Monday Mizzou Notebook

After the best game of his college career, Drew Lock couldn’t sleep. The Missouri quarterback left the football facility about 11 o’clock Saturday night after throwing for 450 yards and a school-record-tying five touchdowns against Eastern Michigan and got on his phone.

“I really wanted to watch the game,” he said. “I went to the ESPN app and tried to watch some of the big plays that they got. Sitting in bed, just replaying some stuff in my head, trying to picture how it was going to look on film.”

But he was looking just as much for what came after the big plays.

“Wondering if I was going to look like an idiot after some of the touchdown throws with whatever I was doing on the field,” Lock said. “When you throw a touchdown, you kind of just space out and you just literally have no idea what you did after. You just get too excited.”

There were plenty of chances to get excited in the 61-21 win over Eastern Michigan. Lock said teammate Jason Reese warned him “not to get too high” because that’s the kind of performance the Tigers expect out of him.

“I was happy for Drew. He needed that,” Sean Culkin, who missed the game with a sprained foot, said. “He’s been capable of doing it and it was a matter of when. We all knew it could happen. Going forward, I think we’re going to see a lot of nights like that.”

The Tigers would love for Lock’s next big game to be as soon as this Saturday, when Georgia comes to town. The task will be just a little bit tougher.

“If we come out and play our A game, I think we’ve got a really good chance,” Lock said. “We’ve got a really good team coming in against us. The A game is gonna be what it takes.”

So, offensive tackle Paul Adams was asked, is Georgia better than Eastern Michigan?

“I’m gonna skip that question,” he replied.

The Bulldogs are 2-0, ranked 13th in the country, but coming off a lackluster 26-24 win over Nicholls on Saturday in Athens. Barry Odom was asked what holes he had seen in the Bulldogs in that game. Like Adams, the Tigers’ head coach refused to take the bait.

“Not many at all,” he said. “I think they’re very well coached, I think they’ve got athletic ability on the offensive side that causes problems. Their tight ends are three really good players, I like the play of both their quarterbacks, their running game is strong. Then on the defensive side, there’s a lot of guys out there running around that are really, really good and I like their scheme and their structure.”

Missouri is likely to get a much better effort out of UGA. To prepare for what they might see, Mizzou’s offense has been watching tape of the 2014 Sugar Bowl between Oklahoma and Alabama. Mizzou’s offensive coordinator Josh Heupel was the Sooners’ play caller in that game and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was in charge of the Crimson Tide defense.

“I’m sure there will be some carry over from there,” Culkin said. “We’re watching a little bit of Oklahoma-Alabama, when Heupel was there and how the offense fared against them, a lot of motions and tight end stuff. It’s something we’ve been kind of looking at.”

The offense, by the way, fared pretty well. Oklahoma came into that game as a 17.5-point underdog, but beat Alabama 45-31. Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight went 32-for-44 for 348 yards and four touchdowns in the game.

Smart was hired at Georgia three days after Mizzou tabbed Odom as head coach.

“I’ve gotten to know him over the last few months,” the Tiger coach said. “I have tremendous respect for him. I had respect for him as a position coach and then a coordinator. Defensive guys kind of follow each other around a little bit, watch how their careers go as well.”

Culkin did not suit up for Saturday’s game. Alex Ross (sprained ankle) and Aarion Penton (sprained shoulder) both left with injuries during the game and did not return. Odom said all should be ready to practice by Tuesday afternoon and expects all to play this weekend against the Bulldogs. Wide receiver Nate Brown is four weeks into an expected six-to-eight week rehab after having ankle surgery during fall camp.

The play that probably generated the most buzz from Saturday night was freshman Damarea Crockett’s 26-yard touchdown run…but it wasn’t because of Crockett. One former and one current defensive lineman paved the way for him. Tyler Hanneke, who was moved from defensive tackle to tight end this fall, got the initial block at the point of attack. And 365-pound defensive tackle Josh Augusta led the way through the hole, then took out two Eagles by himself to spring Crockett.

“I basically told him (Crockett) before that play, just follow Josh, he’s gonna open it up,” starting tailback Ish Witter said. “He did. He got him to the end zone.”

The effort impressed the Tigers across the board.

“I was hoping that they weren’t going to call holding,” Lock said. “It looked like he was, but I watched it on film and the guy was actually holding on to him to make it look like he was holding him. But when you block two guys on the same play and spring a touchdown run, I’d say you did your job.”

“I don’t know who would want to get in his way,” Adams joked.

Odom, a former linebacker, was asked how he would have taken on a 365-pound fullback.

“I would have definitely went low,” Odom said. “I wouldn’t have avoided it. I know that. I would have went low and see if I could cause a pile.”

In all seriousness, using Augusta in the backfield has been effective. In addition to that block, he has two carries for three yards, and both have gone for a first down.

“I was really happy to line up under center with a fullback and go get the first down one time,” Odom said. “Augusta was more happy about getting the block to spring the guy than Damarea was to score. That’s pretty cool. That’s putting the team first.”

Georgia comes to town touting one of the best backs in America. Georgia’s Nick Chubb has run for 302 yards and three scores on 52 carries in the Bulldogs’ first two games.

“He’s a tremendous player,” Odom said. “One of the best in the country, if not the best.”

Chubb had 747 yards and was averaging 8.1 per carry through six games last year before a horrific knee injury against Tennessee ended his season in early October. But he is back running roughshod at the start of the 2016 season.

Missouri is no stranger to Chubb’s ability. Two years ago, the Bulldogs came to Columbia with Heisman candidate Todd Gurley leading the way. News broke the night before the game that Gurley had been suspended by the NCAA. Chubb replaced him and ran for 143 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries in his first career start. The Bulldogs beat the Tigers 34-0.

Tiger redshirt freshman Johnathon Johnson earned SEC freshman of the week honors for his effort against the Eagles. Johnson caught five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown while adding 74 yards on two punt returns, including a 54-yarder for a score.

“On the punt return, we had one block out of a lot of missed opportunities,” Odom said. “He kind of did that one on his own. Excited for him.”

“I was kind of surprised. My coaches told me that they should be announcing it about 10:35 so I was just watching and waiting,” Johnson said of the honor. “I just felt like I was able to show that I can make plays and be a good player in this offense.”

Truman the Tiger celebrated his 30th birthday on Saturday. Missouri stopped the game and some of the crowd serenaded the Mizzou mascot with “Happy Birthday.” For one member of the extended football family, it was personal. Offensive lineman Alec Abeln’s mother once served as Truman during her days as a student at Mizzou.

"Yeah, she was on the field," Abeln said. "That was kind of weird, looking up and seeing her on the video board. But she loves it and had a good time."

Missouri and Georgia will kick off at 6:30 Central time on Saturday night. The game will be televised on the SEC Network with Brent Musberger, Jesse Palmer and Kaylee Hartung on the call.

It was also announced today that the September 24th game against Delaware State was selected for a 3:00 kickoff, also on SEC Network.

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