Amid swirling rumors regarding possible conference realignment, the Missouri football team held its first scrimmage of the fall Saturday morning at Faurot Field.
After an ESPN report that said Missouri is likely to head to the Southeastern Conference broke, MU athletics director Mike Alden called the rumors “distracting” and “frustrating.”
“We’re getting ready to kick off a great year at Mizzou, with football and soccer, it looks like we have a good chance to be pretty good in volleyball,” Alden said. “This is all distracting because again we’re trying to focus on our school.”
While Alden and other university officials attempted to shoot down rumors, the Tigers saw their fair share of ups and downs during the day’s scrimmage.
Sophomore quarterback James Franklin struggled early on, having his first pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown by senior linebacker Will Ebner. On his next drive, Franklin almost threw another interception, as sophomore linebacker Darvin Ruise jumped a throw on an out route intended for junior wide receiver T.J. Moe.
Franklin and the entire offensive unit continued to struggle until junior tailback Kendial Lawrence rattled off back-to-back 60-yard touchdown runs in what would equate to the third quarter of the scrimmage.
“Things started to settle down towards the third quarter, really once Kendial started running well,” Franklin said. “Once I saw him doing that I said, ‘Hey, he knows what he’s doing. I need to know what I’m doing.’ After that it kicked me into another gear and we got going from there.”
Coach Gary Pinkel, though disappointed by the performances of the majority of his more experienced players, also came away very impressed with Lawrence.
“Kendial was a spark, he’s been practicing like he played today,” Pinkel said. “It’s very encouraging, he’s making big plays and if you want to be an impact offensive team, you have to have playmakers, guys who make special plays in special situations and we’ve seen that before around here.”
Pinkel had stated that he wanted one of his running backs to separate himself from the team’s other rushers, and Lawrence appeared to do so today as neither sophomore Henry Josey nor senior De’Vion Moore provided much of a boost.
Elsewhere on offense, sophomore wide receiver Marcus Lucas had the day’s best showing from a receiver, hauling in a 40-yard grab on a fly route and followed it up with a leaping catch on a poorly-thrown hitch route.
On the defensive side of the ball, highly-touted junior college transfer Sheldon Richardson saw limited action with the third string as he spent time learning the system. The junior defensive tackle took full advantage of his limited reps, though, driving his opposition into the backfield almost every play.
The Tigers came away from Saturday with no major injuries. Junior defensive end Brad Madison suffered a shoulder sprain, junior defensive tackle Jimmy Burge suffered a concussion and senior wide receiver Wes Kemp suffered a hip pointer. All are expected to be back to practice within a few days.
The Tigers resume practice Monday morning in preparation for their season opener against Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 3.
