@MizzouFootball Visits The Swamp to Face No. 13 Florida

Saturday, November 3

Gainesville, Fla.

3 p.m.

University of Missouri

#13 Florida

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No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats vs. Mizzou Tigers at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018. Zach Bland/Mizzou Athletics

@MizzouFootball Visits The Swamp to Face No. 13 Florida

10/30/2018 8:46:00 AM | Football

Tigers lead the all-time series with the Gators, 4-3

Tigers Headed to the Swamp To Open November
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
vs. No. 13 Florida	Gainesville, Fla.	Saturday, Nov. 3	3 PM	SEC Network	Stats

#ShowMe Mizzou Game Notes

The Matchup

Mizzou Football (4-4 overall, 0-4 in SEC action) hits the road to begin the final month of the season, as it travels to Gainesville, Fla., where it will take on the 13/14th-ranked Florida Gators (6-2, 4-2) Saturday afternoon. The game is set for a kickoff of 3:01 p.m. (CT), and will be televised on the SEC Network. The Tigers will alternate home and away games each of the next four weeks to close out the 2018 regular season, as they host Vanderbilt Nov. 10, play at Tennessee on Nov. 17 and host Arkansas on Nov. 23. Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic will be on the call and the game will also be broadcast on the Tiger Radio Network with Mike Kelly, Howard Richards and Chris Gervino providing the commentary.

ALL-TIME SERIES WITH FLORIDA

Mizzou and Florida have played seven times over the years with the Tigers holding a 4-3 edge in the all-time series. Mizzou won last year's meeting in Columbia, a 45-16 triumph as part of a six-game winning streak to close the regular season. That snapped a two-game skid against the Gators for Coach Barry Odom's team.
In games played in the Swamp, Mizzou is 1-2 all-time. Mizzou dropped its first ever game played at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, 14-7, back in 2012. Mizzou then routed the Gators in 2014, 42-13, en-route to a second consecutive SEC East title. Mizzou's last meeting in Gainesville came in 2016 when the Gators earned a 40-14 win.
As part of the SEC, Mizzou and Florida have each won three meetings. The only other game between the two SEC East foes was in the 1966 Sugar Bowl, a 20-18 Mizzou win in New Orleans. Mizzou finished that 1965 season with an 8-2 record and a final ranking of No. 6 nationally under head coach Dan Devine.

RECAPPING LAST TIME OUT

Mizzou is coming off a heartbreaking 15-14 home loss to 12th-ranked Kentucky that saw the Wildcats rally from a 14-3 deficit with less than six minutes left in the game – and score the winning touchdown with no time left on the clock after being given an extra down due to a pass interference call in the end zone on what could have been the game's final play. Given the extra down, Kentucky completed a two-yard pass which turned Mizzou's 14-9 advantage into a gut-wrenching defeat.

FLORIDA vs. GEORGIA RECAP

Florida is also looking to rebound from a loss, as the Gators fell 36-17 to seventh-ranked Georgia last Saturday in their annual rivalry game at Jacksonville, Fla. The loss broke a five-game winning streak by the Gators, which had included a pair of wins over ranked opponents, including No. 19 Mississippi State (13-6 on Sept. 29) and vs. No. 5 LSU (27-19 on Oct. 6).

MIZZOU ALL-TIME vs. NO. 13

Florida comes into Saturday's game ranked No. 13 in the AP Top-25 Poll. While that may seem like bad news for the Tigers as they get set to face a Top-25 team, a piece of history is actually on Mizzou's side. The Tigers have played seven games in history against teams ranked No. 13 in the AP poll and hold a 5-2 record all-time against those teams.
Three of those seven meetings have come since 2013. Mizzou won the 2014 Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma State when the Cowboys were 13th nationally. Mizzou's last road game vs. No. 13 was a 21-20 win at South Carolina in 2014, helping the Tigers to the second of back-to-back SEC East titles. Mizzou has also defeated No. 13 Michigan (40-17 in 1969), No. 13 Nebraska (16-14 in 1968) and No. 13 Duke (28-7 in 1947).

GARRETT EMERGING AS ONE OF SEC'S BEST

Mizzou junior captain LB Cale Garrett is coming off a strong performance last Saturday vs. Kentucky as he posted a career-high 14 tackles to lead Mizzou's defense. He has posted 10+ tackles in three consecutive games, becoming the first Tiger defender to accomplish that since current Minnesota Viking Kentrell Brothers did so in 2015 when he led the nation in tackles.
Of Garrett's 14 tackles last week, three came on huge fourth-down stops to stall Kentucky drives.
On the year, Garrett is now fifth in the SEC with his 69 total tackles while his 48 solo tackles rank second in the league, trailing only Arkansas' De'Jon Harris, who has 50. Harris was a second-team All-SEC pick a year ago as Garrett finds himself around some elite company this season.
Over his last three games, he has 37 tackles with 25 of those being of the solo variety.

RUN DEFENSE CONTINUES TO BE STOUT

Against one of the nation's top rushing offenses last week, Mizzou once again proved why its run defense continues to be one of its strengths. Mizzou limited Kentucky to just 2.6 yards per carry on 35 attempts, holding the team to just 91 yards on the ground. That was UK's second-worst output of the season on the ground. The Wildcats entered last Saturday's game averaging 5.3 yards per carry as a team and 231.6 yards per game on the ground.
The performance by Mizzou's defense defending the run came just one week removed from limiting Memphis to a 4.65 yards per carry average. The visiting Tigers came into that game averaging 7.3 as a team.
Over the last 15 games, Mizzou is limiting opponents 3.28 yards per carry and has held seven of its opponents to fewer than 1000 yards during that 15-game stretch. For perspective's sake, Mizzou's 3.28 opponent yards per carry average would rank 15th nationally this season, 10th among Power Five teams and second in the SEC.

OFFENSIVE LINE GETTING IT DONE AGAIN

Coming into the season, a perceived area of strength for Mizzou was its massive, physical offensive line that returned all five starters from its record breaking group. Over the last two years, the group turned in the best marks in college football history when it came to preventing negative plays. So far this year, not much has changed. Mizzou is second in the SEC (19th nationally) in sacks allowed, averaging just 1.25 per game. Mizzou has also surrendered just 35 negative plays through eight games, ranking 14th nationally. Mizzou allowed just four negative plays last weekend vs. Kentucky.

LOCK LIVES AMONG SEC'S GREATNESS

Mizzou senior QB Drew Lock's four TD passes vs. Memphis moved him one place closer to sole possession of fourth place all-time among SEC quarterbacks with 87 career passing TDs. He enters Saturday's game at Florida just one shy of tying Florida's Tim Tebow (2006-09) and Chris Leak (2003-06) who both had 88 in their careers. Below is a list:

Rank	TD Passes	Quarterback	School	Year
1.	121	Aaron Murray	Georgia	2010-13
2.	114	Danny Wuerrffel	Florida	1993-96
3.	89	Peyton Manning	Tennessee	1994-97
4.	88	Chris Leak	Florida	2003-06
	88	Tim Tebow	Florida	2006-09
6.	87	Drew Lock	Mizzou	2015-18

Additionally, Lock now has 10,839 career passing yards, making him just the 112th quarterback in college football history to do so. Only nine SEC quarterbacks have ever thrown for more than 10,000 yards in a career and before Lock, the last to do so was Georgia's Aaron Murray in 2013. Below is a list:

Rank	Yards	Quarterback	School	Years
1.	13,166	Aaron Murray	Georgia	2010-13
2.	11,528	David Greene	Georgia	2001-04
3.	11,213	Chris Leak	Florida	2003-06
4.	11,201	Peyton Manning	Tennessee	1994-97
5.	11,153	Eric Zeier	Georgia	1991-94
6.	10,875	Danny Wuerffel	Florida	1993-96
7.	10,839	Drew Lock	Mizzou	2015-18
8.	10,345	Jared Lorenzen	Kentucky	2000-03
9.	10,119	Eli Manning	Ole Miss	2000-03

Among active FBS quarterbacks, Lock is third with his 10,674 career passing yards. Only Boise State's Brett Rypien (12,441) and Washington's Jake Browning (11,153) rank ahead of Lock.
Lock is just the second Mizzou QB to throw for more than 10,000 yards, trailing only 2007 Heisman finalist Chase Daniel, who holds the school record of 12,515 from 2005-09. That, by the way, ranks 26th in FBS history.
Lock now has 29 career games with 200+ passing yards, second in school history.
Lock has thrown for 200+ yards in 24 of his last 27 games. He had a streak of 15 straight games doing so snapped two weeks ago at Alabama.
With 350 yards vs. Memphis, Lock now has 12 career 300-yard games, second in school history behind only Daniel (20).
Lock registered his 11th career game with four or more TDs vs. Memphis - he has nine such games among his last 13.
Lock now has 46 career TD passes of 20+ yards, the most in school history.

ALBERT O IS A TD MACHINE

Mizzou has produced its fair share of great tight ends - 2008 Mackey Award Winner Chase Coffman, All-Americans Martin Rucker and Michael Egnew, and NFL standouts Kellen Winslow and A.J. Ofodile. While the tradition is certainly there, it is not a stretch to think that Mizzou may currently have its best TE ever in sophomore Albert Okwuegbunam.
Against Memphis, he exploded for a career-high 159 yards on just six catches with a career-high three touchdowns. After leading all TEs last year with 11 TDs, he now has 16 in his career. The three-touchdown outburst two weeks ago gave him his fifth career game with multiple TD catches, tied for the most ever by a Mizzou tight end with 2008 Mackey Award Winner Coffman. Coffman tallied his fifth career multi-TD game in his 51st career game. Albert O did so in just 20 career games.
Okwuegbunam ranks third all-time among Mizzou TEs with his 16 TD grabs, trailing only Coffman (30 from 2005-08) and Rucker (18 from 2004-07).
In only 20 career games, Okwuegbunam has already cracked the Mizzou career receiving touchdowns top-10, thanks to his stellar outing against Memphis, when he caught six passes for a career-high 159 yards and three touchdowns.
The three scores gave him 16 for his career (five in 2018), which puts him eighth on the all-time Mizzou receiving chart.

Mizzou Career Receiving TD Leaders

Player	TDs	Years
1. Chase Coffman (TE)	30	2006-09
2. Danario Alexander	22	2006-09
Jeremy Maclin	22	2007-08
4. J'Mon Moore	21	2014-17
5. Martin Rucker (TE)	18	2004-07
Justin Gage	18	1999-02
7. Dorial Green-Beckham	17	2012-13
8. Albert Okwuegbunam	16	2017-18
9. L'Damian Washington	15	2010-13
10. Bud Sasser	14	2011-14
Mel Gray	14	1968-70

THREE-HEADED MONSTER AT RUNNING BACK

While Mizzou QB Drew Lock and the Tiger passing attack often steal the headlines, it is the running game that gives Mizzou great balance and a chance to have its elite offense. That running attack is highlighted by a three-headed monster at the position in sophomore Larry Rountree III, junior Damarea Crockett and true freshman Tyler Badie. Through eight games, the trio has combined for and incredible 1,282 yards on just 247 carries (5.2 avg.) with 12 touchdowns. In Mizzou's offense, each back has been as important as the next as each brings a different style to the offense. Rountree, the more downhill and physical of three, leads Mizzou with 594 yards on 108 carries (5.84 avg.) with a team-high eight scores. Crockett, a 1,000-yard rush as a freshman, brings great speed, size and elusiveness to the position and he has rushed for 463 yard on 101 carries (4.6 avg.). Badie is more of an all-purpose back who has blazing speed. He's rushed for 330 yards on 68 carries (4.9 avg.).
Mizzou is the only team in the country to feature three running back who all have 60+ carries while all averaging more than 4.58 yards per carry. All three of these running backs could be featured backs on almost any team in the nation, but have embraced their roles splitting carries and Mizzou's offense has benefited. As a team, Mizzou is averaging 4.51 yards per carry this season. Keep in mind that those rushing numbers have come despite Mizzou playing five teams that rank in the national top-50 in rushing defense (Kentucky - No. 17, Alabama - No. 21, Wyoming – No. 23, Purdue - No. 36, Georgia – No. 43,). Mizzou has yet to play an FBS rush defense ranked outside the national top-100 and is still putting up impressive numbers on the ground.
The Tigers are averaging 4.80 yards per carry on first down and 4.78 on second down, putting the offense in good position to convert third downs.

CROCKETT REACHES MILESTONE

Mizzou junior RB Damarea Crockett reached a milestone last Saturday vs. Kentucky, surpassing 2,000 in his career. He is just the 17th Mizzou player to ever rush for 2,000 career yards, but what is even more impressive is that he is the third-fastest ever to reach that career mark based on carries.
Crockett has amassed his 2,006 career yards on just 334 carries, giving him a 6.0 yards per carry average. Only Henry Josey (eclipsed 2,000 on his 293rd carry) and Bob Stueber (281 carries) have reached 2.000 career yards faster. Crockett's 6.0 yards per carry average will rank him third among all Mizzou rushers who have reached 2,000 career yards. He ishe first Mizzou rusher to reach 2,000 career yards since Russell Hansbrough in 2015. Crockett had 45 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries last time out vs. Kentucky.
On the year, Crockett has 463 yards on 101 carries and is averaging 57.9 yards per game as part of Mizzou's tremendous three-headed monster at running back.

TURNOVERS TELLING THE STORY

It's an old coaching axiom that whichever team wins the turnover battle, usually wins the game. Through eight games in 2018, the Missouri Tigers are definitely party to that line of thinking, as Mizzou is 4-1 when winning (or even) in the turnover category, and they're 0-3 when losing that category.
In Mizzou's four wins, the Tigers are plus-three in turnovers (five gained, two lost), and have outscored opponents by a 23-3 margin in points off turnovers. Conversely, in Mizzou's four losses, the Tigers are minus-four in turnovers (four gained, eight lost) and have been outscored 27-6 in points off turnovers.

	Mizzou		Opponents
Opponent	TO Gain	Pts. Off	TO Gain	Pts Off
UT-Martin	1	7	0	0
Wyoming	1	0	1	0
at Purdue	1	3	1	3
Georgia	1	0	3	10
at South Carolina	1	3	2	7
at Alabama	1	3	3	10
Memphis	2	13	0	0
Kentucky	1	0	0	0
Total	9	29	10	30
MU Wins	5	23	2	3
MU Losses	4	6	8	27

KNOX STANDING OUT AMONG SEC FRESHMEN

Freshman WR Jalen Knox has emerged as a big-play receiver for the Mizzou offense, and his performance thus far has him squarely in the mix among the best freshman pass-catchers in not only the SEC, but the nation. Through eight games, Knox – who has been forced into the role of Mizzou's number one receiver due to injuries to senior starters Emanuel Hall and Nate Brown – ranks second in the SEC among all freshmen receivers, and he's also seventh nationally among Power Five freshmen with 396 receiving yards. He's caught 23 passes in all, and has three receiving touchdowns. He has won SEC Freshman of the Week twice, most recently following a 104-yard performance with a score vs. Memphis.
His score vs. Memphis was a 44-yarder from QB Drew Lock in the second quarter that proved to be one of the biggest momentum plays that keyed Mizzou's eventual 65-33 win. The Tigers had seen a 21-0 lead shrink to 21-17, but the offense struck for a big score one possession before Knox's touchdown, but the lead was only 27-17 before an interception by CB Adam Sparks gave MU the ball back. On the first play after the turnover, Knox took in a beautiful pass in stride from Lock and raced untouched to paydirt that quickly put Mizzou up, 34-17.
Knox has a pair of 100-yard games in his first seven games as a Tiger, notching a career-high 110 yards and a TD (five receptions) in Mizzou's win at Purdue earlier this season.

Name (School)	Rec.	Yds.	TDs
Rondale Moore (Purdue)	68	802	7
K.J. Hamler (Penn State)	27	497	5
Arnon-Ra St. Brown (USC)	33	466	2
Jaylen Waddle (Alabama)	21	457	3
Rashod Bateman (Minnesota)	35	403	4
Justyn Ross (Clemson)	20	402	4
Jalen Knox (Mizzou)	23	396	3

Additionally, Knox ranks highly on Mizzou's all-time freshman receiving list.

Yards	Tiger	Season	Rec.	Avg.	TDs	Year
1055	Jeremy Maclin	2007	80	13.2	9	RS Fr.
587	Dimetrios Mason	2016	47	12.5	3	True Fr.
503	Chase Coffman (TE)	2005	47	10.7	4	True Fr.
435	Johnathon Johnson	2016	24	18.1	2	RS Fr.
429	Jared Perry	2006	37	11.6	3	True Fr.
396	Jalen Knox	2018	23	17.2	3	True Fr.

YES, HE McCANN!

Junior PK Tucker McCann has one of the nation's strongest legs, and he's put that on display the past couple of games. McCann, who is 15-of-22 on field goal tries this season through eight contests (68.2%), has three makes of 43 yards or further in the last four games, including a 57-yarder at South Carolina with just 1:23 left in the game that temporarily gave Mizzou a 35-34 lead and would have stood as the game-winner had Carolina not rallied for the 37-35 win.
McCann's 57-yarder (which cleared halfway up the uprights and likely would have been good from well over 60 yards, stands as the longest made field goal of the season in 2018, through games of Oct. 27. It was the second-longest kick in Mizzou history, trailing only a 62-yarder made by former Tiger barefoot kicker Tom Whelihan (1986 vs. Colorado). Here's a look at the longest field goals of the year so far:

Length	Kicker	Opponent
57	Tucker McCann, Jr. (Mizzou)	South Carolina (Oct. 6)
55	Alex Kessman, So. (Pittsburgh)	Syracuse (Oct. 6)
55	Wyatt Bryan, Sr. (Colorado State)	Arkansas (Sept. 8)
55	Connor Limpert (Arkansas)	Vanderbilt (Oct. 27)
54	NineTied With	NA

McCann, a preseason All-SEC second-team pick by league media, also booted a 43-yarder at Alabama in his only attempt of the game. He stands fifth nationally coming into Florida with his 1.88 makes per game, 10th in points (9.4) and he's 2-of-3 from 50 yards or further, which makes him one of only five Mizzou kickers to have made two or more 50 yarders in his career. The list:

50+ Makes	Kicker	Makes
5	Tom Whelihan (1984-87)	62, 54, 53, 51, 50
4	Jeff Jacke (1988-92)	51, 51, 50, 50
2	Tucker McCann (2016-18)	57, 50
2	Andrew Baggett (2012-15)	52, 50
2	Jeff Wolfert (2006-08)	54, 51

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BALL

In the fourth quarter of Mizzou's last game vs. Kentucky, Mizzou junior CB DeMarkys Acy hauled in his first career interception. That play continued an impressive streak for the Mizzou defense as the Tigers have now forced a turnover in 16 consecutive regular season games, dating back to Oct. 10, 2017, at Kentucky.
In those 16 games, Mizzou is 10-6 overall, as turnovers have been a key to the Tigers' improved play on defense.