Mizzou Fall Camp Scrimmage #2

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A turnover-free, eight-touchdown day in The ZOU was enough to propel the Missouri Tiger offense to an 11-9 win Thursday morning in the second formal controlled scrimmage of the Missouri Football squad’s 2015 fall camp.  The Mizzou offense got going early, and ended the day with a flourish, scoring four times in two-minute drills to conclude the scrimmage.  In all, the offense tallied five passing touchdowns to go with three rushing scores as they evened things up after falling by a 17-9 score in scrimmage number one, held last Saturday.

All five QBs had effective outings, as everyone completed 50 percent of their passes or better, with four signal callers throwing for TDs.  Junior Maty Mauk was 15-of-22 in the air Thursday for 134 yards and a touchdown that covered 10 yards to sophomore WR Nate Brown for the first touchdown of the scrimmage.  Mauk had a 38-yard strike downfield to freshman WR DeSean Blair in two-minute work which set up a 2-yard rushing score by sophomore TB Ish Witter.  Witter had a scrimmage-best two rushing scores (the other was from one yard out) and finished with 22 yards on four carries.

The rest of the Mizzou QBs had good days as well.  Sophomore Eddie Printz finished his work 7-of-13 for 101 yards and a touchdown on a 13-yard strike to freshman WR Thomas Richard in the two minute drill.  That came as part of the number two offense, going against the number one defense, and the scoring opportunity started when Printz found freshman WR Emanuel Hall behind the secondary down the seam for a huge 52-yard gain on the first play.

Freshman QB Drew Lock continued to shine as he was an impressive 15-of-20 passing for 168 yards and two touchdowns.  Lock got a couple of series with the number two offense, and led an impressive 60-yard scoring drive against the top string defense, which he capped with a 10-yard touchdown over the middle to freshman WR Ray Wingo.  Lock’s other score was a 14-yard strike to WR Oke Akushe in the back of the end zone, as Akushe leaped high for the ball in the back of the endzone, and held on for the score, despite taking a hard shot from safety Ronnell Perkins.

Freshman QB Marvin Zanders showed his dual threat skills on Thursday once again, as he threw for 64 yards (on 4-of-8 passing) and ran for a scrimmage-high 62 yards, including a nice scramble for a first down on a third-down snap for the number two offense against the number one defense.  Senior QB Corbin Berkstresser also found the end zone, as he connected with WR Jake Brents on a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown.  Berkstresser ended the scrimmage 2-of-4 passing for 60 yards and the one score.

Despite the offense’s win Thursday, the defense had plenty of noteworthy play as well, as they accumulated nine quarterback sacks and 17 tackles for loss overall.  Sophomore DE Charles Harrisled the way with 2.0 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss to go with his four tackles and a quarterback hurry.  Junior DL Justin Grava chimed in with a two-sack, two-TFL day, and senior LB Kentrell Brothers had a pair of stops behind the line as part of his 5-tackle performance.

Junior LB Donavin Newsom was active Thursday morning, as he tied for a scrimmage-best seven tackles in all, including a half-tackle for loss and a QB hurry.  He was joined at seven tackles by freshman safety Cam Hilton.  Senior CB Kenya Dennis applied his customary tough coverage in the pass game and also supplied good run support as he finished with six tackles on the day.

Senior TB Russell Hansbrough got limited action by design, and ended with 20 yards on six attempts, while freshman TB Marquise Doherty had a two-yard touchdown run to cap a two-minute drive by the reserve offense.  Doherty finished with 14 rushing yards on six attempts.

Eighteen different Tigers caught passes on Thursday, with the top producers being Blair (5 catches, 66 yards), Brents (4-80, 1 TD), Hall (4-75) and sophomore WR Oke Akushe (3-51, 1 TD).  Freshman WR Justin Smith had a pair of receptions as well, totaling 59 yards (including a 49-yarder).

After a pair of practices on Friday and Saturday, Mizzou will enjoy a couple days off before the last week of #MIZCamp. The third and final scrimmage is set for 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27. Stay tuned to MUTigers.com for continuing coverage of #MIZCamp. Follow #MIZCamp on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the inside access during 2015 Fall Camp.