Columbia, Missouri, – The Missouri Tigers will start the 2021 college football season on a newly installed athletic field made by the leaders in synthetic turf technology, AstroTurf®. This exciting upgrade for Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium will feature two cutting-edge products – one of AstroTurf’s most innovative systems, the RootZone 3D3 turf system with 60-ounce Trionic fibers, and a Brock PowerBase Pro pad, which will boost the shock absorbency and stability of the field.
The AstroTurf® RootZone 3D3 system is purpose-built to enhance longevity and increase safety for athletes. The patented Trionic fibers form a texturized layer that stabilizes the infill material and minimizes migration. With grass-like traction, the players will benefit from industry-leading support and performance, enabling them to train hard and play harder.
Missouri Head Football Coach Eliah Drinkwitz in front of MU’s new AstroTurf field
“We love our AstroTurf 3D3 field,” said Eliah Drinkwitz, the Missouri head football coach. “It is fast underfoot for our pro-tempo offense. It’s got a great look to it and it appears like natural grass. We are really excited to play on it this fall.”
This upgrade is one more chapter in Faurot Field’s storied history. The stadium was built in 1926, and today it’s the third-largest sports facility in the state. The field is named after long-time coach and former athlete Don Faurot, who was involved with the school for an incredible eight decades. As a graduate student, he helped lay the sod for the stadium when it was built. In 1995, the year he passed away, he dropped the last square of the grass turf that was installed in June of that year.
The field still boasts the iconic rock “M” above the stadium’s north end zone. In 1927, a group of freshman students built the “M” using leftover rocks from the original construction. To this day, senior players take home a rock at the end of the final home game, and incoming freshmen always whitewash the letter before the first home game. This year, the eye-catching structure will look particularly glorified next to the freshly installed AstroTurf®.
This installation at Missouri has special meaning for the team at AstroTurf®. The company’s regional sales manager for Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, Curtis Wilson, played for the Mizzou Tigers in 1987 and 1988, and he went on to being a ninth-round draft pick by the New England Patriots in 1989.
“Missouri has tremendous people with high integrity that always do a great job,” said Wilson. “Missouri being my alma mater, it’s really meaningful to me that they selected us and put their trust in us.”
The field was expertly installed by Symmetry Sports Construction, a certified AstroTurf distributor.
The University of Missouri is part of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), home to some of the most competitive college football in America today. Led by Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz, the Tigers went 5-5 last season, finishing third in the SEC East division. Drinkwitz is known as one of the leading offensive strategists in college football and has a long history in the sport. Before being named Head Coach at Missouri in 2019, he led 20th ranked Appalachian State to a 12-1 winning season and the Sun Belt championship, beating Louisiana 45-38 on December 7th.
The 2020 college football season was cut short for Missouri because of the pandemic. Now, the players are ready for a high-energy season on the new AstroTurf surface.
Mizzou Football will face Central Michigan on their upgraded home turf on September 4th. They’ll play a total of seven home games on Faurot Field this year, giving Tigers fans plenty to look forward to. Home games include matchups with Southeast Missouri State, North Texas, Texas A&M, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida, and tickets are available now through the school’s website.
About AstroTurf®
For athletes and sports enthusiasts, AstroTurf® has redefined the way the game is played. The brand offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport, and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams, and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit AstroTurf’s website at www.astroturf.com.