Mizzou Football head coach Gary Pinkel has been named a finalist for the Maxwell Football Club’s Collegiate Coach of the Year Award, the organization announced Tuesday (Dec. 3). In his 13th season leading the Tigers, Pinkel has firmly led Mizzou back into the national spotlight with its 11-1 overall record and Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title (7-1 SEC), in only the school’s second season of SEC competition.

The Tigers’ resurgence in 2013 is one of the best turnaround stories of the college football season as injuries derailed Mizzou’s inaugural SEC campaign in 2012. A refocused and healthy Mizzou squad has ascended to No. 5 in the Bowl Championship Series standings heading into Saturday’s SEC Championship Game vs. BCS No. 3 Auburn inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.

Mizzou’s 28-21 victory over then-No. 19 Texas A&M (Nov. 30) not only clinched the SEC East for the Tigers, but also matched Pinkel with legendary Tiger head coach Don Faurot with an all-time program-best 101 wins. It was also Mizzou’s fourth over a ranked opponent this season.

Under Pinkel, the Tigers have consistently competed at the highest level. Mizzou has won a conference division title in four of the last seven seasons (2007, 2008 and 2010 Big 12 North; 2013 SEC East). This year’s group for Pinkel became the third team in school history to win 11 games or more in a season (1960, 11-0; 2007, 12-2).

Joining Pinkel as a finalist are Duke’s David Cutcliffe and Auburn’s Gus Malzahn. Voting is now open for the finalist selection for the MFC Collegiate Coach of the Year. Eligible voters include NCAA Bowl Subdivision Head Coaches and Football Sports Information Directors, Maxwell Football Club members and selected national media. The winner announcement will be made on Thursday, Dec. 19 and the award will be formally presented at the 77th Maxwell Awards Gala which will be held in March 2014 in Atlantic City, N.J.

The Maxwell Football Club was founded in 1935 and is the oldest football club of its kind in America. The organization is devoted to recognizing excellence at all levels of football from high school through the NFL ranks. Under the stewardship of MFC President Ron Jaworski the Club has grown rapidly and has members in 40 states. The MFC provides educational and training programs for players and coaches, and also provides scholarships to outstanding student-athletes who demonstrate excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community.

More information on the MFC can be found at www.maxwellfootballclub.org.

Kickoff for the nationally-televised SEC Championship Game will be on CBS and is set for 3 p.m. CT., Saturday.

— MU Sports Information —

Mizzou Football senior cornerback E.J. Gaines (Independence, Mo.) has been named the Southeastern Conference’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.

Gaines turned in an amazing lockdown coverage performance against Texas A&M standout wide receiver Mike Evans, as he held Evans to season-low totals of four receptions for just eight yards, which was a key part of Mizzou’s stellar defensive effort. Evans came into the game averaging 119.5 yards per outing, with 12 receiving touchdowns, and his long catch last Saturday in Mizzou’s win was just a 10-yarder.

Gaines finished Mizzou’s Senior Night with six total tackles, as the Tiger defense held the Aggies to 21 points and 379 yards of total offense, well below Texas A&M’s pre-game averages of 45.6 points and 552.6 yards. The senior Tiger ranks fourth in the SEC (31st in the NCAA) with his team-leading four interceptions to date, and he ranks third-best on the Tigers team with his 59 tackles on the season, despite missing two-and-a-half games due to injury.

The recognition is the 12th SEC honor for a Mizzou player in 2013, continuing to reset Mizzou’s best for conference honors in a season. Head coach Gary Pinkel’s 2007 squad brought home a total of eight individual honors. Gaines joins sophomore LB Kentrell Brothers (Guthrie, Okla.) and senior DE Michael Sam (Hitchcock, Texas) as Mizzou’s three players to earn Defensive Player of the Week recognition.

The honor is the second weekly award of Gaines’ career, with the first also coming from an extraordinary outing against the Aggies. Gaines recorded 10 tackles and a career-best four pass breakups in Mizzou’s 38-31 overtime win at Texas A&M on Oct. 29, 2011.

No. 5 Mizzou (11-1, 7-1) has reached the SEC Championship Game, with head coach Gary Pinkel leading the Tigers against No. 3 Auburn (11-1, 7-1) in Atlanta, Ga..  Kickoff for the nationally-televised CBS game is set for 3 p.m. CT., on Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Georgia Dome.

— MU Sports Information —

For the 11th time in 14 seasons under Wayne and Susan Kreklow, the Mizzou volleyball program is headed to the NCAA Tournament, as announced by the NCAA live on ESPNU Sunday (Dec. 1). Mizzou, ranked fourth in this week’s AVCA Top-25 at a perfect 34-0 and 18-0 in SEC play, earned the No. 4 overall seed, a program-best. The Tigers were also selected to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament at the Hearnes Center on Dec. 6-7, marking the first time that Mizzou will host those rounds since 2005, when the team advanced to the Elite Eight. Joining Mizzou in Columbia next weekend will be first-round opponent IUPUI, Central Arkansas and Purdue, who will meet in the first match of the sub-regional

“This is obviously a big day for our program and opportunities like what we have now are why you compete and why you put in so many hours of preparation all year,” head coach Wayne Kreklow said. “It really is an honor to play the first and second rounds here in the Columbia as well. Our fans have been phenomenal all year long and this is almost like a reward for them as they get to see our team a few more times this season. We drew a tough field here in the opening weekend, so we are going to have to prepare as we did all season long, but I am excited about the opportunity that is ahead of us.”

Of course, Mizzou earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament after clinching the school’s first-ever SEC Championship after defeating Mississippi State on Nov. 22 at the Hearnes Center. Mizzou finished the regular season at a perfect 34-0, including an 18-0 mark in SEC play as it is the first ever SEC team to run the table in the regular season. Times for each match will be released Monday (Dec. 2).

— MU Sports Information —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Henry Josey watched helplessly from the sideline last fall, rehabbing from a serious knee injury, while Missouri was getting pushed around in its first SEC season.

The senior running back’s legs produced the go-ahead score in a win that put the fifth-ranked Tigers in the SEC championship game.

”Those guys were 5 yards away from me before I could even get close to them,” Josey said of his breakaway 57-yard run that helped Missouri wrap up the SEC East with a 28-21 victory over No. 19 Texas A&M on Saturday night. ”A big hole opened up and I took it.”

Missouri (11-1, 7-1 SEC) advances to the conference championship game against Auburn – a matchup of schools very lightly regarded before the season. Missouri has made a six-win improvement from its initial SEC season and fourth-ranked Auburn (11-1, 7-1) has topped last year’s total by eight after stunning No. 1 Alabama.

”This tells everybody in the whole United States that Mizzou’s the real deal,” said wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, who caught seven passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. ”Last year was just last year.

”It’s not about that, it’s just about what we’re capable of doing and what we’re going to do and how we did it.”

Missouri beat its fourth ranked opponent and reached 11 wins for the third time in school history, twice under Pinkel. Another win matches the school record set in 2007.

Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel was held in check for the second straight week, throwing one touchdown pass and rushing for 21 yards on 11 carries. He was 24 for 35 for 195 yards.

”In the second half, we all calmed down and we communicated,” linebacker Kentrell Brothers said. ”We were all on the same page and got it done.”

Coach Kevin Sumlin didn’t make Manziel available for the post-game. Reports have indicated Manziel, a redshirt sophomore, is close to making a decision whether to enter the NFL draft next April.

”He’s had better performances, he’s had worse performances,” Sumlin said. ”There’s pressure on him to perform at a high level all the time.”

Sumlin discounted a report Manziel, also held to one TD pass last week in a loss at LSU, has been hampered by a thumb injury

”If he wasn’t healthy enough to play, he wouldn’t have played,” Sumlin said.

The Aggies (8-4, 4-4) have lost consecutive games for the first time under coach Kevin Sumlin, who the school said earlier in the day agreed in principle on a new six-year contract that could keep him on the job through 2019. He’s 19-6.

Thousands of fans among a sellout crowd of 62,197 – nearly all of them clad in black, stormed the field after the game ended. The field wasn’t cleared for at least 20 minutes.

Missouri had been 11-44 under Pinkel when trailing at the half. Pinkel has 101 wins in 13 seasons at Missouri, tied for Don Faurot for most in school history.

Texas A&M has one of the worst defenses against the run in the nation, allowing 221 yards per game. Missouri totaled 225 yards with a 5.1-yard average, but until Josey’s breakaway run, the Aggies had done a nice job

Starting from its 34, Missouri’s decisive string began innocently with a 4-yard carry by Josey and a 5-yard carry by quarterback James Franklin. Josey busted free up the middle on third-and-1.

”What a great play,” coach Gary Pinkel said. ”What a great kid.”

Texas A&M never threatened the rest of the game and has lost four of the last five in the series. The exception was a showcase for Manziel, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for two scores in a 59-29 rout last year that was a 35-point rout by halftime.

Tra Carson broke two tackles on a 31-yard scoring run that was also the first touchdown allowed by Missouri in the first quarter in six games. Derel Walker’s 32-yard reception made it 14-7 late in the half.

Walker’s score came just 1:10 after Franklin’s 38-yard touchdown pass to L’Damian Washington. Manziel rolled out to buy time and Michael Sam tackled him a beat too late.

Early in the second quarter, Missouri failed to capitalize on a lost fumble by punt returner De’Vante Harris at the A&M 36. Backup Maty Mauk got his usual early series at quarterback and Missouri lost a yard on three plays before punting.

— Associated Press —

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Missouri may not be playing under the national radar for much longer.

Earnest Ross scored 28 points, Jabari Brown had 24 and the Tigers remained unbeaten with an 83-70 win over Nevada in the final round of the Las Vegas Invitational on Friday night.

Jordan Clarkson added 21 points for the Tigers (7-0), who converted 31 of 33 free throws.

”When you have those three guys playing the way they did tonight, we are going to be hard to beat,” said coach Frank Haith, who returned from a five-game suspension to get wins on consecutive days at the tournament. ”When you have three guys that are going to go and get you 25 points – that’s a luxury.”

Ross made 12 of 13 free throws and grabbed nine rebounds. Brown made four 3-pointers for Missouri, which finished 4-0 in the round-robin tournament and is likely to receive votes in this week’s Associated Press poll.

Missouri will at least be tournament co-champion with No. 19 UCLA, which was 3-0 going into Friday’s last game against Northwestern. The Tigers defeated Northwestern in third round on Thursday.

”We executed so well in the first half, we took good shots,” Haith said. ”We got to the free-throw line and we were moving the ball. In the second half, we took some quick shots. (Nevada) got into transition and they got a little rhythm and that’s just the way college basketball is. Once (Nevada) cut the lead to five, we made big plays.”

Haith’s suspension stemmed from his tenure at Miami, where the NCAA ruled he didn’t monitor assistant coaches’ actions with a booster.

Deonte Burton led Nevada (3-5) with 20 points and three blocks. He was 8 of 10 from the free-throw line. Marqueze Coleman had 15 points for the Wolf Pack, which ended the tourney 1-3.

Nevada cut the Tigers’ 21-point first-half lead to five with six minutes left in the game, but Missouri went on a 16-8 run to pull away.

”We just have to play harder, we just can’t let up in the second half like we did,” Clarkson said. ”(In the second half) they were getting a lot of open shots, and once we started communicating, I felt like we shut them down.”

Missouri finished at 47 percent from the field, while the Wolf Pack was at 35.

”When you miss shots, and get a team like that in transition, I think that’s what built the lead,” Nevada coach David Carter said. ”I thought we were able to make some baskets, and crawl back into it.”

The tournament’s championship format was changed to round-robin this year to accommodate the Tigers and Bruins, who have a game scheduled for Dec. 7 at Missouri and didn’t want to play twice this season.

Missouri came out aggressive early against the Wolf Pack, taking an 11-2 lead and going up by as many as 21 points late in the first half. Brown and Ross each had 16 points in the half. Missouri shot 52 percent from the field and made 13 of 14 free throws to lead 44-26 at the break.

Missouri hosts West Virginia on Thursday before UCLA comes to Columbia.

”I fully expect (Missouri) to be in the NCAA tournament,” Coleman said. ”We knew how fast and how strong they were. Their speed and height was tough. They got to us in the first half. In the second half, we made some adjustments and got the lead down to five, they hit a couple of baskets and took care of us.”

— Associated Press —

Mizzou Football senior offensive lineman Max Copeland (Billings, Mont.) has been named one of three finalists for the Burlsworth Trophy, awarded annually to honor the nation’s top collegiate football player who began his career as a walk-on. Copeland is joined by Wisconsin wide receiver Jared Abbrederis and Tulsa running back Trey Watts as a finalist, chosen from an initial list of 53 nominees, nationally.

Copeland stands as a key piece of Mizzou’s stout offensive line unit, whose performance this season has helped vault the Tigers to No. 5 in the latest BCS standings. Mizzou’s offense ranks 17th in the nation in total offense (491 yards/avg.), 18th in rushing offense (238 yards/avg.) and 13th in offensive scoring (39.7 points/avg.).

A dedicated scout team player for Tigers for his first three seasons in the program, Copeland received his opportunity to play as a junior in 2012, when he started 11 games. Following the season, Copeland was awarded Mizzou’s Unsung Hero Award for his outstanding dedication to the program.

Copeland has thrived in the class room at Missouri, as he pursues a physics major. He chose to walk on with head coach Gary Pinkel’s program despite living in Montana, as his father is a Missouri graduate. Copeland was awarded a scholarship prior to the 2012 season.

A walk-on is defined as a player who began his first season of participation with a Division I (FBS) football program without financial aid of any kind from his university’s athletic department.

Mizzou fans are encouraged to support Copeland by way of a Fan Vote at www.burlsworthtrophy.com. Fans are limited to one vote per day, and the voting will conclude Wednesday, Dec. 4, at midnight CST. The Fan Vote counts as five percent, and it is combined with the results from the Selection Committee.

The Burlsworth Trophy is named in honor of Brandon Burlsworth, who walked on to the Arkansas Razorbacks in 1994, worked his way to being a three-year starter and was eventually named an All-American in 1998. Burlsworth was selected as the 63rd overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1999 NFL Draft, but was killed in a car accident 11 days later. The Burlsworth Foundation was created in his memory and supports the physical and spiritual needs of children, in particular those children that have limited opportunities.

No. 5 Mizzou (10-1, 6-1) heads into an exciting, sold-out game vs. No. 19 Texas A&M at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field to end the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 30. The contest will kick off at 6:45 p.m. on ESPN 1550 AM.

— MU Sports Information —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jabari Brown scored a career-high 24 points and Jordan Clarkson added 22 to help Missouri defeat IUPUI 78-64 on Monday night.

The Tigers finished 5-0 under coach Tim Fuller, who filled in for Frank Haith as the head coach served an NCAA-mandated suspension. Haith will return to the bench for the team’s Thanksgiving matchup against Northwestern in Las Vegas.

Missouri (5-0) scored 13 of the game’s first 17 points and never trailed en route to winning its 22nd consecutive contest at home and its 77th in a row against nonconference opponents at Mizzou Arena.

Missouri’s lone returning starter from a 23-11 season, Brown shot 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-8 from behind the arc. The junior guard joined the Tigers for the second half of last year after transferring from Oregon, where he only played two games.

Ja’Rob McCallum scored 14 points and Ian Chiles added 12 for IUPUI (1-5), which shot 50 percent from the field in the first half but only 39.4 percent in the second.

Missouri made 50.9 percent of its shots and took a 47-34 halftime lead, but IUPUI hung around, narrowing its deficit to 70-61 with 6:39 left on a jumper from Chiles. Missouri’s Clarkson then scored the game’s next five points to give the Tigers a 14-point lead with 4:13 remaining.

IUPUI’s Chiles averaged 19.2 points per game entering the night to lead the Summit League, but his 12 points were his second-lowest output of the season. McCallum and Justus Stanback combined for 25 points off the Jaguars’ bench, which outscored its counterpart 25-9 for the game after failing to register a point in both of IUPUI’s last two games.

Picked to finish last in the eight-team Summit League after a 6-26 campaign a year ago, IUPUI lost 63-61 to Northwestern on a last-second shot Friday and – with the loss tonight – fell to 0-6 against teams from the Southeastern Conference.

A season-low attendance of 6,065 watched Missouri shoot 8-of-19 from 3-point range after only making two of 14 attempts against Gardner-Webb on Saturday. The Tigers’ campus is on Thanksgiving break.

The game marked the second contest for both teams in the Las Vegas Invitational, but it had no impact on the outcome of the tournament. The schools will travel to Nevada for games on Thanksgiving.

— Associated Press —

Mizzou Football redshirt freshman DL Harold Brantley (Hershey, Pa.) has been named the Southeastern Conference’s Special Teams Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.

Brantley had two huge plays that impacted the outcome of Mizzou’s 24-10 road win at No. 24 Ole Miss (Nov. 23), as he first blocked a Rebel field goal attempt in second quarter action to snuff out a scoring threat. Mizzou led 7-0 at the time, and Ole Miss drove to the Tiger 1-yardline before being forced to settle for a 23-yard try.  Brantley got a big push and blocked the kick to give Mizzou back the ball with its lead intact. Brantley was not originally credited with the block, but a video review determined he was Tiger that denied the Rebel attempt.

The next big play for Brantley came in the third quarter after Ole Miss scored on its opening possession of the second half to cut the Tigers’ lead to 17-10. Mizzou’s offense went 3-and-out, but on 4th-and-2 from the Mizzou 20-yardline it was Brantley’s number that was called on a fake punt. Serving as one of the shield protectors for the punt, Brantley took the direct snap and raced around to the left edge to daylight.  He made a nice move to shake one potential tackler near the first down line, and raced 26 yards to the Tiger 46-yardline to squelch the Ole Miss momentum.

Brantley’s recognition, the first of his Tiger career, is the 11th SEC honor for a Mizzou player in 2013, continuing to reset Mizzou’s best for conference honors in a season. Head coach Gary Pinkel’s 2007 squad brought home a total of eight individual honors.

Last season, Mizzou players were recognized as Special Teams Player of the Week three times. Junior TB Marcus Murphy (DeSoto, Texas) earned the honor twice after Mizzou’s wins vs. Southeast Louisiana (Sept. 1, 2012) and at UCF (Sept. 29, 2012). Sophomore PK Andrew Baggett (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) brought home the honor after his performance in the four-overtime win at Tennessee (Nov. 10, 2012).

No. 5 Mizzou (10-1, 6-1) heads into an exciting, sold-out game vs. No. 19 Texas A&M at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field to end the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 30. The contest will kick off at 6:45 p.m. on ESPN

— MU Sports Information —

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars.

But as a collective they’re an awfully tough bunch to beat, and the Tigers are now one victory away from playing for a Southeastern Conference championship in just their second season in the league.

Henry Josey rushed for two touchdowns, Marcus Murphy added another and No. 8 Missouri rolled to a 24-10 victory over No. 24 Mississippi on Saturday night.

”To say I’m proud of my football team and my staff would be an understatement,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. ”They battle every time they play. They prepare well and focus at a very high level.”

The Tigers strolled into a hostile environment at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and never flinched, jumping out to a 17-3 lead by halftime for the relatively easy victory.

Now the big one awaits for the Tigers (10-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference). The Tigers host Texas A&M next weekend, with a win clinching the SEC’s East Division title.

James Franklin completed 12 of 19 passes for 142 yards and an interception in his first start since a shoulder injury caused him to miss four games.

”I thought he did an outstanding job,” Pinkel said. ”The guy hadn’t played in six weeks and there was a lot of pressure on him to play well.”

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Ole Miss (7-4, 3-4). Bo Wallace threw for 244 yards and an interception, but was battling an illness for much of the game and struggled during the second half.

Donte Moncrief caught six passes for 115 yards, but dropped what would have been a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Ole Miss made three trips to the red zone, but managed just three points.

”It’s impossible to beat a top 10 team when you get in the red zone and don’t score touchdowns or points,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. ”… If you don’t score some points in the red zone against that team you aren’t going to win.”

It’s the fourth 10-win season for Missouri in the past seven years and was coach Gary Pinkel’s 100th win with the Tigers.

The Tigers’ used a deep running back rotation to slowly wear down the Ole Miss defense. Josey had most of the big plays, but Russell Hansbrough and Murphy combined for 99 more yards, helping Missouri shorten the game in the second half with time-consuming drives.

Missouri jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter after a blistering eight-play, 72-yard drive that took less than three minutes. Andrew Baggett added a 33-yard field goal and Murphy scored on a 3-yard run in the second quarter as the Tigers took a 17-3 halftime lead.

The Tigers finished with 485 total yards, including 260 on the ground.

”We’re just a focused team,” Missouri linebacker Andrew Wilson said. ”The coaches did a good job keeping us focused. We had a great gameplan. We knew what we had to do.”

Franklin – making his first start since suffering a shoulder injury Oct. 12 – completed 7 of 7 passes for 89 yards in the first half.

The Ole Miss offense had a few opportunities to match Missouri, but kept blowing opportunities in the red zone. The litany of errors included two false start penalties, one blocked field goal attempt and several unsuccessful running plays.

But the Rebels regrouped in the third quarter, pulling within 17-10 on the opening drive of the second half on I’Tavius Mathers’ 45-yard run. The sophomore bounced off a few would-be tacklers and then dashed down the left sideline, outrunning a pair of Mizzou defenders into the end zone.

The momentum was short lived. Missouri responded with an 86-yard touchdown drive that ended on Josey’s second touchdown of the night and the Tigers had a 24-10 lead.

Bo Wallace completed 20 of 28 passes for 172 yards and an interception in the first half, but didn’t start the second half because he was sick. Wallace and backup Barry Brunetti split snaps in the second half, but neither had much success.

Moncrief had a productive night, but his dropped pass in the end zone was a microcosm of the Rebels’ frustrating night. Ole Miss could have cut Missouri’s lead to 24-17 with eight minutes remaining, but instead turned the ball over on downs one play later and Missouri went on to its third straight victory.

— Associated Press —