COLUMBIA, Mo. -- James Franklin got the better of
Johnny Football while helping No. 5 Missouri reach the SEC championship
game. He's having an outstanding senior season, going 8-0 as the
starting quarterback for one of the nation's best
offenses.
And if the Tigers are forced to go without
Franklin for any part of Saturday's game against third-ranked Auburn,
they can always turn to Maty Mauk.
"Having a backup
quarterback for one-third of your season that's a redshirt freshman and
coming out 3-1, almost 4-0, it's pretty remarkable," coach Gary Pinkel
said Monday. "We were very, very fortunate."
No way
Missouri makes it this far without the backup who's returned to making
cameo appearances and likely will get one series early in the second
quarter on Saturday against Auburn (11-1, 7-1).
Mauk
finished the job at Georgia after Franklin was sidelined with a shoulder
injury. The redshirt freshman entered with the Tigers clinging to
precarious two-point lead in the fourth quarter and led the way to a
15-point triumph that was the school's first road win over a top-10 team
since 1981.
Mauk was 3-1 as the stand-in starter, an
extended opportunity that can only help down the
road.
"James is a little bit more reserved and has
more of a calming presence and Maty has a little bit of a crazed look in
his eye and intensity that I can very much identify with," offensive
guard Max Copeland said. "I love playing for both of
them."
Mauk threw five touchdown passes in a victory
over Kentucky, and did his part in wins over No. 22 Florida and
Tennessee. The lone loss was in overtime at home against No. 20 South
Carolina when kicker Andrew Baggett hit the upright on a 24-yard field
goal.
Franklin will be making his third straight
start this week after helping clinch the SEC East in a 28-21 victory
over Texas A&M and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel on
Saturday night. Missouri (11-1, 7-1) had a slow start offensively,
trailing 14-7 at the half, but Franklin ended up with two touchdown
passes and no interceptions to go with a season-best 80 yards rushing on
18 carries.
"I'm real proud of him, how he's
competed, and all the things he's done to get back to 100 percent,"
Pinkel said. "All that he went through hardens him a little bit, which
is good.
"He's physically tough, we all know
that."
On the year, Franklin has completed 66.9
percent of his passes for 16 touchdowns with four interceptions. He
remains a formidable rushing threat, with 412 yards, a 4.5-yard average
and three touchdowns.
"I don't mind if I run it every
time or not at all," Franklin said. "I'm happy to do it. Being healthy
and having the success we've had after last year, I'm not
surprised."
Before fall workouts, Pinkel planned to
run Franklin less in hopes of keeping him healthy. But there's no
ignoring that aspect of his game.
"Last week I
thought we kind of got the ball rolling a little bit by him running a
little bit," quarterbacks coach Andy Hill said. "There's a lot of good
things he does."
It can be tough duty, coming in
cold. But Mauk has completed 51 percent of his passes with 10 touchdowns
and two interceptions.
"Shoot, he came in real cold
against Georgia and did a pretty good job, didn't he?" Pinkel said.
"It's not going to be perfect every time he goes in there,
OK?"
Often, Mauk's lone series has begun inside the
Missouri 20. Mauk got rare favorable field position at the Texas
A&M 37 after a turnover, but scrambled too much and got sacked
on first down, and the Tigers ended up punting.
