Missouri Football: Drew Lock, Tigers put a hurt on Arkansas

The Missouri football team put a strong exclamation point on the regular season, as Drew Lock went out a winner with a convincing win over Arkansas.

Drew Lock went out a big-time winner and Missouri football picked up an eighth victory on the season, closing out the year with a convincing triumph over Arkansas, 38-0.

Lock, a senior who many believe could be one of the top quarterbacks drafted in the spring, was excellent once again, completing 16 of 25 for 221 yards with four total touchdowns. And he received plenty of support on the day, as well.

After a pair of rushing touchdowns by the typical pocket-passer Lock, the Tiger defense recorded a forced fumble that they returned for a touchdown. Lock proceeded to hit Emanuel Hall on a pair of touchdown passes late in the second and early in the third quarters, putting the contest out of reach at 35-0.

Hall, who recently returned from an injury that cost him several games, finished with six catches for 153 yards and two scores. Larry Rountree III, a sophomore, recorded his fourth 100-yard game of the season with 119 yards.

Lock was a three-plus year starter for Missouri, throwing for 11,820 yards with 96 passing touchdowns. He ranks second all-time behind only Georgia’s Aaron Murray for passing yards and third for touchdowns behind Murray and Danny Wuerffel.

Much like the year has gone, it was a tough day for the Razorbacks on offense. Quarterbacks Connor Noland and Ty Storey combined to go just 10-for-25 for 135 yards, while the once-promising ground unit for Arkansas was held to 52 yards on 39 attempts.

Missouri finished the year .500 in conference play, going 4-4 including four consecutive league wins over Florida, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. The Tigers, who are 8-4, will carry that four-game win streak into a bowl game next month.

Lock was especially good in those final four games, completing 69 percent of his passes for almost 1,000 yards with 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

That brings an end to the season for Arkansas, as they lost four in a row and finished just 2-10, including a winless SEC campaign. The Razorbacks earned a season-opening win over Eastern Illinois and topped Tulsa late last month, 23-0.