No. 19 Missouri Becomes Bowl Eligible after 21-17 Homecoming Victory over Auburn

Game Recap: Football | 10/19/2024 3:04:00 PM

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite playing through injury, Brady Cook led a pair of long touchdown drives that helped No. 19 Missouri register the come-from-behind victory over Auburn, 21-17, before a sellout crowd on Homecoming at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field on Saturday.

Cook, hobbled by an injury suffered on the game’s first possession, missed nearly the entire first half and much of the third quarter before rallying Mizzou (6-1, 2-1) to its eighth consecutive Homecoming victory. That stretch marked the longest consecutive for the school that invented the tradition, and first victory over Auburn (2-5, 0-4) since the 1973 Sun Bowl. Additionally with Saturday’s win, MU is bowl eligible for the fifth consecutive season.

Trailing 17-6, Cook returned to the game with 31 second remaining in the third quarter and completed a 3rd-and-10 pass over the middle that Mookie Cooper took 78 yards to the Auburn two-yard line. It was the longest non-scoring pass completion at Missouri in at least the last 60 years. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Marcus Carroll barreled into the end zone for a touchdown and Cook ran for a two-point conversion to bring MU within 17-14.

The two teams exchanged five punts until Missouri took over at its own five-yard line with 4:26 to play. Cook marched the Tigers 95 yards in 17 plays, converting a 4th-and-5 play with a 16-yard completion to Luther Burden III, and a 3rd-and-10 to Theo Wease Jr. At the nine, Jamal Roberts ran for five yards to the four, then broke three tackles on his way to the end zone for the score that put Mizzou up for good with just 46 ticks remaining.

On Auburn’s final possession, Daylan Carnell, Dreyden Norwood and Tre’Vez Johnson each broke up a pass and Johnny Walker Jr. sacked quarterback Payton Thorne.

Cook completed 11-of-22 passes for 194 yards. Burden III caught six passes for 49 yards and became the 12th Tiger to top 2,000 career receiving yards. He now has 167 receptions for 2,027 yards.

With the score tied 3-3 at halftime, Auburn took the second-half kickoff and quickly scored on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Thorne to Cam Coleman to take a 10-3 lead. Just over a minute later, Burden III muffed a punt at the 15-yard line that bounded into the end zone where it was recovered for a touchdown by Auburn’s Antonio Kite to up the lead to 17-3.

Backup quarterback Drew Pyne, who for his nearly three quarters of play completed 10-of-21 passes for 78 yards, led a 44-yard drive on MU’s next possession that ended with a 38-yard field goal by Blake Craig to pull the deficit to within 17-6. Auburn’s Towns McGough then missed a 30-yard field goal before Cook returned to deliver his heroics.

In the first quarter, Craig kicked a 51-yard field goal, the fourth 50-plus field goal of his young career, tying him with Jeff Jacke for third on the MU career lists, and McGough countered with a 32-yarder for Auburn.

Missouri’s defense limited Auburn to 286 total yards, and just 22 yards – four rushing and 18 passing, in the fourth quarter alone.

Safety Marvin Burks Jr. and linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. each had nine tackles, while linebacker Triston Newson added seven.

Before today Auburn had been 150-1 over the last 20 years when leading by 14-or-more points in the second half.

UP NEXT

The Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, next week to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday, Oct. 26. Game time at Bryant-Denny Stadium will be either 2:30, 3:15 or 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on either ABC or SEC Network.

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