Pinkel- 'We have a lot of things to do'

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Two weeks before their season opener, the Missouri Tigers spent Saturday trying to work out the kinks.

And when Saturday's scrimmage was over, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel wasn't overly impressed.

"I thought we were OK," Pinkel said after the mock game that drew a couple hundred fans to Memorial Stadium. "We have a lot of things to do. We're a good football team, but I didn't think we were crisp enough. I think there's a lot of detail things, on both sides of the ball, that we've got to get fixed."

Sophomore starting quarterback Brad Smith went 7-of-9 for 60 yards and a touchdown. Smith went to work early, completing all but one of his six pass attempts and throwing for 37 yards on his second series, finished off with a 1-yard TD run by Rayfield Johnson.

Starting tailback Zack Abron began the day with a three-yard run but twisted his left ankle on his next carry, giving way to junior college transfer Damien Nash. Nash finished with 34 yards on nine carries but fumbled three times.

"I got in and I was too anxious," Nash said. "I was ready to play but I wasn't focused enough, dropping balls and fumbling. It just can't happen in football games."

Beau Viehmann had a 51-yard run for the Tigers, who open the season Aug. 30 against Illinois in St. Louis and look to improve upon last year's 5-7 finish, including a 2-6 showing in the Big 12.

Junior linebacker James Kinney was disappointed in the defense's run-stopping, though he's happy to still have two weeks to work out the bugs.

"We want to be underdogs," Kinney said. "We want to come out and shock somebody, but we need to get a lot better. We need to improve every practice."

Defensive lineman Xzavie Jackson broke his foot and was to be evaluated Sunday and starting defensive lineman Brian Smith sat out with an eye infection.