When he heard the play call, Albert Okwuegbunam knew he’d likely be open. Missouri led Memphis 21-17 in the second quarter, and Memphis’ linebackers had been aggressively pursuing the Missouri running backs, so when Drew Lock faked a handoff, the linebacker assigned to cover Okwuegbunam darted past him toward the line of scrimmage. Okwuegbunam saw nothing but green grass between him and the end zone. Lock’s pass hit him in stride, and Okwuegbunam strolled across the goal line for a 58-yard touchdown.
The catch was not only the start of a career game for Okwuegbunam, it began a 27-3 run for Missouri, during which it seized momentum back from Memphis en route to a 65-33 victory. Lock, Okwuegbunam and the entire Missouri passing attack, which had struggled during the recent three-game losing streak the was snapped Saturday, roared to life. Lock finished the game 23 of 29 for 350 yards and four touchdowns. Okwuegbunam caught six passes for a career-high 159 yards and three touchdowns.
The root of Missouri’s passing struggles during its losing streak had been a lack of a deep threat. Senior receiver Emanuel Hall was either ineffective or inactive during all of those contests, and no other pass-catcher showed an ability to win one-on-one matchups down the field. Tuesday, Lock was asked who else among Missouri’s receiving corps could present a downfield threat, and listed off multiple receivers before saying that “even Albert” could beat a defender deep, depending on his matchup he was presented. Saturday’s matchup proved ideal, as Memphis tried to defend Okwuegbunam with linebackers.
“I try to pride myself on being a mismatch for anybody who lines up on me,” Okwuegbunam said after the game. “You can put a big linebacker on me that’s my size, but he’s not going to be as fast as me. You can put a (defensive back) that can run with me, that’s a physical mismatch.”
All three of Okwuegbunam’s touchdowns Saturday came on deep passes. Freshman wide receiver Jalen Knox, who caught five passes for 104 yards and a long touchdown himself, said Okwuegbunam’s success downfield made it easier for all of Missouri’s pass-catchers to get open.
“It helps, because you know they can’t just key in on one guy or two guys. They have to really start coming inside and trying to look at Albert, and then that opens it up.”
Okwuegbunam’s second touchdown of the game gave Missouri the 48-20 lead that it would take into halftime. Late in the second quarter, Okwuegbunam emerged unguarded once again, but Lock’s pass got held up by the wind, forcing him to hesitate and look back over his shoulder to track the ball. He successfully made the adjustment, caught the ball and shrugged off a defender on his way to a 47-yard score. Then, in the third quarter, Okwuegbunam showed off his agility when he caught a pass, tip-toed down the sideline and extended the ball over the pylon for his third touchdown of the game.
Lock said the best way to describe the athleticism Okwuegbunam showcased Saturday was simply “Albert being Albert.”
“A guy moving like that,… It’s pretty special, the things he can do, and I think he’s going to keep that up,” Lock said.
Lock, meanwhile, caught fire after the first long touchdown to Okwuegbunam. During Missouri’s three-game losing streak, Lock averaged 189 passing yards per game and threw one touchdown and five interceptions during that span. He had thrown for 248 yards and three touchdowns by halftime Saturday. Okwuegbunam praised Lock’s ability to ignore the criticism that his recent play had garnered.
“He got a lot of heat coming from outside,” Okwuegbunam said. “He did a really good job of not letting anything that came from outside of our house affect the way he played, and today he really stepped up and he played great.”
Head coach Barry Odom said he was equally impressed with Lock’s decision-making as his deep passing. He pointed to one play in the first half, when Lock rolled to his right and saw no receivers come open. Rather than hold onto the ball longer in hopes that someone might come open, Lock tossed the ball out of bounds. Faced with similar situations against South Carolina and Alabama, Lock had held the ball too long, resulting in two costly turnovers.
“He’s continuing to grow,” Odom said. “He’s such a talented kid and player, and there’s some things that he saw tonight that was a little bit unique as far as some of the things that (Memphis) did. But he adjusted. ... I thought, maybe one of the best games that he’s had up to this point, and that shows signs of maturity and understanding the game plan.”
Entering the season, Lock and Okwuegbunam were widely viewed as future NFL players and Missouri’s most important offensive weapons. Saturday, they showed why. Okwuegbunam felt his success jump-started the rest of Missouri’s passing attack.
“I’m one of the older guys,” Okwuegbunam said. “Me, Kendall (Blanton) and (Johnathon Johnson), and the rest are freshmen, so it’s up to us to really step up and make things click, and I was able to do that today.”
Turnovers prove key
During each of its first six games this season, the Missouri defense generated just one turnover. The Tigers only came out ahead in the turnover margin once — during the season-opener against Tennessee-Martin. But during the first half Saturday, both cornerbacks Christian Holmes and Adam Sparks came down with interceptions, and the two picks led to 14 Missouri points. Holmes ran his interception back for a touchdown, and Sparks’ was followed by a 44-yard touchdown pass to Knox the following play.
Odom said that, overall, the Missouri defense left room for improvement in its performance Saturday, but he called the two interceptions “huge.” Holmes said that, in past weeks, the team’s defensive backs had been in position to intercept passes, but weren’t able to complete the play.
“We’ve been in position, just haven’t been able to really get our hands on the ball,” Holmes said. “So today was a big plus to be able to see guys like Adam and myself just be able to know what’s coming and, instead of breaking the ball up, get our hands on it.”
Missouri’s defensive success during the first half Saturday resulted in part from a revived pass rush. The Tigers have struggled all year to pressure opposing quarterbacks, but Saturday the unit sacked Memphis quarterback Brady White three times and hurried him seven more. Holmes said the entire defense fed off one another’s success during Memphis’ first few offensive possessions. He said the group has shown glimpses of that level of play previously, but it needs to maintain it longer.
“Everybody was executing, like from the D-line to the linebackers to the corners to the safeties,” Holmes said. “Everybody was communicating. So it’s nothing new, we knew what we were capable of doing, it’s the first time going out and everybody showing it. So just got to keep it up and keep everybody together.”
Floyd makes season debut
Missouri got one receiving threat back Saturday when junior wide receiver Richaud Floyd made his season debut. Floyd had missed the team’s first six games due to a broken bone in his right leg suffered during preseason camp.
Floyd said he was a bit nervous as he took the field Saturday, and especially when he saw a pass come his way for the first time.
“My first catch, I was just looking for contact,” Floyd explained. “I was like, alright, I got my first catch, but I need some contact, so I just tried to run and through (the defender). So a little nerves, but not much though.”
Floyd finished the game with three receptions for 28 yards. He did not field punts as he had last season. That responsibility remained with Johnson, but Floyd said he expects to resume the role at some point this season.
“Coach (Cornell) Ford keeps joking with me to stop limping,” Floyd said. “He said that once I stop limping, I’ll return.”
Sparks, Parker Jr. ejected for targeting
Missouri committed a season-high 12 penalties for 122 yards against Memphis. The two most costly penalties resulted in the ejections of both Sparks and tight end Daniel Parker Jr. Parker will have to miss the first half of next week’s game against Kentucky as well because his foul occurred after halftime.
Both fouls occured when the players were blocking, which is somewhat unusual, but the call against Sparks was particularly controversial. Late in the first half, Johnson fielded a punt, and Sparks upended an unaware Memphis player with a forceful block. It appeared didn’t appear that Sparks contacted the player’s head, but the initial call was reviewed and the ruling of targeting was upheld. Asked about the call after the game, Odom seemed to choose his words carefully.
“It appeared to me that the contact point initially was below the head,” Odom said. “They must have seen something upstairs that warranted otherwise.”
Sparks and Parker and the third and fourth Missouri players to be ejected for targeting penalties this season. Linebackers Brandon Lee and Terez Hall were penalized for targeting earlier in the season.
