SDSU Post-Game Interviews

Some News & Notes from yesterdays's game...




Not enough leg on attempt for Baggett

There’s no question Gary Pinkel wanted to come away with some points after watching the Tigers drive inside the South Dakota State 30-yard line early in the second quarter, converting a fourth-down run along the way.

That might have contributed to his decision to send Andrew Baggett onto the field to attempt a 55-yarder after a holding penalty and 3-yard loss on a screen pass pushed his team back to the 37-yard line.

But Baggett’s kick never even had a chance, falling short and right off the uprights.

“If I did it again … I probably should have just gone and” punted “it,” Pinkel said. “If he’d made it, it would have been a good call. My big thing is I’ve seen him do it before. Why not give him a shot to do it?”

Pinkel was much less bothered by that miss than the 34-yarder Baggett missed wide left in the opening quarter with a chance to extend Missouri’s lead to 24-7.

“A field goal he’s very capable of making,” Pinkel said. “We had a good drive to get there.” There’s “nothing worse than being in that zone and not coming away with any points.”

Baggett did end the game on a high note, booting a 44-yarder through the uprights to extend the Tigers’ lead to 38-18 with 1:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.




Jackrabbits pick on Penton in second half

Sophomore cornerback Aarion Penton found himself under fire in the third quarter with South Dakota State throwing in his direction on six of seven pass attempts, and it completed five of them, including a 2-point conversion that cut Missouri’s lead to 21-18.

Penton made amends by picking off the seventh throw, when quarterback Zach Lujan’s pass sailed long in the direction of wide receiver Jason Schneider, and Penton picked it off in the end zone to foil the Jackrabbits’ drive.

“I feel like they put me to sleep the first half with the good run game that they had, and when they did come out early on with the passing game, they did catch me sleeping,” he said. “Me being a good corner, a physical corner, I had to focus in a little bit more and tell myself I’ve been here before. That’s exactly what I did, and I ended up getting the takeaway.”

It was one of three Missouri takeaways as the Tigers extended a streak of 45 games forcing at least one turnover.




Local players see action for Tigers

Hickman graduate Wesley Leftwich, a Missouri junior wideout, caught his first career passes yesterday, hauling in two balls for 10 yards.

He’s not the only local product who played in the game.

Junior running back Tyler Hunt (Westran), a former walk-on who Pinkel put on scholarship last week, ran two times for 9 yards, and redshirt freshman defensive tackle A.J. Logan (Rock Bridge) saw a series of action in the fourth quarter.

Cornerback Freeman Simmons and safety Mark Pickerel, both Rock Bridge grads, also played for South Dakota State.




Redshirts burned for five freshmen

All five true freshmen who Pinkel said would play this season got some action against the Jackrabbits.

Running back Ish Witter ran three times for 9 yards in mop-up duty, and safety Thomas Wilson recorded a pass break-up on the Jackrabbits’ final drive. Cornerback Logan Cheadle came into the game on the final drive as well.

Wide receivers Lawrence Lee and Nate Brown both played in the first half, though neither had a pass intended for him.

Junior cornerback Kenya Dennis, a junior-college transfer, started in his first game at Missouri, recording two tackles and half a sack.




Extra points

Running back Morgan Steward sat out the game with a hip injury. The sophomore was on crutches. Pinkel said he thinks the team will know over the next week or so how long Steward will be out. “It would be nice to get Morgan back,” Pinkel said … Pinkel said cornerback John Gibson “tweaked” his knee during the game, but he doesn’t think it’s serious. He also said wideout Bud Sasser hyperextended his knee in the first half. Sasser returned to the game, catching a touchdown … Pinkel confirmed that defensive end Walter Brady and defensive back Tavon Ross, who both signed with the team in February, are “back and going to school. It’s nice to see them.”

I remember the days when Mizzou would punt 3 times the entire season