COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri football team resumed practice Tuesday after a week off for spring break. Some players brought back a tan, but none were more orange than Marvin Zanders.
Zanders, a redshirt sophomore quarterback, was donning an orange practice jersey in place of the traditional green no-contact jersey worn by quarterbacks.
"I think you look always (at) how do you utilize each guy's skill set the best as a coaching staff," Missouri head coach Barry Odom said. "... Defensively, for us we've got to do a great job, if you have an athletic quarterback that is like Marvin, (of making sure) you're in position. A one-hand tag is not necessarily a tackle."
It also gives Zanders a chance to show off his mobility.
"Now, if you make a guy miss or just slip out of a tackle, you can really show like, "Oh man, he can really take it some mileage,'" Zanders said. "I like it."
Of course, now that he's fair game to tacklers, Zanders has to run with a bit more purpose.
"I mean, you ain't going to go through the hole just pussyfooting," he said. "Go through there with some oomph, because, shoot, those linebackers, they're coming to (hit you). I mean, shoot, those guys, I've been running away from them for like three years now, so they're kind of ticked off about that."
It didn't take too much persuading to get Zanders in orange, which he first wore during a scrimmage March 24 that was closed to the media.
"It was pretty much like, "Hey, Marvin, we're going to put you in orange,'" Zanders said. "And I was like "Cool. Let's do it.'"
Zanders said he took a good lick from a defensive end in the scrimmage, and that first contact outing left him a bit sore. But he's also been able to work on "having to get that shoulder pad level back down, running in-between the tackles and stuff, just making cuts and stiff arms, all that good stuff."
Zanders was Drew Lock's co-backup last year, and when Lock struggled in his true freshman season, some called for Zanders to get a chance. He appeared in Missouri's game against Mississippi State but did not attempt a pass or a run.
Zanders said the starting spot is there for the taking with a new head coach and offensive coordinator - Odom and Josh Heupel, respectively. Lock returns as the likely favorite and Odom said JUCO transfer Jack Lowary is in the mix as well.
"It feels like the job's open," Zanders said. "I mean, we've been taking reps pretty equally among all the quarterbacks and scrimmage to practice to everything we're doing, even in just like drills and stuff, just going through (them).
"And coach, just like he says every day, we're all competing for a job and he doesn't have a starting quarterback."
Even if Zanders remains a backup, don't be surprised if he sees playing time. Given their offensive struggles last season, the Tigers have plenty of incentive to take advantage of Zanders' athleticism one way or another. Plus, significant departures at tailback led Odom to say Missouri would have to be "creative" in finding ways to run the ball.
That's not to say Zanders will be switching positions any time soon.
"You've got to look at the quarterback position, what you can do with that position," Odom said. "Marvin's got a pretty high skill set, so I'm excited about the way he's running, the way he's throwing, the way he's operating the offense and taking command when he's out there of whatever group it is."
III
Charles Harris, Nate Crawford and Nate Howard are done for the spring. All underwent surgeries that will keep them out for the rest of Missouri's spring practices, Missouri announced Tuesday.
Harris, a junior defensive end, led Missouri in tackles for loss last season. He had a surgery on his left shoulder before camp and another March 29 to repair the labrum in his right shoulder.
"We knew both of them were going to have to get done," Odom said of Harris surgeries. "We set aside the number of reps that we wanted to get going into spring practice and then knew we wanted to get the other one taken care of and cleaned up."
Crawford, a junior offensive lineman, has suffered from recurring back problems in the past and had a lower back procedure Monday.
Howard, a sophomore defensive end, had soft tissue repaired in his left knee.
Odom expects Harris and Howard to be at full health for workouts this summer, and a release from the team said Crawford "hopes to be ready for summer drills."