The Tigers erased a 15-point deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter, only to squander it for their third loss of the season.
Out of the 14 matchups between Mizzou and South Carolina football, two saw the Tigers complete major comebacks. In the 2005 Independence Bowl, MU erased a 21-point deficit en route to a 38-31 victory; 11 years later, the Tigers took down the Gamecocks 21-20 after being down 20-7 in the fourth quarter.
This time around, Mizzou found itself down big in the first half once again; however, despite history almost repeating itself, it didn’t. South Carolina took the Mayor’s Cup for the first time since 2018 with a wild 34-30 victory.
It felt like the cardiac cats had done it again late in the fourth quarter. Down 27-22 and facing a fourth-and-five, Brady Cook lofted a fade ball to Luther Burden III, who was heavily covered. The pass, however, was perfect, and Burden not only reeled it in with one hand, but evaded the defender and scored with 70 seconds remaining in regulation.
“It’s a third and fourth down call that we’ve practiced all week,” Cook said. “I audibled the route to Luther. I saw that the guy covering him was pressed a little tighter than we wanted, so I checked the play, gave Luther the route he loves the most.
“That’s one I’m never going to forget. I know he won’t either.”
Jamal Roberts punched in the two-point try to put the Tigers up 30-27, silencing the seemingly unsilenceable Williams-Brice Stadium. But South Carolina marched right down the field on the ensuing possession, and Rocket Sanders scored the eventual game-winner on a flip pass from LaNorris Sellers with 15 seconds left. The loss was MU’s first in a one-possession game since the start of last season; its record previously sat at 8-0.
“There’s a relentlessness that our team plays with and believes in,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “Just didn’t have enough tonight.”
Mizzou’s reinvigoration began in the third frame. With South Carolina leading 21-6 at halftime, momentum teleported away from the home team’s sideline early on in the third quarter. After the Tigers forced a turnover on downs, MU methodically drove down the field, riding the explosion of Nate Noel and Kewan Lacy all the way to SC’s doorstep.
Marcus Carroll’s scored from two yards out, but a rushing attempt by Brady Cook was stymied, keeping the Gamecock lead at 21-12.
On the ensuing possession, MU stood tall on fourth-and-short once again, stuffing Sellers on a quarterback sneak; although the Tigers were only able to convert the turnover into a field goal, Mizzou forced its first three-and-out of the game on the next possession. Moments later, Cook uncorked a 49-yard rainbow to Marquis Johnson, who reeled in the catch through the heavy contact. Noel scored moments later to put Mizzou up 22-21.
But despite another valiant second-half effort, the Tigers couldn’t overcome self-inflicted miscues that plagued them over the first two quarters. One was an inability to convert on third down; Mizzou went 1/9 on third down, and three of its six drives into South Carolina’s red zone ended in field goals.
“I think that’s the difference in the game,” Drinkwitz said. “Our inability to to convert third downs in the red zone in the first half was why we were behind.”
Another particular problem area laid in the pass defense, which struggled with mishaps from the get-go.
With just over seven and a half minutes to play in the first quarter, Dreyden Norwood was playing man coverage on Nyck Harbor. Norwood blitzed, which would’ve been fine had the safety over the top, Marvin Burks Jr., seamlessly picked up Harbor; however, it wasn’t fine, as Burks moved forward before realizing he had to guard Harbor. His reroute was too late, as Harbor flew by him, and Sellers calmly delivered a lob pass for what was likely one of the easier touchdowns Harbor has ever scored.
After the two-minute timeout of the first half, Sellers lived up to his surname well, selling the run fake on a play-action pass so well that numerous white jerseys gravitated to the line of scrimmage. Joshua Simon snuck past all of them, and Sellers lofted another easy touchdown pass to put South Carolina up 14-6.
Overall, the Tigers couldn’t generate elite levels of pressure, and their secondary did almost the opposite of smothering the SC receivers. Sellers finished 21/30 for 353 yards and five touchdowns with one interception. He became just the third freshman in program history, true or redshirt, to throw for more than 300 yards against an SEC opponent.
“They were getting separation in man, and we weren’t able to get to the quarterback,” Drinkwitz said. “We’re going to have to reassess what we’re doing there.”
Mizzou also committed a handful of untimely penalties. Early in the second quarter, the Tigers committed back-to-back false starts on third-and-seven and couldn’t convert on third-and-17. With under 30 seconds left in the half, Cam’Ron Johnson was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty after pushing Nick Emmanwori, who was standing over Brett Norfleet after being tackled hard following a completion. The penalty took Mizzou out of field goal range, and a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the half wasn’t actually attempted, as Cook fumbled the ball and slipped on the turf monster before he could get a throw off. Late in the third quarter, Chris McClellan sacked Sellers, only for it to be nullified because of a holding penalty on Norwood.
Tackling was also an issue for Mizzou’s defense, and it showed up on what will go down as one of the biggest “what-if” plays of the season. After the Tigers took a 22-21 lead, Johnny Walker Jr. appeared to be in the process of sacking Sellers for a huge loss on third down. But the redshirt freshman who’s shook off several tackles did it again, escaping Walker’s grasp and finding Brady Hunt for an improbable first down. The Gamecocks would score two plays later.
“Big-time players make big-time plays, and I didn’t make that play,” Walker said. “I’ve got to finish.”
SC wide receiver Jared Brown’s 38-yard touchdown late in the second quarter was also helped by poor tackling; Nicholas Rodriguez failed to corral Brown, and despite a never-say-die layout attempt from Kristian Williams, he couldn’t trip up Brown.
The loss clouded some major positives for MU. Cook, who was a game-time decision heading into Saturday, made his first start since Oct. 26 against Alabama. Potential questions regarding his health were evaporated early on. Cook completed 6/8 passes in the first quarter for 62 yards, including a rifle over the middle to Theo Wease Jr. that went for 23 yards. Cook also proved able to extend plays with his legs, including a nine-yard scramble on the play prior to the big completion. He finished 21/31 for 237 yards a touchdown and an interception, but it was a desperation throw after South Carolina had scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“I thought he did everything he could,” Drinkwitz said. “He gave us a chance to win.”
Noel also had a huge day on the ground, racking up 150 rushing yards on 27 carries.
“We ran outside zone to the right like 50 times,” Cook said, “and they couldn’t stop it.”
But it wasn’t enough, as the Tiger defense fell short late. It was reminiscent of the team’s loss to South Carolina in 2018; Tucker McCann kicked a 56-yard field goal to put Mizzou up 35-34 with 78 seconds left in regulation. But it was the Gamecocks who ended up throwing the knockout punch, driving deep into MU territory before Parker White kicked the game-winning field goal with two seconds left.
“We didn’t help the offense out. They did their job,” Walker said. “We’ve got to do ours.”
It was a failed preservation of MU’s slim College Football Playoff hopes, which will be left in The Palmetto State. Mizzou will look to bounce back next week at Mississippi State with a quality bowl game still very much in play.
“Even though it didn’t go our way, I had a whole lot of fun with my teammates tonight,” Cook said. “That’s what I’m gonna remember when I look back at this season.”