@MizzouFootball Faces First Road Test of 2018 at Purdue
9/10/2018 2:51:00 PM | Football
Tigers have won eight straight regular season games, including a 3-0 mark in road contests
| Mizzou Heads to Purdue for First Road Test of 2018 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | WATCH | STATS |
| at Purdue | West Lafayette, Ind. | Saturday, Sept. 15 | 6:30 pm | Big Ten Network | Stats |
#ShowMe Mizzou Game Notes
The Matchup
- Mizzou Football, off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2015, heads to Purdue Saturday for a huge road test in week three on Saturday. The game will air at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Big Ten Network and marks Mizzou's first true road game since closing the 2017 regular season with a 48-45 win at Arkansas (11/24/17). Mizzou has won its last three true road games dating back to last season (at UConn, at Vanderbilt, at Arkansas).
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH THE BOILERMAKERS
- Purdue leads the all-time series with Mizzou, 7-2, and has won four straight after a 35-3 win in Columbia last season. Prior to last year's meeting, Mizzou and Purdue had not met since the 1980 Liberty Bowl (Purdue won, 28-25).
STILL ROLLING
- After winning its first two games of the 2018 season, Barry Odom's team has now won its last eight regular season games and is 8-1 in its last nine games overall. In the last eight regular season games (excluding the bowl game), Mizzou is averaging 49.9 points per game. Coach Odom is one of just eight Power Five head coaches to win at least eight of their last nine regular season games. Below is the list:
• Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern): 9-1
• Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma): 9-0
• Ed Orgeron (LSU): 8-1
• Dabo Swinney (Clemson): 8-1
• Kirby Smart (Georgia): 8-1
• Urban Meyer (Ohio State): 8-1
• Barry Odom (Mizzou): 8-1 - Mizzou has scored 40 points or more in all eight of those wins and has an average victory margin of 30.5.
- Mizzou turned heads nationally in 2017, when Odom's squad won its last six games of the regular season to erase a 1-5 start to the year, and earn a bid to the Texas Bowl with a 7-5 record.
- That is the longest regular-season win streak for Mizzou since the Tigers won 10 straight bridging the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In 2009, MU won its final three regular-season games on the way to an 8-5 season, and then started the 2010 season 7-0 on the way to a 10-3 mark and a Big 12 North Division co-championship.
LOCKED IN OVER LAST NINE
- As mentioned above, Mizzou is riding high as of late, winning eight of its last nine games. In those nine games, there has been one common theme: the elite-level play of senior QB Drew Lock. In that span, Lock's numbers have looked as impressive as any other quarterback in college football. Below is a snapshot:
• Record: 8-1
• 187-for-289 (64.7%)
• 2,928 yards (325.3 per game)
• 35 touchdowns
• 6 interceptions
• 185.62 rating - In last Saturday's win over Wyoming, Lock maybe put together his most complete game in a Tiger uniform as he continues to thrive under first-year offensive coordinator Derek Dooley. Lock completed a career-high 33 passes on 45 attempts (73.3%) with four TDs while rushing for 51 yards (his most since 2016) with another score.
LOCK LIVES AMONG SEC GREATNESS
- Mizzou senior QB Drew Lock's four TD tosses last week moved him into a tie for seventh all-time among SEC quarterbacks with 79 career passing TDs. He enters Saturday's game vs. Purdue just two shy of tying Eli Manning (Ole Miss) who had 81 from 2000-03. Below is a list:
| Rank | TD Passes | Quarterback | School | Years |
| 1. | 121 | Aaron Murray | Georgia | 2010-13 |
| 2. | 114 | Danny Wuerffel | Florida | 1993-96 |
| 3. | 89 | Peyton Manning | Tennessee | 1994-97 |
| 4. | 88 | Chris Leak | Florida | 2003-06 |
| 88 | Tim Tebow | Florida | 2006-09 | |
| 6. | 81 | Eli Manning | Ole Miss | 2000-03 |
| 7. | 79 | Andre Woodson | Kentucky | 2004-07 |
| 79 | Drew Lock | Mizzou | 2015-18 |
- Below are some notables on Lock after last week's performance:
- Lock's career-high 33 completions last week were the most for Mizzou since 2010 (Blaine Gabbert - 41 vs. Iowa)
- Lock now has 25 career games with 200+ passing yards, second in school history
- Lock has thrown for 200+ yards in 20 of his last 21 games, including 12 straight
- With 398 yards last week, Lock now has 11 career 300-yard games, passing Blaine Gabbert (10) for second Mizzou's list
- Lock registered his 10th career game with four or more TDs last week - he has eight such games in his last 10
- Lock now has 39 career TD passes of 20+ yards, tied for the most in school history with Chase Daniel
- Lock is now second in Mizzou history with both his 9,382 career passing yards and 79 career passing TDs
- Lock is second in the SEC in total offense and passing offense and leads the league in TD passes
GRINDING IT OUT
- It's only been two games so far in 2018 for Mizzou's offense, but thus far the Tigers under first-year Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach Derek Dooley are making good on their stated desire coming into the year to be a more methodical offense – one that can grind out drives, eat up the clock, and give their defense a rest. Here's the details: through two games in 2018, of Mizzou's 11 touchdown drives, 73% of them (eight) have taken eight or more plays. In 13 games in 2017, of Mizzou's 60 TD drives, only 23% of them (14) went eight or more plays. In 2018, MU's average plays on all 11 touchdown drives is 8.9, compared to 5.5 for 60 TD drives in 2017.
- The biggest area that this has helped in 2018 is time of possession. Last year, Mizzou ranked 129th nationally out of 130 teams in TOP (24:18). This year, Mizzou is ranked 22nd nationally with a 33:20 mark and is fifth in third down conversion (.629), continuing to move the chains.
E-MAN EMERGING AS ONE OF NATION'S BEST
- Senior WR Emanuel Hall burst onto the scene last season, becoming one of the nation's elite deep threats. This season, if the first two weeks are any indication, he is evolving into a dynamic receiver in all facets of the game - not just the vertical passing game.
- In the first two weeks, Hall has hauled in 171 yards in each game, doing so on just 14 catches, including a career-high 10 last week against Wyoming. That is good for 342 yards (24.4 yard per catch) which leads the SEC. His three TD grabs are second in the SEC. Hall also ranks 18th nationally in yards per catch and is the only player among the top 50 in that category to have more than 10 catches.
- Hall became the first Mizzou player since Danario Alexander in 2009 to post back-to-back games of 170+ yards.
- Hall also hauled in a 28-yard score last weekend vs. Wyoming, giving him 13 career TD grabs of 20 or more yards. That tied him with former first-round pick and NFL standout Jeremy Maclin for the most in program history.
- Hall came into his own down the stretch of the 2017 season, as his emergence as one of the nation's top deep threats helped open up Mizzou's offense, and coincided with MU's late-season surge of success. Hall ended the 2017 season with 33 catches for 817 yards and eight touchdowns, with the average length of his scores coming from a whopping 49.5 yards out. His per-catch average last year of 24.8 led the SEC and ranked as second-best nationally.
- In his last nine regular season games, Hall has caught 42 passes for 1,055 yards and 11 touchdowns, giving him an average of 117.2 yards per game, and a healthy 25.1 yards per catch average. He has seven 100-yard outings during that span. Here's the numbers:
| Year | Opponent | Receptions | Yds. | TD |
| 2018 | Wyoming | 10 | 171 | 1 |
| 2018 | UT Martin | 4 | 171 | 2 |
| 2017 | at Arkansas | 2 | 111 | 2 |
| 2017 | Tennessee | 5 | 102 | 2 |
| 2017 | Florida | 5 | 113 | 0 |
| 2017 | at UConn | 5 | 37 | 0 |
| 2017 | Idaho | 3 | 80 | 1 |
| 2017 | at Georgia | 4 | 141 | 2 |
| 2017 | at Kentucky | 4 | 129 | 1 |
- Here's a look at E-Man's ranking in several categories thus far:
| Category (Stat) | SEC Rank | NCAA Rank |
| Receiving Yards/Game (171.0) | 1st | 2nd |
| Receiving Yards (342) | 1st | 4th |
| All-Purpose Yards/Game (171.0) | 1st | 9th |
| Receiving TDs (3) | 2nd | 8th |
| Yards/Reception (24.4) | 2nd | 18th |
| Receptions/Game (7.0) | 2nd | 19th |
DEFENSE HEATING 'EM UP
- Mizzou's defense, under first-year Defensive Coordinator Ryan Walters, is off to a very solid start to the 2018 season, continuing the positive trends from the middle half of last season as MU put together its six-game win streak to conclude the 2017 regular season. Walters' troops have held both of their first two opponents to under 300 yards per outing, and Mizzou enters the Purdue game ranked third in the SEC and 16th nationally in total defense (262.5 avg.). It's never apples-to-apples, but a comparative look at MU's first two games of 2018 to 2017 shows a stark contrast in its effectiveness so far:
| Opponent Offenses | 2017 | 2018 |
| Points/Game | 37.0 | 13.5 |
| Rushing Yards/Game | 155.5 | 91.0 |
| Passing Yards/Game | 270.0 | 171.5 |
| Total Offense/Game | 425.5 | 262.5 |
| Third Down | 16-31 (51.6%) | 7-27 (25.9%) |
| Opp. Time of Poss. | 37:56 | 26:39 |
- A key stat in that chart is the improvement on third down defense. Mizzou was excellent in that area last week vs. Wyoming, limiting the Cowboys to 3-for-13 on the game (23.1 percent). That has Mizzou ranked 22nd nationally in third down defense through two weeks of play.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BALL
- In the first quarter of last week's game vs. Wyoming, Mizzou senior LB Terez Hall put his hat on the ball and forced a fumble that was recovered by safety Khalil Oliver. That continued an impressive streak for the Mizzou defense as the Tigers have now forced a turnover in 10 consecutive regular season games, dating back to Oct. 10, 2017, at Kentucky.
In those 10 games, Mizzou is 8-2 overall, winning the last eight as turnovers have been a key to the Tigers' improved play on defense.
Players Mentioned
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