COLUMBIA, Mo. – Luther Burden III caught a short pass from Brady Cook on Missouri’s first possession of the second half, spun out of an attempted tackle by Arkansas’ Quincey McAdoo and sprinted 23 yards for a touchdown to give the Tigers (6-6, 3-5) a 26-21 lead. Harrison Mevis added a 29-yard field goal and the defense made it stand up in a 29-27 victory over the Razorbacks (6-6, 3-5) Friday on Faurot Field.
The victory makes the Tigers bowl eligible for the third year in a row, the first time since MU had seven bowl appearances in a row from 2007-2011, and brings trophy in The Battle Line Rivalry presented by Shelter Insurance® back to Columbia.
Missouri leads the series with Arkansas 10-4 including a perfect 6-0 mark in Columbia.
Cook had his most dominant performance as a Tiger, completing 16-of-26 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown and running 18 times for 138 yards and a score. His 380 total yards were a career high and the most by a Tiger since Connor Bazelak had 409 vs. LSU in 2020.
Missouri’s defense held the Razorbacks to 318 total yards, sacked KJ Jefferson seven times and held Arkansas to just two Cam Little field goals in the second half. Ty’Ron Hopper had a season-high 11 tackles including two for losses.
Missouri held Arkansas three-and-out on the game’s first possession with Isaiah McGuire sacking Jefferson for a loss of seven yards on third down. Then Mizzou went to work. Cook executed a perfect fake on the Tigers’ first play and ran 27 yards down the left sideline. Later, Mevis converted a 40-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Jefferson marched the Razorbacks 75 yards down the field, completing a 37-yard pass to Matt Landers along the way, and ran the final three yards of the drive for a touchdown that put the ‘Hogs up, 7-3.
Cody Schrader, who ran 18 times for 87 yards, put the Tigers back on top, 10-3, with a three-yard burst up the middle on a 75-yard drive that featured the receiving of Dominic Lovett and Mookie Cooper. Lovett caught two passes for 39 yards and Cooper two for 30 to set up Schrader’s TD run, his eighth of the season.
Arkansas went three-and-out and Cook went to work again. He dropped a 55-yard pass over Lovett’s shoulder for a big gain to the Razorback 14-yard line, then ran the final 14 yards, scoring untouched on a nine-yard run up the middle to lengthen Mizzou’s lead to 17-7. On the day, Lovett caught six passes for 130 yards and pushed his season receiving yardage total past 800 yards, making him the first Mizzou receiver to hit the 800-yard plateau since Emanuel Hall in 2018. It was also his fourth 100-yard game of the season.
The Razorbacks closed to within 17-14 on a 27-yard pass to Landers. Jefferson beat an all-out blitz by the Tigers on the third-and-eight play and Landers outwrestled Kris Abrams-Draine for the ball in the end zone.
On the Tigers’ next possession, Cook beat the Arkansas’ blitz twice, first running for a 17-yard gain and then for 37 yards down to the 15-yard line. But the drive stalled at the 10 and Mevis booted his second field goal for a 20-14 MU lead.
With 1:35 before the half, Jefferson put Arkansas on top, 21-20, tossing an eight-yard scoring pass to running back Raheim Sanders. On the 75-yard, 11-play drive, the Razorbacks converted two third downs. Sanders, the SEC’s second-leading rusher, was held to 47 yards on 10 carries by the Tigers.
After Burden’s third-quarter TD, Mizzou went for two, but Cook’s two-point conversion pass was intercepted by Hudson Clark.
On Arkansas’ next possession, Jefferson was flushed from the pocket on third down by Maguire and threw an interception to Daylan Carnell, his second in as my weeks. That led to a 29-yard FG by Mevis to make the score, 29-21, although prior to the FG attempt, Schrader ran 17 yards for a touchdown that was nullified by a holding penalty. Mevis’ three field goals ran his career total to 61, tying him with Tucker McCann for second on the Mizzou career charts.
Arkansas responded with a 47-yard drive to get a 46-yard field goal from Cam Little to close within 29-24, and Missouri’s defense protected the lead when Ennis Rakestraw Jr. broke up a 3rd down pass from the two-yard line intended for Ketron Jackson Jr. and forced Arkansas to settle for a 20-yard FG by Little as the ‘Hogs closed to within 29-27.
The next time Arkansas had the ball, Zach Lovett partially blocked a punt by Reid Bauer that was downed at the UA 35-yard line. But Mizzou was unable to move the ball and Mevis’ 55-yard FG attempt was wide right with 4:15 to play.
The Missouri defense forced Arkansas to punt again with three minutes remaining, and the Tigers ran all but the game’s final 14 seconds off the clock. With third-and-four at the MU 20-yard line and 2:01 to go, Cook connected with freshman receiver Mehki Miller for a 22-yard gain that essentially sealed the victory.
UP NEXT
The bowl-eligible Tigers will learn their postseason destination on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. Fans can request tickets for the upcoming bowl game online.
