Black and gold game gets sloppy
Gary Pinkel is no closer to knowing who his starting quarterback will be for 2013 now than he was at the beginning of spring.
The Mizzou starters won the Black and Gold scrimmage Saturday, 21-14, despite the backups being staked to a 14-0 lead before the first snap.
The 18,384 fans on hand saw an uninspiring offensive effort. Maty Mauk and Corbin Berkstresser each threw two interceptions. James Franklin did not turn the ball over and did engineer two scoring drives, but he only threw for 80 yards on the day — which led the team.
Dorial Green-Beckham led all Missouri pass catchers with 49 yards on three catches. At halftime of the scrimmage, he was named the most improved wide receiver of the spring by the Tiger coaching staff.
Senior defensive end Michael Sam was, once again, a force off the edge. Continuing his impressive spring, Sam had four solo tackles and two sacks.
The offense wasn’t the only troubling phase of the game for Gary Pinkel and his staff to consider. Mizzou kickers missed both field goals they attempted Saturday, a 36-yard attempt by Andrew Baggett, and a 42-yard attempt by Nick Coffman that dinged off the crossbar of the goal post.
All three scores in the game were rushing touchdowns. Marcus Murphy scored first — and led all rushers with 28 yards on seven carries. Henry Josey scored the second touchdown of the game on a one yard dive into the end zone. Andrew Stevens wrapped up the scrimmage with a late 3-yard score.
