NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A fourth-down stance with 1:03 to play and two fourth quarter 50-plus yard field goals by redshirt freshman Blake Craig ultimately sealed the TransPerfect Music City Bowl for No. 19 Missouri over Iowa on Monday afternoon.
With the Tigers (10-3) trailing 24-21 with 10 minutes remaining in the final frame, Craig drilled consecutive field goals from 51- and 56-yards out to push MU in front, 27-24, with 4:36 left to play. Following back-to-back three-and-outs by both teams, Iowa (8-5) was driving down the field and was faced with a 4th-and-inches opportunity with 51 seconds left. On the snap, linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. leaped over the Hawkeyes offensive line and slowed down quarterback Brendan Sullivan just enough for teammate Daylan Carnell to make the tackle at the line of scrimmage for the turnover on downs. Ballgame Tigers.
With the win, Mizzou posted double-digit victories for the second-straight season and for the just the third time in school history, first since 2013-14. The victory also gave head coach Eliah Drinkwitz his 38th win at Missouri, which is the most by any MU coach in his first five seasons at the helm. Additionally, Brady Cook, who became the first Mizzou quarterback to start four bowl games in a career, won for the 27th time as an MU starter, which is second in program lore only to Chase Daniel (30).
Missouri earned its sixth one-possession victory of the season, and 14th in come-from-behind fashion in the last two years, including nine in which the Tigers trailed in the second half.
Iowa held a 21-14 lead at halftime and extended that to 24-14 with a 38-yard field goal by Drew Stevens with 5:19 left in the third quarter. But after that, Missouri’s defenders thwarted four straight Hawkeye possessions, one with a pass interception by Toriano Pride Jr., one with a tackle for loss by Triston Newson, one with an incomplete pass defended by Marvin Burks Jr., and the last with the heroics by Flagg and Carnell. In the second half, Iowa gained just 102 total yards, had five first downs and scored three points.
Following Stevens’ field goal, Cook started Mizzou’s comeback, completing a 17-yard third-down pass to Daniel Blood, as well as 44- and 12-yard passes to Marquis Johnson to set up a Joshua Manning four-yard touchdown reverse to the left to narrow the Iowa lead to 24-21.
After Pride intercepted a Sullivan pass near midfield, the Tigers moved 20 yards to set up Craig for a 51-yard field goal to tie the score at 24-24 with 10:10 to play.
Five minutes later, after Newson’s stuff of Sullivan forced an Iowa punt, Cook completed a 20-yard pass to Tavorus Jones and a 15-yarder to Johnson before Craig struck again – this time from 56 yards – to give Missouri its first lead of the game, 27-24, with 4:36 to play. Craig’s two field goals are the longest in Music City Bowl history and his six 50-plus-yard field goals this season are tied for second most in MU history.
Iowa’s last gasp came with 1:44 to play after a short punt by Luke Bauer. But Johnny Walker Jr. sacked Sullivan for a 13-yard loss on first down and three plays later, with the Hawkeyes needing less than a yard for a first down, Flagg dove over the line of scrimmage and forced Sullivan into Carnell’s arms for the game-winning tackle. Walker Jr. had two sacks in the game, extending his nation-leading streak of games with 0.5-plus sacks to seven.
Cook ended his career completing 18-of-32 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 54 rushing yards on 14 carries. He moved past Brad Smith and into third place in Missouri career passing history with 9,013 yards. He’s the only MU quarterback with more than 9,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.
Missouri’s win was its third-straight bowl victory over a Big 10 Conference opponent, following a win over Minnesota in the 2015 Citrus Bowl and last year’s Cotton Bowl triumph over Ohio State. It also avenged MU’s loss to Iowa in the 2010 Insight Bowl by the same, 27-24, score.
Carnell and Newson were MU’s top tacklers with seven apiece. Newson had two tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry. Besides Walker Jr.’s two sacks, he also had a quarterback hurry.
Cook’s top target in the game was Johnson, who finished with a career-high seven receptions for 122 receiving yards with one touchdown. Theo Wease Jr. compiled 75 yards on five catches with one score in one half of play after being sidelined by injury.
Iowa’s first-half scores came on a six-yard pass to Terrell Washington, a 100-yard kickoff return by Kaden Wetjen and a one-yard run by Kamari Moulton. Wetjen’s touchdown was the first kickoff return for a score against the Tigers since South Carolina’s Debo Samuel took one back 97 yards against Mizzou in 2017.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will open the 2025 season hosting the Central Arkansas Bears on Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium on Aug. 30, 2025.
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