COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou redshirt freshman TE Albert Okwuegbunam came into today's homecoming matchup against Idaho with two career touchdowns, by the end of the first half at Faurot Field, he had more than doubled that TD total. The Springfield, Ill., native hauled in three touchdown passes from Mizzou QB Drew Lock in the first 30 minutes of play, accounting for three of the seven touchdowns scored by the Tigers before intermission.
Okwuegbunam's three scores were the most a Mizzou receiver has scored in a single game since J'Mon Moore caught four against Delaware State last season. They matched the most ever for a Mizzou tight end. The 260-pound tight end showed his unique speed and athleticism as a red zone threat, scoring all three touchdowns inside the 20 yard-line.
His first score trip to the end zone came on a 19-yard seem route with 11:15 to go in the first quarter that opened up the offensive floodgates for Mizzou, whose 51 points in the first half were the second-most in school history. Okwuegbunam caught a bullet from Lock in between the hashes and waltz into the south end zone untouched.
Chase Coffman's three touchdown performance against Colorado in 2008 marks the is the last time a Mizzou tight end has scored three in a single game in program history.
"It's definitely pretty exciting that I could be in the same category as someone as good as Chase Coffman was here," Okwuegbunam said. "It gives me a lot of drive and a lot of inspiration to strive to be as good as some of the great tight ends that we've had come through Mizzou."
Okwuegbunam finished the day with four catches for 57 yards, good for an average of 14.3 yards per catch. His four catches top his previous career high of two, which he has done three times this season. His 57 receiving yards are also a career high, besting his 51-yard performance in the season opener against Missouri State.
The Mizzou tight end was on the receiving end of half of Drew Lock's six touchdown tossed against Idaho and led the way for a 68-point offensive explosion for the Tigers, their best outing of the 2017 campaign. They finished the game with 658 total yards of offense, 475 of them coming through the air. Eight different Tigers caught passes today, helping the Mizzou offense convert 28 first downs.
The Tigers sent the homecoming crowd home satisfied, winning by a final score of 68-21. Mizzou looks to continue the winning trend as they hit the road to play UConn next Saturday evening. Kickoff is set for 5:30 P.M. on CBSSN.
"This game is definitely going to give us confidence going into next week," Okwuegbunam said. "We're going to build off what we did today and it'll give us momentum as a whole. The sky is the limit for us.
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