In Depth: Drew Lock's Record-Breaking Day
9/2/2017 5:19:00 PM | Football
RECAP: Mizzou 72, Missouri State 43
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou junior QB Drew Lock put on a record-breaking display Saturday afternoon in Mizzou's 72-43 opening day victory over Missouri State at Faurot Field. Lock threw for 521 yards and seven touchdowns, both school records for a single game. The seven touchdowns were distributed to five different receivers, while successfully completing passes to nine total receivers in one of the greatest single games of any Mizzou quarterback in program history.
Additionally, Lock's 521 passing yards are the fifth-most by any quarterback in a single game in SEC history. His seven touchdown passes ties the record for most by any SEC quarterback in history, a feat accomplished by only five other players, including Erik Ainge, Brandon Allen and Tim Couch. Afterwards, Lock allowed himself a few moments to reflect on his historic game.
"It was really cool to break those records," Lock said. "To think about all of the guys that have played quarterback and been in my position. Growing up, watching their highlights, I was tied with them last year, now I get to bump up ahead of them, it's pretty crazy. It's going to take me a while to really think about."
It takes more than just a great quarterback to set a passing record, and Lock was quick to point that out.
"As a team, we're really excited to start out 1-0," Lock said. "In the end, we got the ball in our receivers' hands. They made some plays for me today. It starts with our offensive line blocking, even the tight ends and running backs stepped up in protection as well. They did a fantastic job today of giving me a clean pocket throughout the whole game."
Head Coach Barry Odom was quite pleased with his quarterback's play, describing it as the best that he's seen, saying that he was excited to see all of the hard work and mental strides that Lock took during fall camp carry over into the regular season. In particular, Odom was proud of how well Lock distributed the ball and consistently threw into areas of the field so that the other skill players could carry the ball in space.
One such wideout was redshirt-sophomore receiver Johnathon Johnson, who hauled in five catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns, all career highs.
"When he's on like that, he's really just doing everything, all we have to do is make the catch," Johnson said. "I like Drew a lot. I've been with him since we came in as freshman, and he always looked like the best quarterback I've ever seen. To me, I really like him. I like the way he throws the ball. He can just make every throw on the field."
Lock's career day marks just the latest great performance in his college career. Coming into play, Lock ranked 12th in the country and second in the SEC among returning QBs in production from a year ago. He now ranks seventh in school history with 5,252 career passing yards.
Lock and the rest of Mizzou's high flying offense will head back to the practice fields next week, as it prepares to host South Carolina, next Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
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