Mizzou sophomore quarterback Drew Lock tied a school record with 5 touchdown passes and added 450 yards as the Tigers easily blew past the MAC’s Eastern Michigan Eagles Saturday night in front of a crowd of just over 51,000 on a perfect night in Columbia.
The Missouri offense, much maligned a season ago, looks like a completely different unit under new offensive coordinator Josh Heupel as it managed to rack up an impressive 647 yards in the 61-21 victory.
“We played with pretty good tempo most of the game which I still think we’ve got a ways to go, we can get better there.” Barry Odom said after notching his first win as head coach.
“What I’m most proud of is my offensive line.” Lock stated with a grin. “I didn’t get touched one time tonight, safe to say I’m taking them to dinner Sunday Night.”
Equally impressive Saturday night was the emergence of a plethora of young receivers. For the second 
consecutive week, Mizzou had two receivers reach the 100 yard plateau and Lock was able to complete passes to a total of 10 receivers against Eastern Michigan. Freshman Jonathan Johnson could be a star in the making as he caught 5 passes for 115 yards (including a beautiful 87 yard touchdown) and added a 54 yard punt return for a score. It’s also a great sign that receivers like Ray Wingo, Emanuel Hall and Demetri Mason are showcasing their ability to stretch the field and make plays early in the season. The Tigers were so devoid of any play-makers a year ago both on offense and in the return game that it was almost unfathomable.
“I just think we all came together.” sophomore Ray Wingo explained. “We just had one goal and we just wanted to score, that was the main thing.”
Speaking of play-makers, former Mizzou standout Jeremy Maclin seemed very happy with the play of young Johnathon Johnson as he tweeted this during the game:
Johnathon Johnson ????????
— Jeremy Maclin (@jmac___19) September 11, 2016
As good as the passing game has been, clearly, the running game is not where it needs to be yet but senior Ish Witter and freshman Damarea Crockett look to be a nice little tandem as they combined for 129 yards and a touchdown each. Questions remain about senior transfer Alex Ross, who left the game with an injury early on but JUCO transfer Nate Strong saw the field for the first time this season and was impressive in his five carries.
While things seem to be improving on the offensive side of the ball, there is no question that the Mizzou defense has struggled out of the gate under new coordinator DeMontie Cross. Eastern Michigan was able to tally 428 total yards including 287 through the air. For years the hashtag #DlineZou was used to describe the formidable front four, however, this season the Tigers have yet to record a sack and the defensive line itself seems slow firing off the ball on most plays. This was a top-10 defense nationally a year ago, and will have to improve exponentially for Missouri to have success in the SEC this season. EMU was able to run the ball successfully with a backup running back and with the Nick Chubb and the Georgia Bulldogs rolling into Columbia next Saturday, immediate improvement will be necessary if Mizzou wants to keep that game within reach.
Up Next: Georgia
The Bulldogs will make their third trip to Faurot Field this Saturday for a 6:30 kickoff that will be shown nationally on the SEC Network. Georgia has won three out of the first four meetings including a sluggish 9-6 win in Athens a year ago. Missouri’s last win over Georgia came in 2013 when the Tigers pulled off an upset of the 7th-ranked Bulldogs 41-26 in Athens. This could be a pivotal SEC east matchup as the division appears to be wide open once again and with road trips to Baton Rouge and Gainesville coming up for Mizzou, a good showing in front of (what should be) a tremendous home crowd will be extremely important for this young team that is trying to get back to a bowl game in Barry Odom’s first year as head coach.
