Mizzou Heads to Northeast For Final Non-Conference Game

Saturday, October 28

East Hartford, Conn.

5:30 PM

University of Missouri

Connecticut

Mizzou Heads to Northeast For Final Non-Conference Game

10/23/2017 10:57:00 AM | Football

Mizzou at UConn
Oct. 28, 5 p.m.
CBS Sports Network

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Mizzou Football (2-5 overall) packs up to head East this weekend, as it travels to East Hartford, Conn., to take on the UConn Huskies (3-4 overall) Saturday evening. Kickoff for the game is set for 5:30 p.m. (CT) from Pratt & Whitney Stadium, with the game being televised on the CBS Sports Network (check local/satellite listings | CHANNEL FINDER).

Mizzou is coming off its most complete effort of the 2017 season, as it dismantled Idaho last Saturday by a 68-21 count. The Tigers won their Homecoming game in walk-over fashion, outgaining the Vandals by a 658-to-278 margin in total offense while overcoming an early 7-0 deficit, after a turnover on the game's first play set the Vandals up deep in MU territory. After Idaho punched it in for the lead just 2:03 into the game, it was all Mizzou from there, as the Tigers exploded for 37 unanswered points over the next 12:54 of clock time to jump out to a 37-7 lead with 13:21 left in the second quarter. The Vandals drove for a score to cut the MU lead to 37-14, but the Tiger offense essentially iced the game with another pair of touchdowns in the final 3:47 of the first half to take a 51-14 halftime lead. Junior QB Drew Lock led the charge offensively, completing 23-of-33 passes for 467 yards and six touchdowns, while redshirt freshman TE Albert Okwuegbunam (owe-KWOO-ay-BOO-nom) caught three touchdown passes (all in the first quarter). Senior WR J'Mon Moore caught a season-high 11 passes from Lock for 174 yards and a touchdown, and the air attack got good support on the ground from senior TB Ish Witter, who ran for two touchdowns, while freshman RB Larry Rountree III led the team with 97 yards rushing.

Setting the Stage

The play of Mizzou's defense, however, was perhaps the biggest takeaway from Saturday's win, as the Tigers held Idaho to nearly 100 yards less than it had averaged coming in, and to nearly 100 yards less than any opponent had managed against them this season (previous opponent low output was South Carolina with 359 yards on Sept. 9th). Mizzou's disruptive defense was in the Vandal backfield all day, notching 12 tackles for loss, including five quarterback sacks. Junior DT Terry Beckner, Jr., registered a team-high tying six tackles, and had a career-best two quarterback sacks, while the other sacks came from redshirt freshman DE Tre Williams, senior DE Marcell Frazier and junior DB Cam Hilton. Junior LB/S Kaleb Prewett tied for the team-high with his six stops as the Tigers allowed Idaho an average of just 3.8 yards per play on the day. As detailed previously, Idaho's first touchdown came on a short field after a Tiger turnover to start the game, and then its final score came in garbage time against the reserves, with just :48 seconds remaining in the game. In Idaho's 13 possessions sandwiched between its touchdowns to begin and end the game, the Vandals gained just 178 yards on 61 snaps for an average of 2.9 yards per play.
UConn comes into Saturday's game having won two straight one-score games, including a 20-14 home triumph last Saturday against Tulsa. In that game, the Huskies surged to a 20-0 lead midway through the fourth quarter, only to see Tulsa mount a comeback. Tulsa scored twice in a span of 1:24 in the final quarter to cut into the deficit, and then had the ball back one more time, reaching the UConn nine-yardline in the closing seconds, but the defense held on.

Moving Up the Record Books

QB Drew Lock found senior WR J'Mon Moore 11 times for 174 yards last week vs. Idaho. Lock passed for 467 yards and six scores last week, moving him into fifth place all-time in career passing yards at Mizzou. Lock needs just 42 yards at UConn to move into third all-time. He moved his career total to 50 TDs as well, the fourth-most in school history.
Moore now ranks ninth in school history in receiving yards at 1,975 on 124 career catches. He caught a career-high 11 passes last week, including his 16th career TD, moving him into seventh in Mizzou history.

Locked in Lately

Junior QB Drew Lock has been on fire over his last four games. He has 15 touchdowns and just three interceptions while passing for 1,291 yards on 83-of-129 (64.3 percent). He now has four games in his career with 400 or more yards, tying for the most in school history with Chase Daniel (four from 2005-08).
Lock is coming off of another career day throwing the football, recording 467 passing yards and six touchdowns last time out against Idaho in a 68-21 win. His passing yards rank fourth all-time in a single game by a Mizzou QB behind Blaine Gabbert's 468 yards in 2009, Jeff Handy's 480 yards in 1992, and Lock's 521 yards against Missouri State earlier this season. He added six touchdowns, the second-most in school history, behind only his seven touchdowns against Missouri State (Sept. 2).
Lock's four passing touchdowns in the first quarter puts him in a three-way tie for most in a single quarter among Power 5 quarterbacks this season.
Lock now ranks fifth in school history with 6,921 career passing yards and needs just 42 yards Saturday at UConn to move into third place. He would trail only Mizzou legends Chase Daniel (12,515 yards) and Brad Smith (8,799) at that point.
Lock's 50 career TD passes are also just two shy of moving into sole possession of third place all-time on Mizzou's career TD passes list.

Rank	Name	Yds	Att	Comp	INT	Pct.	TD
1.	Chase Daniel (2005-08)	12,515	1,609	1,094	41	0.680	101
2.	Brad Smith (2002-05)	8,799	1,484	835	33	0.563	56
3.	James Franklin (2010-13)	6,962	943	586	25	0.621	51
4.	Jeff Handy (1991-94)	6,959	1,058	618	30	0.584	39
5.	Drew Lock (2015-17)	6,921	910	496	25	0.545	50
6.	Blaine Gabbert (2008-10)	6,822	933	568	18	0.609	40
7.	Phil Bradley (1977-80)	5,352	798	437	29	0.548	32