Quarterback Drew Lock shines in scrimmage debut at Missouri

Freshman quarterback Drew Lock demonstrated the tools that made him an elite prospect Saturday during Missouri’s first scrimmage of fall camp.

Lock, a Lee’s Summit graduate and the reigning Simone Award winner, completed 14 of 19 passes for 139 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in his first significant on-field appearance with the Tigers.

It was an impressive debut.

“I can’t remember what Chase Daniel did,” associate head coach/quarterbacks coach Andy Hill said. “I was here, but I don’t remember how great it was. He was pretty ready to play, and nothing really fazes Drew either. He’s ready to go. He’s a guy that could be playing if you want him to.”

Lock played with poise and delivered the ball with accuracy. He helped the offense get untracked with a 14-yard swing pass to freshman running back Marquise Doherty for a touchdown, capping an eight-play, 60-yard drive.

Lock, who worked mostly with the third team or other reserve units, but also got some second-team reps, later added an 11-yard touchdown to sophomore tight end Jason Reese.

“He’s a talented guy,” Hill said. “He has a good arm and he’s very good with ball location. He has a good feel for the pocket too, so that’s a pretty good combination. … The most impressive thing is he’s consistently ready for the ball and nothing really bothers him. I feel real good about that, but also he’s obviously delivering the balls to the right guys at the right time.”

Picking up signals from the sideline, relaying them in the huddle or at the line and executing plays seemed natural for Lock.

But he wasn’t the only quarterback to impress.

Missouri’s quarterbacks didn’t throw any interceptions and went 52 of 85 for 652 yards with five touchdowns combined.

Junior Maty Mauk finished 10 of 22 for 120 yards with a 35-yard touchdown bomb over the top to senior Wesley Leftwich, who beat senior cornerback Kenya Dennis deep in a clash of the No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense.

Sophomore Eddie Printz was 11 of 20 for 141 yards, working mostly against the first-string defense. He also had the offense’s only turnover when a short pass to tight end Sean Culkin went backward and was scooped up by sophomore Thomas Wilson for a fumble.

Redshirt freshman Marvin Zanders also dazzled, completing 10 of 15 passes for a game-high 191 yards and two touchdowns. He got the offense going with a bullet to freshman Justin Smith on a wide-receiver screen. Smith turned up field and weaved 60 yards through the defense to the end zone.

Zanders later connected with redshirt freshman Ray Wingo on a 23-yard touchdown and tossed a 64-yard strike to freshman Johnathon Johnson that set up another touchdown in the two-minute drill.

Freshman Ryan Williams, a Lee’s Summit West graduate, did the honors on that drive from 2 yards out.

Sophomore defensive end Charles Harris said the offense, which also netted a pair of short field goals, hadn’t been as productive in practice, so it was a shock to the system for the defense.

Missouri’s defense won 19-7 based on the modified scrimmage scoring system, but Harris didn’t think it was a vintage day for the D.

“It’s good to see the offense make some strides, no doubt,” he said, “but from a defensive standpoint — just from our mind-set — we don’t want to give up any type of touchdowns. … To give up that many touchdowns was kind of shocker. I feel like this was just an average scrimmage in terms of production and in terms of our aggressiveness and things like that.”

The Tigers’ revamped defense under first-year defensive coordinator Barry Odom finished with six sacks and 17 tackles for a loss.

Wilson led the way with 10 tackles (eight solo), while senior linebackers Kentrell Brothers and Clarence Green had eight tackles apiece along with junior cornerback John Gibson.

Green and junior defensive end Marcell Frazier, a junior-college transfer, each recorded two tackles for a loss, while redshirt freshman Rocel McWilliams had a team-high 1 1/2 sacks.

Green, Brothers, Frazier and sophomore A.J. Logan also had a sack, while freshman Terry Beckner Jr. was credited with a half-sack.

This story was originally published August 15, 2015 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Quarterback Drew Lock shines in scrimmage debut at Missouri."