The Missouri Tiger football team scrimmaged for over three hours on Saturday and according to head coach Gary Pinkel, this team needed every bit of the game time experience after the offense beat the defense 60-54 in the team’s modified scoring system.

Citing too many penalties and turnovers as the biggest disappointment, Pinkel told his young team that the most important thing to take from these scrimmages is that the "good things you lock onto and the bad things you correct."

I saw a lot of positives from the first scrimmage.  On the offensive side of the ball, I was really impressed with the speed of running back De’Vion Moore and the running ability of Shawn Scott.  He rushed for 62 yards on 14 carries and scored twice including a 50 yard run that took a long time to develop, but Scott weaved his way around some tackles and streaked down the sideline.  Blaine Dalton moves around real well in the pocket and Blaine Gabbert has a strong arm.  He was 27 of 37 for 203 yards hooking up with Moore on a 14 yard pass.   He was also picked off once.

The defense is hitting.  There were at least 8 or 9 times they laid some licks in receivers or backs.  The pads were popping.  I was talking with Manny Haley of Missourinet affiliate KXEO and he said it’s been like the last two or three practices from the defense.  It was great to see their physical play. 

The annual Black and Gold game is Saturday April 18th.  [ Game stats PDF ]

Download Scrimmage Stats PDF