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Drew Lock, your legacy awaits you.
Up until this point, Lock’s legacy at Missouri has been defined by resiliency. By stats. By records. By chips-on-his-shoulder.
It hasn’t been defined by wins. It especially hasn’t been defined by put-the-nation-on-notice wins.
Missouri’s game against No. 2 Georgia on Saturday provides Lock the opportunity to do just that. It’s not going to be decided just by Lock — Missouri’s defense will have to outrun its headlights, and the rest of the offense will have to match Georgia blow-for-blow. But a transcendent quarterback can mask a lot of issues.
Lock did that against Purdue. That was a stepping-stone game. Lock has been 3-0 once before in his career. That was his freshman year, and he wasn’t the starter yet. The wheels hadn’t fallen off the bus of that season at that point. He’d never been 3-0 as a starter; hell, he’d never even been 2-0 until this season.
Georgia is a legacy game.
A win against Georgia would almost assuredly provide Lock with his early-season Heisman moment. A win against Georgia would catapult Missouri into the Top-25. A win against Georgia would almost assuredly be one of the biggest Missouri upsets in the last quarter century.
If Lock can orchestrate that — and then subsequently lead this team to nine regular-season wins — then there’s a new lead chapter in Lock’s legacy at Missouri.
True Son. Record Breaker.
Giant Killer.
Missouri-Georgia football: Time, TV channel
Time: 11 am CT
Date: Saturday, Sept. 22
Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, Mo.
TV: ESPN
Missouri-Georgia football: How to watch online
Fans can watch Missouri-Georgia football online at WatchESPN.com.
Missouri-Georgia football: Betting odds, game predictions
Missouri is a 14 to 14 1⁄2 point underdog against Georgia, according to VegasInsider.com. The average game line is 66 points.
Missouri-Georgia preview, predictions
Pete Scantlebury: I’m all-aboard the Drew Lock Hype Train. He is playing the best ball of his career, and even more, he seems to have gone to the next level in understanding what everyone is doing on offense. Because of him, I think Missouri is in this game until the end of the third quarter... but then it gets away from the Tigers in the fourth, as Georgia’s ground game wears down the defense and wears down the clock. I’m predicting a 45-31 scoreline in favor of Georgia.
As for who has to ball out for Mizzou to win, it’s simple. They need to have a star performance at each level of the defense. I’m saying Terry Beckner, Terez Hall (Cale Garrett is great, but Hall can be more disruptive) and Cam Hilton all need to have the game of their lives to win on Saturday.
Mitch Hill: This is a Mizzou page after all, so let’s have some fun. Mizzou 41 Georgia 34. TBJ is going to have a BIG game. MIZ.
Jack Parodi: I’d love to be a homer and say Mizzou is going to pull off the upset, but I’m gonna be real here: Georgia 48, Missouri 38. All I’ve got to say is good teams win, great teams cover (the line is UGA -15.5). Middle linebacker Cale Garrett will have to have a big game if Missouri’s defense will slow down Fromm and the Georgia offense. Not only will his physical play of reading gaps to stop the run be crucial, but the mental game of reading Georgia’s formations and putting his defense in the right positions to succeed will be extremely important as well.