As the singing of the alma mater died down Saturday night and the Missouri football players greeted fans in Faurot Field’s student section, Drew Lock panned the crowd, looking for someone.
“Three!” he heard, immediately recognizing the voice.
The freshman quarterback, a No. 3 imprinted on his black and gold jersey, rushed up to the front of the bleachers, extended his arm and high-fived Andy Lock — his dad.
It was a short interaction, but the love and pride between the two was clear.
Lock said he would hug his dad after every game he played at Lee’s Summit High School. Now, after his first collegiate game, a 34-3 win over Southeast Missouri State, with a few more thousand people in the stands and a higher level of competition, not much seemed to have changed.
“I think when I sit down and I actually take everything in, that’ll be my favorite moment of the whole night,” Lock said. “Maybe that can be something we start up now.”
In his first appearance as a Tiger, Lock managed to rack up 138 passing yards and a touchdown in six completed passes over the course of three drives.
Lock’s touchdown pass was a tad unconventional. With 5:13 left on the game clock and the score at 27-3, he shifted left and tossed a bomb to what looked like nowhere in what seemed like a broken play.
Running back Tyler Hunt sprinted down the field, wide open, to reel the ball in for a 78-yard touchdown.
Sophomore wide receiver J’Mon Moore, who snagged a touchdown of his own in the first quarter off a 27-yard pass from starter Maty Mauk, had two rather contradicting questions for the young gunslinger.
“When (Lock) threw the ball, I was like, ‘What is he doing?’” Moore said. “I look downfield and I see Tyler and I was like, ‘How did he do it?’”
Moore said he also asked Lock if he tricked the defense on purpose. All he got back was a simple, “Yeah.”
Mauk finished his season debut with 181 passing yards and two touchdowns, so Lock doesn’t appear to be securing a starting spot soon.
Coach Gary Pinkel compared the two players to another quarterback duo from a different era in Mizzou football history: Blaine Gabbert and Chase Daniel. In 2008, they too took turns playing, with the younger player seeing less time on the field.
“Both (Mauk and Lock) are doing well, and that’s good,” Pinkel said. “(Lock) did some good things. I really thought he executed well. He needs tons of work. As long as he practices well and produces when he comes in, we’ll continue to (put him in).”
Sophomore wide receiver Nate Brown, who went home with a 25-yard touchdown from Mauk, has quickly realized both the similarities and differences between the two quarterbacks.
“I feel like (Lock) learned from Maty in how he sort of carries himself and carries his team,” Brown said. “Learning from that and bringing some of his own skillset to this offense makes him a great player.”
With the Drew Lock hype at mountainous heights, the nicknames are bound to pop up.
Moore has already coined his own.
“He’s Mr. Magic Man,” Moore said. “Drew does some interesting things. He’s wowed me a lot. He’s a playmaker, man.”