Spring season concludes with Black and Gold game

The spring season consisted of 15 scrimmages and practices.

By Sean Leahy

Published April 20, 2009

As the spring practice season winds down, all eyes focus on who would be filling the shoes of graduating quarterback Chase Daniel and running the Missouri offense in 2009.

At the Black and Gold Spring game, though, it was Missouri's defense that grabbed the spotlight as it stopped the offense 68-40 in an intrasquad contest.

After a season of 15 scrimmages and practices, Missouri now hits the weight room and prepares for the summer.

"Overall it was great spring for us," coach Gary Pinkel said. "I feel a lot better now than when we started, and that's good."

In a game that used a special scoring system which awarded points for plays, such as first downs and forcing turnovers, the Missouri defense made sure its counterparts on the offense rarely saw the end zone.

The defense, under the leadership of first-year defensive coordinator Dave Steckel, limited Missouri's offense to only one touchdown and three field goals for the game.

"We came out today with a lot of intensity and a lot of focus," senior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said. "We want to plant the flag, and I think today we started to really do that."

A 2008 unanimous First Team All-Big 12 member and finalist for the Butkus Award, Weatherspoon will be a leader on the defensive squad in 2009.

The Jasper, Texas, native said he liked what he saw from his teammates, especially redshirt freshman Kip Edwards' first quarter interception off sophomore Blaine Gabbert.

In addition to the interception, Missouri's defense forced three punts in the first quarter en route to taking a 20-8 lead. That lead swelled to 40-19 at the half and 64-33 at the end of the third quarter.

On the other side of the ball, Missouri's offense struggled to get into a groove. The Tigers used four quarterbacks in the game, with Gabbert and sophomore Jimmy Costello rotating during each possession in the first half.

Gabbert finished the day nine of 17 passing with 93 yards and one interception, and Costello completed 10 of 21 passes for 70 yards.

"Things didn't go as well as we wanted," Gabbert said of the offense's performance. "But, overall, our team played pretty well."

Aside from the interception to Edwards, Gabbert's first half also featured one of the longest offensive plays of the day with a 20-plus yard quarterback keeper that brought the offense across midfield.

In the second half, Costello found the end zone on a 1-yard run that would end up being the lone touchdown of the game.

Two freshmen quarterbacks saw action in the second half, as Blaine Dalton and Ashton Glaser combined to go six of 11 passing for 60 yards.

In all, the Missouri offense managed 223 yards in the air with an additional 132 yards coming from the rushing game.

Sophomore wide receiver Jonnie Fields led the way for Missouri receivers with four catches for 53 yards, and sophomore receiver Jerrell Jackson led the rushing attack with 39 yards on two attempts.