Stat Breakdown: Emanuel Hall is not just a deep ball threat

Emanuel Hall has talked about wanting to run more than just go-routes in Missouri’s offense this season.

Week 1 against UT-Martin, that didn’t happen.

Hall racked up 171 yards on four catches, a result of every catch being for over 30 yards — including a long of 62. At the time, Hall knew he could have busted out more than just deep routes but realized he had the opportunity to break loose every snap.

“Against a team like this, we just decided that calling the whole play sheet is not necessarily what we want to do, and honestly, the nine-balls were there all day long,” Hall said after the victory over the Skyhawks. “Like I said before, if the nine-balls are there, I’m not gonna run anything else.”

On Saturday against Wyoming, Hall matched his 171-yard performance from Week 1, but instead of all deep-ball receptions, he showcased the rest of his route-running arsenal.

It took him 10 catches to total another 171 yards, but Hall did it with slants over the middle and screen passes in addition to the same deep passes that have made him a vertical threat. He had a 12-yard reception in traffic for the Tigers’ first first down; he had back-to-back catches for 16 and 14 yards on Missouri’s third drive of the game; he had a few quick looks of less than 10 yards to move the chains.

And, to remind everyone why he became the top receiving option in the first place, Hall took off for a 36-yard grab along the left sideline that sparked the Tigers’ first touchdown drive of the game.

“The myth of ‘I can’t run routes’ is kind of gone,” Hall said. “Because I can. And I’m glad that this game they showed something different so we could show those plays.”

Oh yeah, and he was at a pretty good receiving yard pace after his 28-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter (that number sits at 2,052 now by the way.)

Lock is now a top-10 SEC career-touchdown leader

Drew Lock was bound to join some SEC career leaderboards by the end of this season.

His career year in 2017 gave him a head start, and through two games in 2018, Lock is showing he’s well on his way to etching his name into some record books.

On his second touchdown pass against the Cowboys, Lock moved into a tie for 10th place with Rex Grossman (Florida) and A.J. McCarron (Alabama) at 77 career touchdown passes. By the time Missouri walked away with a 40-13 win, Lock had thrown two more touchdowns and finished tied for seventh with Andre Woodson (Kentucky) at 79.

Eli Manning (Mississippi) sits in sixth place ahead of Lock with 81 passing touchdowns, a total he should no doubt pass by the end of Saturday’s matchup with Purdue. And while it’ll take a lot of work for Lock to overtake Aaron Murray (Georgia, 121) and Danny Wuerffel (Florida, 114) at the top, it would be a huge surprise if he doesn’t end up in third place ahead of Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 89).

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Other notable Week 2 stats

• Lock also showed off his ground game, rushing for 51 yards and a touchdown. The running backs struggled to get much going themselves, though, and freshman Tyler Badie led the unit with 4.2 yards-per-carry.
• Linebacker Terez Hall starred for the dominant Tigers’ defense as it held Wyoming scoreless in the first half. Hall finished Saturday with a team-leading five total tackles — including four solos — two quarterback hits and a forced fumble.
• Kicker Tucker McCann missed his first field goal of the year with 12:01 to go in the first quarter — and then missed his second just 15 game-minutes later. McCann went 2-for-4 overall on the day to drop his field goal success rate to 71.4%, a percentage he needs to bring up if Missouri is to rely on his boot moving forward.