Faurot Field Turns 100 - Mini Movie

Thanks for posting that .

The young bucks don't understand what Pinkel and Brad Smith beating Nebraska in 2003 did for our program. I doubt we're in the SEC today if not for them.

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what Pinkel and Brad Smith beating Nebraska in 2003 did for our program

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100% - this was the big turning point in pulling out of the quagmire of the 80s/90s.

I picked up tickets last minute to that game for me and a buddy who drove down from Chicago... didn't even think about it when I bought them, but they were right in the middle of the visiting section which was in the Southwest corner back in those days. Of course that meant the best part of that game (4th quarter) unfolded right in front of us in the South end zone. I'll never forget the initial arrogance of the Nebraska fans melting to hostility (mainly directed at Solich) and finally that sea of red just oozing out the exits after Sonny Riccio hit Victor Sesay on the fake field goal.

Down 10 going into the 4th quarter and winning 41-24!

You guys are moving in the right direction with stadium upgrades and more emphasis on the sport. Now you need to stop accepting mediocrity and adopt a winners attitude. There is enough money in St. Louis and Kansas City to fill NIL coffers. All you have to do is get those people to spend it.

ETA: I forgot to add what do Tiger Stadium and Memorial Stadium have in common? Tulane was the first visiting team in both of them.

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There is enough money in St. Louis and Kansas City to fill NIL coffers

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Completely agree with this - it seems to be building but man there is so much more potential for big $. We do have to break free from the 8 is enough mentality.

aside - for Mizzou's first game against Tulane at Faurot the field wasn't ready (no grass/sod) - they spread some type of mulch, sawdust or bark on the field for that first game.... and of course it rained (so I've read, I'm old - but not quite old enough to say I was there). It was a scoreless tie in a game played in mud... the footing for the players was only slightly better that day than it was with our 80s Omni turf.

Now do the SEC era

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Bama game back in 2012.

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2012 - the place has changed a bit since then. Hope you can come back in the near future and see the changes. Bags of fertilizer threw me off given we have turf - but I guess those were for the grass berms around the perimeter or the hill (the hill is artificial grass now as well) given it is now the roof over a sizeable club space.

Man, a total lack of self-awareness of the historical insignificance of that program.

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. I wonder why they built it that far south of the campus?

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The location was selected because it was a natural bowl. The original seating used the contours of the natural terrain (notice almost half of the seating on each side and the North endzone is lower than than the "ground level" concourse. I'm sure that made a big difference in excavation requirements in the 1920s. What excavation they did have to do resulted in a bunch of left over rocks - which the students arranged into the original Rock M.

All of the original seating was "down" from where you entered. The upper half of each side grandstand was added piece meal section by section over several years mostly in the 40s/50s. They enclosed the south end (the open end of the natural bowl) in the late 70s. Current press box / club / premium space on the West side was added in the 90s. Added upper deck and suites/club to the East side in 2014, tore down and rebuilt the South End Zone including the new football operations facilities and more premium seating in 2019, added the new indoor (full field) football facility next to the stadium in 2023, and will be opening the new North endzone this year which fully encloses the stadium.

The site was actually the quarry excavated in the construction of much of the early campus. A natural valley led into it from the south. Rock extraction ended around 1900 or so, leaving a flat bottomed horseshoe with the open end facing south. It became a popular picnic and gathering area prior to WW1. When the crowds outgrew the central campus athletic fields in the teens, it was a natural spot to build a stadium.