Coach Pinkel had no idea that he would receive proclamations from the Missouri House and Senate honoring his Hall of Fame induction. And he also had NO idea that after the ceremonies, he would also be attending a surprise birthday party!

Friends, family, colleagues and former players gathered at Madison’s restaurant in downtown Jefferson City to share a meal and wish Coach Pinkel a happy birthday. The highlight of the event was the video of funny and heartwarming birthday and congratulatory wishes compiled from all over the country. You can watch the video below and check out photos from the birthday party here.

The Tiger defense didn’t allow BYU a first down until the final play of the first quarter. By that point, the Tiger offense had amassed 128 yards and seven first downs of their own in securing a 3-0 lead.

Kentrell Brothers continued his stellar season, notching another 11 tackles to add to his nation-leading total.

Mizzou returns to The Zou next Saturday for its final home game of the season vs. Tennessee. Tickets remain available for the 6:15 p.m. kickoff. For all the latest on Mizzou Football, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Mizzou Made Tigers Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin join forces again with the Kansas City Chiefs and try to relive some of their top moments now in the NFL. For all the latest on Mizzou Football, follow the team on TwitterInstagram, and Facebook.

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou won 9-6 over UConn on Saturday afternoon in The ZOU.

In front of a strong “Tiger Stripe” crowd of 70,079, the Tigers (3-0) got on board first midway through the opening quarter when Clarence Green blocked a UConn punt out of the end zone for Mizzou’s first safety off a punt since 2009 vs. Nebraska.

On their next possession, the Huskies (2-1) took advantage of a short field to drive 35 yards in five plays to score on a 6-yard run by Ron Johnson. Kentrell Brothers blocked the extra point to keep it a 6-2 ballgame. It was the last points the Huskies would score on the day.

A game that pitted two strong defenses finally went the Tigers’ way midway through the third quarter. Mizzou grinded through a 15-play, 68-yard drive that took 6:34 off the clock. Ish Witter had 50 of those yards on the drive, with 28 yards on six carries to go with a key 20-yard reception from Mauk on 1st-and-25. Six plays later, Mauk rolled into the end zone from two yards out on an option keeper.

With the lead secured, the ball was once again put in the hands of the Tiger defense, who forced punts on the Huskies’ next three drives before sealing the win in the final seconds. With UConn facing a fourth-and-4 from the Mizzou 25, the Huskies lined up for a field goal coming out of their final timeout. As holder and backup QB Tim Boyle dropped back to pass off the fake try to tie, Josh Augusta burst through the line. Boyle was forced to throw, and Anthony Sherrills stepped in front of the ball to send Mizzou’s offense into Victory Formation.

JONESBORO, Ark. – Mizzou Football (2-0) earned a hard-fought 27-20 victory at Arkansas State (0-2) on Saturday evening at Centennial Bank Stadium. Mizzou was paced by LB Kentrell Brothers, who tied a career-high with 16 tackles for the second straight week to go along with two fourth-quarter interceptions. QB Maty Mauk threw three touchdown passes in the win.

The Tigers extended a school-record regular season road victory streak to 11 games, dating back to Sept. 21, 2013.

Mizzou’s defense limited A-State to 217 total yards and outscored the Red Wolves 17-3 in the second half. The Tigers picked off three passes on the evening and recorded 15.0 tackles for loss (-60 yards).

“You never know what’s going to happen. As always, our team battled,” head coach Gary Pinkel said. “There’s a lot of things we can improve on, but there were also a lot of outstanding efforts. We worked well with the defense, but the offense executed better in the second half. We utilized field position well.”

Mauk completed 16 of 36 passes for 148 yards and added another 75 yards on the ground as the team’s leading rusher. For the sixth time in his career, Mauk threw at least three TD passes and also moved into sole possession of fourth place in program history with 41 career TD throws.

Mizzou rushed for 140 yards on 34 attempts, averaging 4.1 yards per carry as a team. RB Ish Witter added 50 yards on 12 carries.

Leading the field position battle, P Corey Fatony averaged 49.8 yards per punt and placed two inside the opposing 20-yard line.

The Tigers took an early 3-0 lead on a 30-yard field goal by PK Andrew Baggett with 8:00 remaining in the first quarter, capping a 12-play, 60-yard drive in 4:14.

Arkansas State pulled ahead 10-3 in the second quarter on a 7-yard TD pass from QB Fredi Knighten to WR Tres Houston and a 20-yard field goal by PK J.D. Houston as the Red Wolves turned two Mizzou interceptions into points.

On the play following CB John Gibson‘s second career interception that he returned 35 yards to the Arkansas State 11-yard line, Mauk connected with WR Nate Brown on a TD pass for the second consecutive week. Baggett’s PAT tied the game 10-10 with 4:08 left before halftime.

The Red Wolves answered with a second TD pass from Knighten to Houston from five yards out with eight seconds remaining in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, Mauk threw a 32-yard TD pass to WR Wesley Leftwich to tie the score at 17-17 with 5:25 on the clock and then gave Mizzou a 24-17 lead with a 21-yard scoring strike to TE Sean Culkin with 44 seconds left in the quarter. With five receptions for 46 yards on the evening, Culkin set new career-highs.

A-State PK Drew White cut the deficit to 24-20 on a 40-yard field with 11:30 remaining. Baggett gave Mizzou a 27-20 advantage with a 41-yard field goal with 7:10 left. Brothers’ second pick with 1:17 remaining sealed the victory.

LB Michael Scherer added 10 tackles (six solo), including 3.0 tackles for loss (-9 yards). DE Charles Harris recorded six tackles (five solo), 2.0 sacks (-17 yards), 4.5 tackles for loss (-24 yards) and two QB hurries.

Mizzou returns home for an 11 a.m. CT matchup on Sept. 19 vs. UConn on ESPN during the Tiger Stripe game at Faurot Field.

Head Coach Gary Pinkel sat down with the voice of Mizzou Tigers, Mike Kelly, at Buffalo Wild Wings on Monday, September 7 in Columbia, Missouri for Tiger Talk. This week’s segment also featured Mizzou Junior Defensive Lineman Rickey Hatley and Mizzou Senior Running Back Tyler Hunt.

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Kentrell Brothers had a career-high 16 tackles and a blocked punt, and Mizzou quarterbacks threw three touchdown passes as the No. 24/23 Missouri Tigers cruised to a 34-3 win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday at The Zou.

Maty Mauk threw touchdowns of 27 yards to J’Mon Moore and 23 yards to Nate Brown in the first quarter to stake Mizzou (1-0) to a 14-0 lead. He finished the day 12-of-22 for 181 yards and the two scores.

True freshman Drew Lock saw action on the first drive of the second quarter, and drove the Tigers on a eight-play, 48-yard series that ended in a 39-yard Andrew Baggett field goal to boost the margin to 17-0. On his second series, which came midway through the fourth quarter, Lock scrambled before finding a wide-open Tyler Hunt for a 78-yard score. Lock finished his three series 6-of-10 for 138 yards a the TD.

Among Brothers’ stops were 1.5 tackles for loss, and his late third-quarter block of an attempted pooch punt deflected directly to Aarion Penton, who never changed stride on his way to a 41-yard score to put the game out of reach. His 16 tackles were the fourth-highest by a Tiger in a game in the 15-year Gary Pinkel era.

For all the latest on Mizzou Football,  follow the team on Twitter (@MizzouFootball). Be sure to like the team on Facebook (Mizzou Football) and Instagram (@MizzouFootball) as well.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTHONY JINSON

Lessons From the Field 

By Brandon Hoops of Columbia Business Times

If you ask David Rowe what he remembers about the night he introduced his restaurant to friends and family, he’ll tell you about the hour he spent sitting on top of an air conditioner with questions and doubts churning in his mind.

“By no means was I ready to run a restaurant,” Rowe says. “There’s no way.”

Despite the disastrous trial run, Rowe wasn’t about to walk away. Frustration became resolution in the chill of that December night in 2002. Not all learning processes are smooth, he told himself. Sometimes there are rough spots, even very rough ones. He had to get better. He had to toughen up.

Starting a new restaurant was the next challenge for Rowe to persevere through, like when he walked on to play football at MU even though people thought he was too small, or like when he beat the odds and returned for his senior season after being diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Read more about #MizzouMade David Rowe in the September 2015 issue of Columbia Business Times: http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/27234/2015/08/25/lessons-from-the-field/

Mizzou Football Wide Receiver Richaud Floyd speaks with Mizzou Football Wide Receiver Thomas Richard about who would play him in the movie of his life, his favorite dessert, and what animal he is most like after the Mizzou Football scrimmage in The ZOU on Thursday, August 27, 2015 in Columbia, Mo.