The Missouri Tigers held their annual Black and Gold game at Faurot Field. It wasn’t a particularly sharp game for the offense as they lost 68-40 to the defense. Head coach Gary Pinkel didn’t appear to be too concerned with the lack of offense, but said there is a lot of work to do before the season opener.
There were several three and outs from the offense. A couple of penalties, several dropped balls, an interception thrown by Blaine Gabbert that was returned 60 yards from Kip Edwards, and a fumbled exchange between Blaine Dalton and a running back that led to a fumble at their own one yard line.
The defense really set the tone early. Several big hits, tackles for loss. The two players that really jumped out to me on the number one unit were defensive ends Brian Coulter and Jacquies Smith. There were a handful of times they were closing in on backup QB Jimmy Costello.
There is a modified scoring system for the offense and defense where both teams can score on plays. The 68-40 score could have been a bigger deficit if the coaches wouldn’t have allowed multiple field goal attempts on one kick and after Dalton fumbled at the one, the coaches turned the ball around to give the offense a first and goal.
The ran held off for most of the game, but that along with the question marks of a young team kept the fans away. The entire east side of the stadium was half full and the west side of the stadium was ¾ filled. No official attendance was ever announced.
Jimmy Costello was 10 of 21 for 70 yards. Blaine Gabbert 9 of 17 for 93 with an INT. Blaine Dalton and Ashton Glaser combined for 6 of 11 for 70 yards. The offense managed just one touchdown. Jerrell Jackson had 39 yards on two carries, most of that coming off a reverse and the leading receiver with Danario Alexander and Jared Perry out of the game was Jonnie Fields with 53 yards on four catches. Safety Del Howard had five solo tackles to lead the defense.
Click below to listen to Gary Pinkel’s comments after the game.
