Mistakes on offense, Lock’s sloppy play doom Mizzou in 43-29 loss to No. 2 Georgia

Barry Odom, Derek Dooley and Drew Lock missed chances to secure an upset victory Saturday as Missouri lost 43-29 to No. 2 Georgia at Memorial Stadium.

Lock threw for 221 yards with no touchdowns and an interception in front of 15 NFL scouts. Instead of firmly entering himself into the Heisman race and beating a ranked team, he completed just 47 percent of his passes and had issues with ball security.

Georgia gave Missouri several gifts in the first half, and the Tigers offense was unable to capitalize. Tigers cornerback Christian Holmes picked off Jake Fromm on the Bulldogs’ opening drive, giving Missouri the ball at its own 39. Georgia got the ball right back after tight end Albert Okwuegbunam fumbled a catch on third down and Bulldogs defensive back Tyson Campbell recovered it and went 64 yards for a touchdown.

On Missouri’s ensuing drive, Lock led the Tigers to the Georgia 23 but Tucker McCann missed 41-yard field-goal attempt.

Mizzou’s defense, however, came to play after a poor performance last week in a win at Purdue. Defensive coordinator Ryan Walters’ unit kept the Bulldogs offense out of the end zone for the first half and held them to two out of eight third-down conversions.

Missouri running back Larry Rountree III helped the Tigers tie the score at 7-7 with 2:03 left in first quarter. Rountree was shoved into the end zone by Missouri’s offensive line.

The Tigers offense went from stagnant to bad in the second quarter. After Georgia took a 10-7 lead off a field goal by Rodrigo Blankenship, Lock was picked off at midfield four plays into his next series. The pass was on target to slot receiver Johnathon Johnson, but bounced off his hands to linebacker Tae Crowder, who returned it to Missouri’s 7.

Walters’ defense held Georgia to another field goal. Missouri’s offense followed with a three-and-out. Corey Fatony’s punt was blocked and recovered by Eric Stokes at the Tigers’ 8 and he scored, extending the Georgia lead to 20-7 with 5:45 left in the half.

Lock fumbled on Missouri’s ensuing drive, but the Tigers got the ball back with 1:00 left in the first half. They squandered the chance to score after Lock caused a 10-second runoff with a delay-of-game penalty.

In the second half, Georgia wideout Riley Ridley faked out cornerback Adam Sparks and scored on a 33-yard completion.

Missouri responded with a stronger series from Lock that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Damarea Crockett, who rushed for 67 yards on 13 carries. Crockett had only 17 rushing yards against Purdue.

Georgia added to its lead after Fromm found wideout Jeremiah Holloman for a 61-yard touchdown.

The Tigers’ rushing kept Mizzou in the game. True freshman Tyler Badie ran for a pair of first downs and Johnson had a catch that got Missouri into the red zone. Badie ran for a 3-yard touchdown and Lock fired a bullet to Okwuegbunam on a two-point conversion that made the score 33-22.

Fromm, who hasn’t played in the fourth quarter all season, started it off with 54-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman. Lock responded with his third rushing touchdown in as many weeks, making it 40-29 with 10:47 left.

With five minutes remaining and Missouri needing a first down to stay on the field, Lock found Crockett for a catch just short of the marker.

Despite the fumble, Okwuegbunman was Missouri’s leading receiver with nine catches for 81 yards. Senior Emanuel Hall was held catchless by Georgia’s secondary.

Missouri is off next weekend and heads to South Carolina for its next game on Oct. 6. Kickoff time will be announced on Monday.

Alex Schiffer

Alex Schiffer covers University of Missouri athletics for The Star.

This story was originally published September 22, 2018 at 2:55 PM.