Saturday night, just hours before turning 21, Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel celebrated the milestone birthday by taking 47 shots.
[ 10/08/07 ]
Seizing the moment
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The game Missouri’s football program and its fans waited for months to arrive didn’t turn out to be much of a game at all.
[ 10/07/07 ]
Tigers walk where Huskers used to tread
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
The problem for the Nebraska football team is that it still has the helmets with the "N," still has the name recognition of college football royalty, still has the mobile army of fans willing to take over your town.
[ 10/07/07 ]
Three-man rush not enough to rattle dominant Daniel
By RYAN NILSSON of the Tribune's staff
Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan was well aware of Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel’s abilities.
[ 10/07/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri 41,
Nebraska 6 [ 10/07/07 ]
What have we here?
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
Gary Pinkel has been around here long enough that we know him well.
[ 10/06/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Nebraska at
Missouri [ 10/06/07 ]
Nothing up his sleeve
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
As Missouri wonders what Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan has up his sleeve for tomorrow night’s Big 12 North Division clash, here’s another question worth pondering: What’s Sam Keller have hidden under his?
[ 10/05/07 ]
Comfortably anonymous
By STEVE WALENTIK
of the Tribune’s staff
Nobody’s really paid much attention to Missouri’s offensive line the past month.
[ 10/04/07 ]
Temple fits the bill for Tigers
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Over the summer, Gary Pinkel had a few criteria when casting his co-star for a TV commercial promoting Missouri’s football season: He wanted a player who mans a high-profile position and has a familiar name and face.
[ 10/02/07 ]
Topsy-turvy weekend
shuffles Big 12 deck
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
With the Big 12 Conference turned upside down by Saturday’s double stunner, has the league’s balance of power shifted northward? Missouri players like to think so.
[ 10/02/07 ]
Alexander will return Saturday
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri will have another offensive weapon for Nebraska to cover in Saturday night’s Big 12 North Division showdown on Faurot Field. Out with a broken wrist since the fourth quarter of the Illinois game, sophomore wide receiver Danario Alexander will play against the Cornhuskers.
[ 10/01/07 ]
A decade later, it still stings
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
To this day, when former Missouri quarterback Corby Jones meets someone for the first time, the conversation goes something like
this. [ 09/30/07 ]
Tigers’ safety
arrested
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri freshman safety Gilbert Moye was arrested
yesterday by University of Missouri-Columbia Police on suspicion of assault
after allegedly punching his roommate in the face Tuesday night.
[ 09/27/07 ]
The view from behind
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Say this much for Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy and his rant against a newspaper columnist: At least someone played a little defense Saturday in Stillwater.
[ 09/26/07 ]
Pretty good for a bad day
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Gary Pinkel seemed taken aback when a question during Saturday’s postgame
press conference made the slightest implication that Chase Daniel had an off
day.
[ 09/25/07 ]
Nebraska
game will be under lights
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The first major steps toward the Big 12 North Division title will be taken Oct. 6 under the lights on Faurot Field. The conference announced today that Missouri and Nebraska will kick off their game at 8:15 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.
[ 09/24/07 ]
Bring on the Cornhuskers
By DAVE MATTER of the Tribune's staff
It’s been a forbidden word around the Missouri football team for the last month. Yesterday’s 38-17 victory over Illinois State finally freed the Tigers’ tongues.
[ 09/23/07 ]
Freshman
sheds his redshirt
By JOEL A. ERICKSON
of the Tribune’s staff
Smiling like a 5-year-old who just took the training wheels off his bike. Nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot. A little overwhelmed by his first experience in a postgame press conference.
[ 09/23/07 ]
TIGER
EXTRA: Missouri 38, Illinois State 17 [
09/23/07 ]
SLIDE
SHOW: Illinois State at Missouri [ 09/22/07 ]
Always in a rush
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Bathroom breaks are not recommended at Memorial Stadium while the Missouri Tigers have the ball. For that matter, neither are trips to the concession stand or gift shop, cell-phone chats or anything that takes your eyes away from the field longer than two minutes. In three games this season, the Tigers have shown the ability to score faster than George Clooney on ladies’ night.
[ 09/22/07 ]
TIGER
EXTRA: Missouri vs. Illinois State [
09/22/07 ]
Tigers well aware of smaller-school
scare
By DAVE MATTER of the Tribune’s staff
Just around the time the Mountaineers of Appalachian State became national
celebrities, Missouri nose tackle Lorenzo Williams remembers looking up at the
scoreboard inside the Edward Jones Dome on Sept. 1 and thinking he caught a
mistake: Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32.
[ 09/21/07 ]
Washington will learn from the ground up
By STEVE WALENTIK
of the Tribune’s staff
Lesson No. 1 was ball security, and Derrick Washington got it the very first time the pigskin hit his hands in his first collegiate football game.
[ 09/20/07 ]
All systems go
By DAVE MATTER of the Tribune's Staff
Quarterbacks such as Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Hawaii’s Colt Brennan, engineers of spread offenses with pass-first philosophies, are supposed to greet the term "system quarterback" with a stiff upper lip.
[ 09/19/07 ]
Wolfert is confident he’ll regain 2006 form
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
A few inches here and there have ended Jeff Wolfert’s charmed life as Missouri’s can’t-miss kicker - for now. [ 09/18/07 ]
Seeing is believing
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, the Missouri football team’s most recent offensive revelation, is best experienced live and in person. That’s why Lorenzo Williams can’t stay seated on the sideline.
[ 09/16/07 ]
TIGER EXTRA: Missouri 52, Western Michigan 24
[ 09/16/07 ]
Tigers
giddy for gadgetry
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
Funny how easily entertained we were seven years ago. In those days, anything other than the I-formation felt so naughty. After years of watching fullbacks collide with linebackers, if you gave us a flea flicker, we handed you a Mensa application.
[ 09/16/07 ]
Bucking Broncos
By JOEL A. ERICKSON
of the Tribune’s staff
Maybe somebody should have kept things quiet. [ 09/16/07 ]
Gebhart pulls off big play
By KEENER TIPPIN of the Tribune’s staff
If it wasn’t a violation of NCAA regulations, Western Michigan safety Anthony Gebhart might be receiving a gift from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trent
Dilfer. [ 09/16/07 ]
Slide
Show: W. Michigan at Missouri [ 09/16/07 ]
GAME NOTES [ 09/16/07 ]
QUESTIONS
& ANSWERS [ 09/16/07 ]
No surprises yet
in Missouri’s start
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
The Missouri Tigers lived dangerously on the road the first two weeks of the season but come home today having done little to change most people’s preseason expectations. Borrowing a line from former Arizona Cardinals Coach Dennis Green, the Tigers are exactly what we thought they were: An offense explosive enough to beat anyone and a defense suspect enough to keep every game close.
[ 09/15/07 ]
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Bronco headed in right direction after aimless start
By JOEL A. ERICKSON
of the Tribune’s staff
Three years ago, Jamarko Simmons possessed a whole lot of potential and not much else.
[ 09/15/07 ]
GETTING TO KNOW: Western Michigan Coach Bill Cubit
[ 09/15/07 ]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: QB Tim Hiller
[ 09/15/07 ]
KEY MATCHUPS [
09/15/07 ]
INJURY REPORT [
09/15/07 ]
FOUR QUESTIONS [
09/15/07 ]
PREDICTIONS [
09/15/07 ]
A bad year gone good
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
The year Bill Cubit spent in Columbia had to be, by almost any logic, unpleasant. Right?
[ 09/14/07 ]
After rough start, Tabor lands on feet
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
Throughout the 1990s, Chris Tabor paid his coaching dues as an assistant at Hutchinson Community College, Central Methodist College and as a graduate assistant at Missouri.
[ 09/14/07 ]
Ricker starts career as GA for Broncos
By JOE WALLJASPER
Tribune sports editor
The first time A.J. Ricker inquired about serving as a graduate assistant to Bill Cubit, there was an awkward moment when Cubit, then the offensive coordinator at Stanford, had to provide a reality check.
[ 09/14/07 ]
Mr. Versatile adds power game to offense
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri fans have waited a few years, but their prayers for a short-yardage power running back have been answered. He’s been here all along and happens to be an OK tight end, too. [ 09/13/07 ]
MU defense produces one-hit wonders
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Brandon West, come on down. You’re the next contestant on "Have a Career Game Against the Missouri Defense." [ 09/12/07 ]
Daniel is playing for keeps
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Through two games, Missouri’s Chase Daniel has made the extraordinary seem routine. In victories over Illinois and Mississippi, the junior quarterback has completed 70.8 percent of his passes for 689 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions. [ 09/11/07 ]
Pinkel frets about collapses
By DAVE MATTER of the Tribune’s staff
Gary Pinkel’s Missouri Tigers are 2-0 for the second year in a row, but three
consecutive second-half meltdowns, including last year’s Sun Bowl, has the coach
searching for answers. [ 09/10/07 ]
In a groove near The Grove
By STEVE WALENTIK
of the Tribune’s staff
OXFORD, Miss. - They came, most of them, to soak up one of the unique game-day atmospheres in college football, to see the "Speed Limit 18" signs on the University of Mississippi campus in honor of Archie Manning and to watch men in seersucker suits and co-eds in cocktail dresses tailgating in The Grove.
[ 09/09/07 ]
Flashy offense hides
Tigers’ dark secret
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
OXFORD, Miss. - For Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel, every snap is a multiple-choice question. For a wondrous stretch of last night’s 38-25 victory over Mississippi, the answer was often "all of the above."
[ 09/09/07 ]
GAME NOTES
[ 09/09/07 ]
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
[ 09/09/07 ]
STATISTICS [ 09/09/07 ]
SLIDE
SHOW: Missouri at Mississippi
[ 09/09/07 ]
Satisfaction
isn’t guaranteed
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
It was hard to tell which side of Saturday’s Arch Rivalry game Tony Temple played for when he strolled out of the Missouri locker room. Winning never looked so gloomy for the Tigers’ senior tailback.
[ 09/08/07 ]
KEY MATCHUPS
[ 09/08/07 ]
FOUR QUESTIONS
[ 09/08/07 ]
INJURY REPORT
[ 09/08/07 ]
PREDICTIONS
[ 09/08/07 ]
Looking for daylight
By STEVE WALENTIK
of the Tribune’s staff
Tony Temple didn’t seem to share the joy of so many of his teammates on the Missouri football team after Saturday’s 40-34 season-opening victory over Illinois.
[ 09/06/07 ]
Attention, please
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Missouri safety Pig Brown walked the halls of the Edward Jones Dome on Saturday night, his eyes glued to a stat sheet that didn’t tell the full scope of his heroics in the game just played.
[ 09/05/07 ]
Pinkel admits error on conversion
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
During his radio show last night, Pinkel admitted the decision to try a 2-point conversion in the second quarter was a mistake.
[ 09/04/07 ]
Pig in slop saves Tigers
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
ST. LOUIS - With 58 seconds left in yesterday’s resumption of the Arch Rivalry and another Missouri meltdown in order, Pig Brown had one goal in mind.
[ 09/02/07 ]
Maclin makes mark in first college game
By STEVE WALENTIK
of the Tribune’s staff
ST. LOUIS - It’s been easy to forget that Jeremy Maclin arrived in Columbia as the most talked-about member of the Missouri football team’s 2006 recruiting class.
[ 09/02/07 ]
Missouri fans should settle in for a wild ride
By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
ST. LOUIS - We present to you the 2007 Missouri football team, which is sure to bring you hours of entertainment this fall. But, in the spirit of full disclosure, it is necessary to remind you that this product is not for everyone.
[ 09/02/07 ]
GAME NOTES [
09/02/07 ]
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
[ 09/02/07 ]
Rivalry rekindled
By DAVE MATTER
of the Tribune’s staff
Every year, the Missouri-Illinois rivalry turns a December night into an electric atmosphere - on the basketball court. On the football field, the schools’ 20 previous meetings have spanned more than a century with a smattering of games in the late ’60s, late ’70s, early ’90s and two 21st Century runs, the second of which kicks off at 2:30 today inside St. Louis’ Edward Jones Dome.
[ 09/01/07 ]
KEY MATCHUPS
[ 09/01/07 ]
INJURY REPORT
[ 09/01/07 ]
FOUR QUESTIONS [
09/01/07 ]
PREDICTIONS
[ 09/01/07 ]
Of the gods?
By DAVE MATTER of the Tribune’s staff
There’s a fine line between developing a running quarterback into a passer and
morphing him into something he’s not. Missouri fans know that challenge well.
(See Smith, Bradley.)
[ 08/31/07 ]
Missouri hoping Ricks can shoulder load
By STEVE WALENTIK
of the Tribune’s staff
No one can say for sure what will happen the first time Hardy Ricks puts his head down and throws his shoulder into an Illinois ball carrier.
[ 08/30/07 ]
Go to First & Ten 2007
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