Drew Lock already remembers the play before this reporter can finish his sentence.

“Against Kearney, right?,” Lock says, nodding.

On Sep. 5, 2013, Lee’s Summit beat Kearney 77-55 in a wild game. In a game in which Lock -- then a junior -- threw for 381 yards and seven touchdowns, one stands out.

Toward the end of the second quarter, Lock took the snap and immediately rolled left. The right-handed quarterback had one receiver down the left sideline, in pretty tight coverage. Instead of taking off and running, Lock turned back on his right foot, opening up and threw across his body as he fell back and to the left.

The result? A perfectly place 49-yard pass, landing in the receiver’s hands as he fell into the endzone.

That’s the Drew Lock that Missouri wanted when Gary Pinkel inked his signature on National Signing Day 2015. After a year where Lock the freshman won the back-up job, was thrust into the starting job and ended it beaten and broken down, how does Lock the sophomore get back there?

By playing smart.

“I’m going to point to one specific thing, but it’s kind of a broad thing at the same time,” Lock said, walking underneath the south stands at Memorial Stadium after Missouri’s fan day in early August.

The question is this -- If he could identify one thing that he’s improved this offseason to make him a better quarterback, what would it be?

“It’s just my overall knowledge of football, in general,” he continued. “I’ve said it a couple of times. I was an athlete in high school that could just get away with things and make plays that you didn’t necessarily have to know a lot about football. I could throw into a Cover-2 and throw an out, because I could get it there before the defense even realized it.

“I feel like I’m seeing the field better, knowing more about the game.”

Sure, Lock and his new offensive coordinator Josh Heupel talked a lot about improved fundamentals this preseason. And, yes, those will go a long way in determining what kind of quarterback Lock becomes. That will lay a path for a career beyond college. Anyone with any familiarity with college football knows that quarterbacks can still be Very Good College quarterbacks without perfect fundamentals.

Drew Lock, Missouri’s recently christened starter for 2016, will have to play smarter if the Tigers are going to rebound and respond on offense.

“Making the smart plays, making the right plays when we need to,” Lock said.

Now it’s a few weeks later. It’s Monday, Missouri’s first media day. This time, with the knowledge that Lock is indeed the starter, the question is this -- what is the offense’s identity?

“Just not playing scared, attacking the defense,” Lock continued. “Instead of, more so being on our toes, reacting off them, we’re going to hopefully come out and play super hard and make them respect us.”

That certainly wasn’t the case last year, and the eventual bottoming-out process wiped out the good vibes surrounding Lock after a stellar preseason. Every throw Lock made in the 2015 preseason scrimmages were seen by the media, and his legend began to take off.

That continued after a solid-if-not-spectacular debut as a starter in a conference win over South Carolina, but with the exception of an emotional win over BYU, the rest of the season went downhill. For the unfamiliar, Lock finished with a four touchdown-to-eight interception slash line, completing less than 50-percent of his passes for 1,332 yards.

When the hype is gone, where does that leave Lock?

“I don’t really need the whole hype-squad behind me, becoming the starting quarterback,” Lock said. “I loved it last year. It was super cool, my first year here. Now, I realize that really means nothing.”

Barry Odom wiped the depth chart clean after his hire. So clean, in fact, no depth chart was released until this past Monday. Practices and scrimmages were closed. It was a time where players could compete with each other and not worry about outside influences.

Yes, that kind of talk draws heavy eye rolls from us media folk. But the players have said it’s worked.

“More and more I started thinking about it, the outside opinions of people and how good I do in scrimmages, it doesn’t matter,” Lock said. “It’s more of what Heupel thinks, and what we see here on the team, what we’re feeling. I’ve slowly matured and came to realize that whatever happens inside these walls is the real important thing.”

What’s happened inside those walls, according to Lock and his teammates, is that he has earned his colleagues trust and respect. That’s different -- and may be the biggest difference -- from last year.

“I was kind of thrust (into the starting job) last year, and I kind of felt like alliance laid elsewhere,” Lock said. “What would happen if the other guy was here, or what not. But, I definitely feel like the team is growing a lot of confidence in me. You can see it in the wide receivers. You can see it out there.

“I can definitely feel the tide is changing.”

Lock moves from an insular, protected area back into the spotlight. Come Saturday, it will be 281 days since he last threw a meaningful pass. That last one, at the end of a 28-3 route in Fayetteville, Ark., was an interception.

Drew Lock -- smarter, more mature -- is ready for his next throw.