Morgan Steward busts off a 58 yard touchdown run in the Tigers first scrimmage (photo/Mizzou athletics)

Morgan Steward busts off a 58 yard touchdown run in the Tigers first scrimmage (photo/Mizzou athletics)

The bad news…Missouri’s top two running backs Marcus Murphy and Russell Hansbrough finished the Tigers first scrimmage of 2014 spring practice on the bench with injuries. The good news…It happened on April 5th and not September 5th.

Murphy sat out after injuring his ankle and Hansbrough had to ice down his right shoulder. The two running combined for over 1,100 yards last season and will be expected to carry load with Henry Josey leaving early.

In their place, sophomore Morgan Steward had a big day for the offense, scoring three touchdowns, including a 58-yard run during a two-minute drill work that ended the scrimmage with a victory for the offense.

Steward is from Staley High School in Kansas City. The 6’0, 210 pound back showed great breakaway speed on the final run as the number one offense went head to head with the number one defense.

“In the SEC you have to be very deep at every position certainly, but tailback is crucial to have three or four guys who can get the job done,” Pinkel said after the scrimmage. “We were very deep last year there, and a guy like Morgan Steward didn’t get a ton of opportunities, but he’s trying to show now that he can be someone to depend on. I was pleased with what he did today, and now the challenge is to continue to do that through the rest of camp,” he said.

Steward finished the day with 117 rushing yards on 13 carries. His scores came from four yards out, 18 yards out, and then the final 58-yarder.

Gary Pinkel comments on the scrimmage (2:30)

SCRIMMAGE STATISTICS

Scoring Plays
Morgan Steward 4 run
Gavin Otte 31 pass from Corbin Berkstresser
Darius White 19 pass from Maty Mauk
Steward 18 run
Miles Drummond 5 run
Steward 58 run

Passing Stats

Maty Mauk – 14-23, 164 yds, 1 TD
Corbin Berkstresser – 11-17, 129 yds, 1 TD
Eddie Printz – 11-19, 96 yds, 2 INT
Trent Hosick – 8-13, 61 yds
Marvin Zanders – 1-4, 6 yds

Receiving Stats

Gavin Otte – 5-75, 1 TD
Darius White – 5-65, 1 TD
Wesley Leftwich – 4-42
J’Mon Moore – 4-31
Sean Culkin – 4-26
Jake Brents – 3-39
Dorial Green-Beckham – 3-23
Levi Copelin – 2-41
Eric Laurent – 2-25
Bud Sasser – 2-12
Andrew Stevens – 2-7
Marcus Murphy – 1-18
Russell Hansbrough – 1-12
Morgan Steward – 1-11
Miles Drummond – 1-8
James Driskill – 1-6
Jimmie Hunt – 1-6
Aaron Bailey – 1-3
Steven Blakley – 1-3
Clayton Echard – 1-2

Rushing Stats

Morgan Steward – 13-117, 3 TDs
Andrew Stevens – 8-27
Miles Drummond – 7-41, 1 TD
Maty Mauk – 6-20
Russell Hansbrough – 4-41
Steven Blakley – 4-7
Trent Hosick – 3-21
Marcus Murphy – 1-13

Field Goals

Andrew Baggett – 4-4 (Made: 46, 40, 23, 20)
Turner Adams – 2-2 (Made: 46, 22)
Luke Jackson – 0-1 (Missed: 40)