Missouri Tigers: Mizzou ready to make Independence Bowl impression in SEC country

December 22, 2011|Chris Replogle, KY3 News | creplogle@ky3.com

COLUMBIA, Mo. - A trip to Shreveport fits the Mizzou perfectly.

The Missouri Tigers (7-5, 5-4) will go into deep into Southeastern Conference country to play the North Carolina Tar Heels (7-4, 3-5) in the Advocare Independence Bowl Monday. It is the Tigers seventh straight bowl game under Head Coach Gary Pinkel.

"We are thankful to a lot of people to be in this position, we talked about eight bowls in nine years and seven in a row, it would not be wise to take going to bowl games for granted," said Pinkel. "This was a very difficult season and my players fought and battled to put us in this position."

Missouri ended its final season in the Big 12 Conference by winning three-straight games against Texas, Texas Tech and Kansas.

“We are still trying to tell the story of our season," said senior receiver Jerrell Jackson. "It was a roller coaster type of season, but we finished it strong."

Mizzou sophomore quarterback James Franklin has been the catalyst to the Tigers end of the year success. Franklin is averaging nearly 300 total yards, including 69-yards per game on the ground. As a team, Missouri is leading the Big 12 in rushing at 229 yards per game.

Norh Carolina is ready for that rushing attack. The Tar Heels defense gives up just 106 yards per game rushing, ranking 16th nationally. The defense features a pair of first team all-Atlantic Coast Conference selections, Quinton Coples and Zach Brown.

Missouri's defense will have its own target against the run. Giovani Bernard gained a school freshman record 1,222 yards, adding 13 touchdowns. Tar Heel quarterback Bryn Renner found a target in Dwight Jones. The receiver caught 79 passes for 1,119 yards and eleven touchdowns during the regular-season.

North Carolina Interim Head Coach Everett Withers will coach in his final game. He will become the new defensive coordinator at Ohio State after the school hired Larry Fedora. Withers continues to say his Tar Heels remain focused.

"Despite some challenging circumstances, this team continued to work hard and prepare each week for the next game," said Withers. "We now have a chance to win eight games for the fourth-straight year and win our second-consecutive bowl game."

The game ends Mizzou's football affiliation with the Big 12 Conference. The Tigers will play in the SEC next season.

Kickoff is at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN.

Talk Tigers with us on Facebook @KYTV TigerTalk or on Twitter @ky3tigertalk.

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