By ROBERT CESSNAMissouri wide receiver T.J. Moe grabbed a camera at the Big 12 media days to help out the school's sports information department.
"I've probably taken a 100 pictures, I've been taking pictures of everybody," said Moe, camera hanging from his neck.
He took photos of his teammates --defensive end Jacquies Smith, defensive tackle Elvis Fisher, and safety Kenji Jackson -- but said he focused on the cheerleaders first.
"I even took a picture of coach [Gary] Pinkel," Moe said. "I don't know how happy he was about that, but I took a picture of him doing an interview."
Moe said he wanted credit for his work on the school's website, nothing else.
"I won't be getting paid for that, and I won't be getting any free tattoos, no cars, nothing," he said, getting in a dig at Ohio State and others.
The 195-pound Moe eventually will be paid well based on last year's breakout season. After only two catches for 8 yards as a freshman, Moe had 92 receptions for 1,045 yards and six touchdowns. He had 15 catches for 152 yards in the season finale against Iowa, and almost had a memorable 16th. He thought he'd made a spectacular fourth-and-10 catch to keep alive Missouri's final drive, but the replay official ruled it no catch, sealing Iowa's 27-24 victory in the Insight Bowl.
A&M fans became aware of the sure-handed Moe in Missouri's 30-9 victory over Texas A&M. Moe had six catches for 110 yards, capping the Tigers' scoring with a 20-yard touchdown pass.
Missouri's reward for winning at Kyle Field before 83,453 is another return trip to College Station in the revamped Big 12 schedule that has every team playing each other after the league lost Nebraska and Colorado.
"Life's not fair, we're not worried about fair," Moe said. "We'll go there every year if we have to, that's OK. That's a great atmosphere. They've got 90,000 fans. They've got great traditions, they've got great players. It's a fun place, and they take care of you down there. The hotel you stay in is unbelievable. Everything that goes on [down there], they are a very classy program. We don't mind going down there at all."
The fact that A&M returns 18 starters and is ranked eighth in the country just makes it better for Moe.
"How we look at it is, 'Hey, every game you have an opportunity to show 90,000 more people how good you are,'" he said. "That's how we tried to look at it last year, and it worked out pretty good for us. Maybe they didn't play their best game, you saw how good a team they were the last few games after that."
One reason A&M won its last six games in the regular season was Ryan Tannehill becoming the starting quarterback.
Missouri's biggest question mark is at quarterback. The Tigers, ranked 21st, return 17 starters from a 10-3 team, but lost quarterback Blaine Gabbert, a first-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He'll be replaced by sophomore James Franklin who seldom saw the field last season, completing 11 of 14 passes.
Franklin's development is vital to Missouri adding to its 40 victories in the last four seasons.
"People have asked me, 'How is he going to manage the game?'" Moe said.
"We didn't recruit him to manage the game, we recruited him to make plays. What we're trying to do is get our nine returning starters [on offense] to come back and mold around him the best we can. Because at the end of the day, you are the identity of your quarterback."
Missouri identifies with the happy-go lucky Moe. The Tigers typically aren't considered as one of the league's top two teams, but they've won 40 games in the last four years with overachievers such as Moe.
"What I love about T.J. Moe is he gives it all on the field and he's a funny guy off the field," Fisher said. "He's a good buddy of mine and we joke around a lot."
Moe is one of the Big 12's best receivers, though he isn't the physical specimen that A&M's Jeff Fuller (6-4, 215) is, nor does he have the moves and speed of Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles or Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon.
"A lot of guys sometimes don't have all the right [physical] numbers, where you think they should be, but some guys can just play football Fisher said.
Moe could return punts this season as the Tigers look to improve special teams. Missouri averaged 6.1 yards per punt return last season, which was 91st in the country. Missouri had a huge weapon in Jeremy Maclin, who averaged more than 11 yards a return in 2007 and '08.
It would be something new for Moe. His coaches at Fort Zumwalt West High School didn't want to risk having their star quarterback injured.
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