Sarah E.M. Becking Photography -- Mizzou Tiger Football

Blah, blah, blah... Brad Smith is Great!... blah, blah, blah. Will have pictures again starting with the KU game. Smith accounted for 381 total yards (213 rushing, 178 passing) while running for two touchdowns and throwing for another. Justin Gage had 9 receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown, breaking the all time MU record for career receptions and falling just 3 yards shy of breaking that career record as well.

Once again, though, the story was Smith. He threw three interceptions which proved costly, but those would have been beyond inconsequential without the rest of his play. OU had not allowed any team to rush for over 200 yards in 37 games, but our quarterback was able to do it. Had two touchdown runs of just over 25 yards and the most impressive one yard loss you'll ever see. We lost though. We had chances, but just needed someone else to make a play.

2002 Schedule
August 31 vs Illinois (at St. Louis) 2:30 p.m. (ABC) W 33-20 More Pictures from the Illinois Game

Brad Smith. How many pictures of him would be enough? First college game, was the man. Co-Big XII Offensive Player of the Week, unquestionably player of the game. Was 15-for-26 passing for 152 yards passing and ran for 138 yards.


Brad Smith & Zack Abron rushed for 138 and 116 yards, respectively while combining for 3 touchdowns	Antwaun Bynum collects one of 4 Tiger sacks.


James Kinney returns a fumble for a Touchdown. Kinney led the team with 6 tackles.	Coach Pinkel and Justin Gage collect the trophy.

September 7 Ball State 6:00 p.m. W 41-6 More Pictures from the Ball State Game

Marching Mizzou's pre-game show and the Tigers coming onto the field.


Freshman QB Brad Smith was outstanding again. He finished 14-of-27 passing for 176 yards and a touchdown while adding 105 yards rushing on 9 carries. His 39-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was simply amazing.


Zack Abron scores on a 3-yard touchdown run. He finished with 2 touchdowns and 75 yards on 15 carries.	Brad Smith leads the troops near midfield

September 14 at Bowling Green 5:00 p.m. L 28-51
Freshman QB Brad Smith continued to impress finishing the game completing 28-of-50 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns. Justin Gage set the MU single-game record with 16 receptions and tied his own mark with 236 receiving yards. The Tiger defense also set a record for times forcing Jason to curse while listening to the game.

September 28 Troy State 1:00 p.m. W 44-7
Will read like a broken record.... Freshman QB Brad Smith continued to impress, finishing the game with 350 yards of total offense (18-of-34 passing for 213 yards and 1 touchdown and 137 rushing yards on 13 carries with another touchdown) to continue to lead the Big XII in total offense. Zack Abron carried for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns while Sean Coffey led the receivers with 88 yards on 6 receptions. The Tigers also had 4 interceptions (3 for RJ Jones to tie an MU record and one by James Kinney which was returned for his second touchdown of the year) after dropping a few other chances early in the game.

October 5 Oklahoma 6:00 p.m. (TBS) L 24-31
Blah, blah, blah... Brad Smith is Great!... blah, blah, blah. Will have pictures again starting with the KU game. Smith accounted for 381 total yards (213 rushing, 178 passing) while running for two touchdowns and throwing for another. Justin Gage had 9 receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown, breaking the all time MU record for career receptions and falling just 3 yards shy of breaking that career record as well. Once again, though, the story was Smith. He threw three interceptions which proved costly, but those would have been beyond inconsequential without the rest of his play. OU had not allowed any team to rush for over 200 yards in 37 games, but our quarterback was able to do it. Had two touchdown runs of just over 25 yards and the most impressive one yard loss you'll ever see. We lost though. We had chances, but just needed someone else to make a play.

October 12 at Nebraska 11:30 a.m. L 13-24
The Tigers need playmakers. We lost to Oklahoma because no one besides Brad Smith could make a play. We lost to Nebraska because no one could make a play. Should have been ahead by 20 at halftime (it seemed like), but instead trailed 13-14. Justin Gage became MU's career leader in receiving yards, but hasn't made a big play since basketball season. Brad Smith threw for 123 yards and ran for 34. Darius Outlaw had his best day as a receiver with 71 yards on 5 catches, but again we need someone who can make plays. Not to be too negative, we look better than we did last year, I just hope there are 3-4 Brad Smith equivalents in this year's freshman class that will be ready to play next year.

Oct 19 at Texas Tech 7:00 p.m. L 38-52
Brad Smith threw for 275 yards, caught a 31-yard pass, and ran for 21 yards, but didn't play one down of defense. After the game Coach Pinkel said it was the offense's job to score more points than the other team. That's true, but damn... TT quarterback Kliff Kingsbury completed 49 of 70 passes for 510 yards and 5 touchdowns. 49 of 70 passes for 510 yards and 5 touchdowns. I say again, damn.

Oct 26 K@~$@$ Homecoming W 36-12 More Pictures from the KU Game
Brad Smith ran for 117 yards and a touchdown while completing 9 of 16 passes for 135 yards to lead the Tigers over the hapless beakers. Senior TJ Leon ran 17 times for 104 yards while filling in for Abron. Justin Gage became the Big XII's career reception leader with 4 catches in the game (176 career).


Freshman phenom Brad Smith	TJ Leon


Justin Gage	Antwaun Bynum and Gary Anthony



November 2 at Iowa State 1:00 p.m. L 35-42
Marcus James, my favorite Tiger, ran back a punt 80 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 35, but the Cyclones scored with under a minute remaining to win the game. Same old, same old, as the season goes. Brad Smith = good. Pass defense = bad. James was named Big XII Special Teams player of the week. Brad Smith & Justin Gage set more records. Unfortunately, Seneca Wallace set records as well.

November 9 Colorado 11:30 a.m. (FoxSports) L 35-42 (OT)
Someone other than Brad Smith finally made a play, but the slow slow slow slow start and a still poor defense was too much to overcome. Taurus Ferguson's 43-yard interception return for a touchdown was the play of the game. Justin Gage had his best overall game as a Tiger (my opinion) and finished with 9 catches for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. Zack Abron ran 17 times for 85 yards including a 30-yard touchdown on 4th and 2 for Mizzou's lone score of the first half. Darius Outlaw may well be the Tigers' toughest player, finishing with 5 catches for 85 yards but with an unfortunate fumble in OT that ended the game. Brad Smith ran 16 times for 49 yards and was 16-of-30 passing for 209 yards and two touchdowns. His 24-yard run to the one yard line set up the game-tying touchdown with under two minutes remaining. If you see Darius Outlaw this week, wish him good luck and good spirits.

Brad Smith's 24-yard run to inside the one yard line set up the game-tying touchdown.	Justin Gage was outstanding with nary a dropped pass and a great interception-saving deflection that gave Smith the chance for that run.


Zack Abron	Keith Wright

Nov 16 at Texas A&M 1:00 p.m. W 33-27 (2 OT)
The Tigers finally got a big win by taking advantage of a Texas A&M team caught between upsetting the #1 OU Sooners and looking forward to the rivalry game with UT. That being said, a big big win for the Tigers. Jumped ahead to a 17-3 halftime lead, struggled early in the second half to let A&M tie it at 17. Then Brad Smith led a long drive to take the lead at 24-17 before a roller-coaster A&M drive tied the contest at 24 to force overtime. On A&M's final drive, MU had an interception, fumbled the interception (which didn't look to be recovered by A&M before going out of bounds, but A&M was awarded possession), had a 15-yard personal foul, and two pass interference calls to allow A&M to score on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line. All that, and TV seemed to show pretty clearly that the guy didn't get in the end zone. After trading field goals in the first OT, an interception by Michael Harden gave MU the chance to win with any score. Zack Abron was the man in the second OT before Brad Smith scored on a one yard sneak to win the game. Justin Gage became MU's single season reception leader (80 and counting) with 7 catches for 123 yards. Brad Smith ran 26 times for 94 yards, giving him 999 on the season, and was 13-of-25 passing for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns. Abron ran 27 times for 126 yards and had a touchdown rushing and receiving. A win next week and the Tigers are bowl eligible. Only two problems, there may not be enough bowls to go around and K-State is probably the best team in the conference right now.

Nov 23 Kansas State 2:30 p.m. (ABC) L 0-38 More Pics from the Kansas State Game
K-State was simply better than MU in every part of the game this day. The game was dominated by K-State's excellent special teams play, starting with great kickoff coverage and a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown. The rest of their team wasn't bad either, out gaining Mizzou 553 to 191 on the day. Brad Smith became just the second player in NCAA history to pass for over 2,000 yards while rushing for more than 1,000, finishing with 2,333 passing yards and 1,032 yards rushing establishing a new MU single season record for total yardage. There's no doubt that the Tigers are better this year than last, but we're still a long way from being among the best teams in the nation's toughest conference. Next season we get to play at CU, at OU, and at KSU. Those three games alone would make any coach cringe.


Coach Pinkel & the Tigers	Brad Smith


Russ Bell tackles Roberson	Brad Smith


Brad Smith	Marcus King & Taco Wallace (KSU)