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Following a 4-8 campaign under first-year head coach Barry Odom, Missouri looks to bounce back with an dangerous offense and tough defense.
Quarterback Drew Lock and running back Damarea Crockett give the Tigers one of the most explosive backfields in the nation. Lock threw for 3,999 yards and 23 touchdowns as a sophomore, ranking in the top 10 nationally, while Crockett led all SEC freshman in rushing, carrying the ball 153 times for 1,062 yards and 10 touchdowns.
However, Lock isn’t focused on his stats or where he stacks up against the rest of the quarterbacks in the country, he is focused on winning games.
“My main goal is not necessarily the stats, we want to win games at the University of Missouri,” Lock said at SEC Media Days this summer. “To do that I need to be more accurate with the ball. My accuracy was not where I wanted it to be (last season), it was OK, and if I do that and take care of the ball, we will win football games.”
In order to win games, Missouri will have to get back to playing the hard-nose defense they played while capturing back to back SEC East titles in 2013 and 2014.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to be really good on defense,” Odom said at SEC Media Days. “We’ve got a bunch of guys coming back. Five or six had meaningful snaps in this league. We recruited well, we got great coaches on that side of the ball, and I’m looking forward to get that started and building that back the way we need to.”
2017 Schedule
Sept. 2; Missouri State
Sept. 9; South Carolina
Sept. 16; Purdue
Sept. 23; Auburn
Oct. 7; at Kentucky
Oct. 14; at Georgia
Oct. 21; Idaho
Oct. 28; at UConn
Nov. 4 Florida
Nov. 11; Tennessee
Nov. 18; at Vanderbilt
Nov. 25; at Arkansas
2016 Record: 4-8 (2-6 Conf./7th in SEC East)
All-time SEC championships: 0
All-time bowl appearances: 15-16
2016 Results
Sept. 3; at West Virginia; L 11-16
Sept. 10; Eastern Michigan; W 61-21
Sept. 17; Georgia; L 27-28
Sept. 24; Delaware State; W 79-0
Oct. 1; at LSU; L 7-42
Oct. 15; at Florida; L 14-40
Oct. 22; Middle Tennessee; L 41-45
Oct. 29; Kentucky; L 21-35
Nov. 5; at South Carolina; L 21-31
Nov. 12; Vanderbilt; W 26-17
Nov. 19; at Tennessee; L 37-63
Nov. 25; Arkansas; W 28- 24
Starters returning: 15
Offense: 10
Defense: 5
Specialty: 0
Starters Lost: 6
Offense: 1
Defense: 5
Specialty: 0
