In an up-and-down affair, Mizzou came back from a 14-point deficit to down Auburn in a battle of the Tigers.
Both starting quarterbacks were shaken up in the early stages of each half, but their respective rebounds turned the tide for each team. As it turned out, Brady Cook’s return for Mizzou would be enough of a catalyst to overcome their struggles for much of the game.
After a relatively promising opening drive by Mizzou, leading to a 51-yard field goal from Blake Craig, it seemed that Auburn’s ensuing mistakes would keep them from ever getting out of neutral. Payton Thorne looked shaky when the visitors went away from the run game, including a bounce pass to a wide-open KeAndre Lambert-Smith. But after they finally strung together enough to knot the game at 3, they were gifted the ball on a botched handoff by Mizzou… only for Thorne to fumble it at midfield and hand it right back.
By then, though, Mizzou was having a hard time. Brady Cook hobbled off after staggering to the turf on their opening drive, leaving backup Drew Pyne to tread water with the offense. The halftime score was only going to be 3-3, with the way each team’s attempts to move the ball fared. Even when a drive made it to dangerous territory, a sack or turnover torpedoed any chance of points.
Auburn came out of the halftime break hot, though, marching to midfield with ease… until Payton Thorne was blown up on a run right down Main Street. With the wind knocked out of him, Thorne had to take a couple of plays off before airing it out again.
Naturally, when he did, it was a beauty of a long bomb dropped right into the hands of Cam Coleman. The true freshman burned his corner while safety Marvin Burks Jr. was late to react, and by the time the ball was thrown, neither defensive back had a chance.
It went from bad to worse for Mizzou just minutes later when Luther Burden muffed a punt at his own 15. The ball slipped right through him as he was hit, and Antonio Kite was quickest to it as it trickled into the end zone. Not four minutes into the second half, it went from a tie game to a two-touchdown lead for Auburn.
Mizzou would at least dampen the blow with a field goal on their next drive, but Auburn drove down the field to get a chance to restore the 14-point lead. Town McGough would miss the chip shot wide left, though, ceding the stage to Brady Cook.
On Homecoming, it only made sense that Cook’s return from injury (as well as the hospital, where he got an MRI on his ankle) would reel Mizzou to life.
It didn’t take long for their heart rate to pick up. On a 3rd and 10, Cook fired a dart over the middle to Mookie Cooper, who broke out for 78 yards before he ran out of gas just two yards from the goal line. Marcus Carroll would go on to pound it in, and after Cook broke the plane on a fake reverse for the two-point conversion, Mizzou was within arm’s length of Auburn at 17-14.
The momentum didn’t quite carry over, but the Tigers in black stepped up to stomp out Auburn’s run game on several drives to keep within reach, even when their offense suffered from horrendous field positioning and untimely sacks. Auburn’s 110 yards on the ground came on only 3.1 yards per carry, with a 2.4 YPC in the second half.
Thus, the game remained 17-14 when Mizzou took over once more at the 4:26 mark from their 5-yard line. Brady Cook’s scrambling ability kept the drive alive twice early on, first to turn a 2nd and 10 into 3rd and 1, then to convert a 3rd and 7 immediately after. That got them out of the shadow of their goalposts, and a pass interference on Auburn bumped them into the visitors’ territory.
They’d still have to convert a 4th and 5 from there, but that was elementary; Cook drifted to his left, Luther Burden III created plenty of separation on the out route, and Mizzou marched to the Auburn 25.
On the 17th play of the drive, Jamal Roberts pinballed into the end zone for a touchdown to complete the comeback with 46 seconds left on the clock, which was nowhere near enough for Auburn to respond. It was all but sealed once Payton Thorne took a sack on second down.
The win is a huge one for Mizzou to stay in the hunt in a highly competitive SEC, especially given their next matchup is a must-win for both sides as they travel down to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama. Auburn will lick their wounds on the route to Kentucky for their next game.
