The objective for Eastern’s defense will be to resist playing an elaborate game of tag with Big 12 conference first-team quarterback Brad Smith.

The success of the Missouri offense, which has the Tigers started on a two-game winning streak, revolves around the sophomore quarterback.

“That offense is set up around that type of scrambling and stuff,” Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said.

The 2002 Big 12 newcomer of the year leads the Tigers in rushing, passing and has accounted for 58 percent of the offense in Missouri’s opening wins over Illinois and Ball State.

Smith is a double-threat quarterback capable of controlling a game with his arm, but most importantly with his legs.

In the home opener against Illinois, the Tigers were contained throughout the game until Smith’s final drive when he led the Tigers on a 13-play, 78-yard drive to beat the Fighting Illini 22-15. Smith contributed 59 total yards on that game-winning drive.

However, medical concerns surround the Heisman candidate because of the concussion Smith suffered in the first half of the Tigers 35-7 win over Ball State.

“I know he understands his responsibility to the team, but he also knows that he can make plays.” Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel said in Monday’s press conference. “There’s a fine line there between picking your moments to make the big play and when you should take the big hit.”

Eastern’s defense wishes the winning system was just stopping Smith, but the signal caller has athletes around him. His biggest weapon may be the offensive line that protects him.

The Tigers had all five starters on the offensive lineman returning for the 2003 season. That cohesive unit of three seniors and a pair of juniors allows Smith to run around and make plays happen when his receivers are covered.

“They send (Smith) out on roll-outs and bootleg so it’s hard to get pressure on him,” Bellantoni said.

The Tigers offensive line is an average of 296 pounds with the smallest in a relative term being junior left tackle Scott Paffrath at 285.

“They are big boys that are sound fundamentally and they don’t take much chances in leaving their area,” Bellantoni said.

In two games, Smith has only been sacked three times and has been provided with holes up the middle to scramble through for an average of nearly 92 yards per game.

“They don’t do anything different from any other team we’ve seen but they are just really good at what they do,” Bellantoni said. “It will be a huge challenge for our guys to get pressure on Smith.”

The Panthers’ defense will also employ a quarterback spy system to insure Smith is shadowed throughout the entire game.

“We have that stuff built into our system,” Bellantoni said. “We always assign somebody for scrambling quarterbacks.”

Bellantoni discussed how Eastern will not look to break down Smith’s pocket but contain him in the oval to limit his play-making ability.

“We definitely want to keep him in the pocket and make him beat us with his arm,” Bellantoni said.

If Smith is forced to use an aerial attack on Saturday, he has receiver weapons on the outside in the Tigers three-wide offensive set.

Senior Darius Outlaw and junior Thomson Oboga are Smith’s pair of big play bullets he can fire at any point. However, the Tigers plan on using senior tight end J.D. McCoy over the middle more often.

“We would like to spread the ball around more than we have in the first two games,” Pinkel said. “We’d like to get the ball to our tight ends more. I think we have to throw the football better than we’ve been throwing it.”