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DeMarkus Acy says he did not know what he was doing. His teammates suggest the opposite.
In Missouri's 50-17 win over Tennessee on Saturday, Acy took the momentum of the Flights to keep the Tigers in the game.
As Tennessee beat the field at the end of the first half, Acy sent quarterback Keller Chryst back to the Tigers' 13-yard line for 76 yards in the 11th minute. Missouri scored a few games later to extend their lead to 26 -10 and give the Tigers all the leeway they needed.
This interception was the first of two in the game for Acy, who became the first MU player with two choices in a match since John Gibson had two against Florida in 2016.
"It was huge," said Drew Lock about Acy's interceptions. "We were not necessarily down. For him to do it, go to the end, this offsets this first goal on the ground we had entered. "
Acy said he did not know Chryst, who came into play in the second quarter after Jarrett Guarantano, the starter, injured his head and neck. Acy, a 6-foot-2 cornerback, said he spent the entire week watching a movie to understand the hand signals of the quarterback.
When Cryst had a low hand sign below his waist, Acy realized that he was probably calling for a blind fainting. He determined that Chryst was going to aim for the back shoulder of his match, wide, Marquez Callaway, and adjusted from there.
After clinching the pass with 44 seconds left in the half, Acy said he did not know what to do when he was running down because of the current stopwatch.
"I knew it was huge for us," he said. "I did not really know what was going on. "What holiday should I do? Should I leave the field?
He was finally shot deep in Tennessee territory, allowing Lock and the offense to go out. Missouri had two good starts in the game but had only six points. The Tigers' defense allowed Tennessee to offend less than 16 yards in its first two rounds, which led the Missouri offense to feel guilty until Acy's choice.
"Acy saved us from behind," said offensive lineman Kevin Pendleton. "The offensive was stalling. We had an excellent field position in our first two records with six points. You can not do that if you want to win games. "
Lock found Johnathon Johnson on a three-pointer lane for MU for a 3-yard touchdown, 30 seconds after Acy's interception, to allow Missouri to move up to 26-10 in the middle of the season. time.
Acy added another late in the game to bring his season total to three. Missouri coach Barry Odom said after the game that Acy's development on the job has been progressive over the season, due to his wisdom.
"His practice habits have improved," Odom said. "His understanding of not trying to do too much on every game. He made huge games. "
During the season, Acy said he insisted on watching as many movies as he could whenever he had free time. He even watches him to get rid of the writer's blockage when he is in the middle of a test.
Before Acy could get his second pick of the night, second-year security Josh Bledsoe put the final nail in the Tennessee casket.
Off the coast of Tennessee, Nate Anderson, MU's defensive end, escaped the ball to defend his rearguard Carlin Fils-Aime. Bledsoe collapsed on the ball, picked it up and headed for the end zone, pushing the Missouri lead to 40-17 with 9:15 to go in the third quarter.
"I thought," Wait, I can mark that, "said Bledsoe. "So, I made sure I did not touch the ball when I was on the ground, and I just picked it up and started running."
Bledsoe's return to a goal of the match was the first by a MU player since former defenseman Markus Golden sent a fumble to the end zone against Florida in 2014.
Acy's second pick was a quarter-quarter 8:45 victory on the 37-yard Tennessee line. Anderson was ejected from the game after being called to target while he was trying to block Acy.
"I'm blocking to death for my guys," said Anderson. "I just wanted to make a block and help him get to the end zone since he came a little short the first time."
In 2017, Missouri's operating margin was minus-8 and ranked 111th nationally. Saturday's performance brought the Tigers tied for the season at 12 each, which would be in the 60s. Missouri was 89th in turnover on Saturday.
Under Gary Pinkel, Missouri had a series of 47 games in which the Tigers forced a turnover, almost beating a national record. Anderson said Odom was trying to make the defense think constantly about imposing turnovers.
Acy said he had adopted the idea himself after a disappointing sophomore season, where he had his nose in the ball but was not able to play big games with that ability.
"Last year, I felt like I was aggressive and I was trying a lot of tackles, but not really the ball," said Acy. "This year, every week, I'm trying to improve and focus on the ball and big games for my team."
Saturday, that's what he did.
Alex Schiffer
Alex Schiffer covers athletics at the University of Missouri for The Star.
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