College Football Countdown: 87 Days
By Matt Green
With 87 days remaining on our College Football Countdown, we take a look at one of the most explosive offenses in the SEC in 2016.
The Missouri Tigers averaged 500.5 yards per game last season, which was the best in the SEC, and the 13th best in college football. Only Ole Miss averaged more passing yards than the Tigers in 2016. Missouri averaged 295.4 passing yards per game, which ranked 20th in the country.
And that brings us to no. 87 on the College Football Countdown.
87
Missouri’s Drew Lock threw an 87-yard touchdown pass to Johnathon Johnson against Eastern Michigan in 2016.
Missouri made quick work of Eastern Michigan with a 61-21 victory last season. With a 20-7 lead late in the first half, the Tigers took over at their own 13-yard line.
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On the first play of the drive, Drew Lock takes the snap and fires out to the left sideline for a wide receiver screen, Johnathon Johnson catches the ball along the ground, cuts through the Eagles’ defense, and takes it all the way for a touchdown.
That was actually Johnson’s second touchdown of the game. In the first quarter, Johnson bobbled a punt return, then picked it up and took it 54 yards for a touchdown. In what was by far his best game of the season, Johnson had five receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown in the passing game. And he also had 95 kick and punt return yards in the game.
The freshman was third on the team in receiving last season with 24 receptions for 435 yards and 2 touchdowns last season. He was also third in the SEC with 18.1 yards per reception in 2016.
Missouri returns each of their top four receivers from last season, so they should be poised to make some more big plays in the passing game in 2017.