Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri was taking nothing for granted Thursday, breaking out special T-shirts reminding the Tigers of how important protecting the football is.
Even though the Tigers ended up second in the conference and 11th nationally with a turnover margin of plus-0.93 per game last season, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel was hammering away at the teaching point throughout the morning practice.
"There's no statistic that determines an outcome of a game more than turnovers," Pinkel said. "We have control over that by protecting the ball and seeing how many turnovers we can force."
Hence the T-shirts, which were worn by every member of the team and all of Missouri's coaches.
"We wanted to make it something important that they were very cognizant about," Pinkel said.
Tim Griffin joined ESPN.com in February 2008. He has covered the Big 12 since its inception, among a variety of beats during a 24-year career at the San Antonio Express-News. Griffin, a Memphis State University graduate, lives in San Antonio with his wife and son.
