
The Tigers came back and won another thriller, finishing the regular season with nine wins.
Through two quarters against Arkansas, Mizzou lacked a key component to victory in any sport: life.
The Tigers registered just 107 total yards of offense, and three of its five drives in the first half ended in punts. Brady Cook was 3/6 for 23 yards with multiple underthrows. Burden was targeted once, and it wasn’t until there were under two-and-a-half minutes left in the first half. The Tigers were also just 1/6 on third down.
However, three of MU’s last four games — Auburn, Oklahoma and South Carolina — had seen the Tigers reinvigorate themselves after sleepy first halves. In the second halves of those contests, Mizzou went on 18-0, 27-14 and 24-6 runs, respectively.
The question was, with the Tigers tied with Arkansas at seven through two frames, if they could do it again. Through a snowy turf and frigid temperatures, they did it again
While Saturday didn’t feature a sudden tear of epic proportions, the Tigers did just enough to secure a 28-21 victory to claim the Battle Line Trophy for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.
The go-ahead touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter featured two of Mizzou’s top seniors shining when their team needed them the most. Cook found Burden for an 11-yard gain on third-and-nine; later in the drive, Cook shot straight up the middle for a 30-yard rushing touchdown to complete an eight-play, 75-yard march. Cook then found a wide-open Burden on the two-point conversion attempt courtesy of a reverse pass. On the ensuing Razorback drive, the Tiger defense stood tall in scoring territory, breaking up a last-gasp prayer into the end zone.
MU’s final touchdown drive heavily contrasted what the Tigers had done on offense all game long. Yet again, MU relied on an offensive strategy that Similarly to last week against Mississippi State, Mizzou was content once again to embark on slow, time-killing drives. Its first touchdown drive, which started as a result of a recovered strip-sack, saw the Tigers take almost four minutes and 30 seconds to drive the ball 40 yards for a touchdown.
Late in the third quarter, after Corey Flagg Jr. recovered a fumble by Ja’Quinden Jackson, the Tigers went on a 16-play, 57-yard drive that took up over eight minutes of game action. Mizzou had to settle for a field goal after a fourth-and-one attempt was thwarted by a false start courtesy of Jordon Harris, but it’d successful generated a scoring drive through efficient running. Its next drive saw the Tigers take over four minutes to drive 34 yards, ultimately ending with a two-yard touchdown by Carroll.
10 years ago, with an SEC Championship game berth on the line in the regular season finale against Arkansas, Mizzou relied on running backs Russell Hansbrough and Marcus Murphy late in the second half. On the go-ahead 12-play touchdown drive, the two picked up all but six of the 85 yards needed to clinch a trip to Atlanta. This time around, it was Carroll who shouldered the bulk of the workload, finishing with 90 rushing yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns.
Similar to other cold weather-stricken football games, passing proved to be difficult for at least one team, and it was Mizzou. Cook finished 10/20 for 168 yards, marking one of the worst performances of his career in a game where he started all four quarters. 70 of those yards came on one completion, which was the a 70-yard catch-and-run by Theo Wease Jr.
However, other facets of the game remedied Cook’s struggles. For Arkansas, holding onto the pigskin also proved to be a chore, as the Razorbacks fumbled twice in their opening two drives. The second one, a strip-sack of Taylen Green by Johnny Walker Jr., was recovered by Sterling Webb, and the Tigers capitalized with a touchdown less than five minutes later. Late in the third quarter, Jackson was stripped of the ball by Walker Jr., and Flagg Jr. recovered; Carroll scored on the ensuing drive.
The Tigers finish the season 9-3; the chance to win 10 games in consecutive seasons for the third time in program history remains alive. Although the preseason aspirations of a College Football Playoff won’t come to fruition barring divine intervention, 10-win seasons haven’t come around very often in Columbia.
Mizzou will now wait a few weeks to see where it’ll be playing its postseason contest. MU is 16-20 all-time in bowl games.
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