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Missouri defeated Oklahoma 30-23 on Saturday night in Columbia.
The Tigers pulled off the come-from-behind win despite not having starting QB Brady Cook available due to injury. Drew Pyne had an up-and-down night in his place, but the Tigers were opportunistic offensively and played excellent defense in their win over the former Big 12 foes.
Here are 3 takeaways from Mizzou’s win:
Wild last few minutes
This game had arguably the craziest finish of any college football game so far in 2024.
Oklahoma trailed 16-9 with a little over 3 minutes remaining in the game. The Sooners then tied the game with a touchdown pass from running back Taylor Tatum to quarterback Jackson Arnold.
A few plays later, Oklahoma safety Billy Bowman returned a fumble for a touchdown to give OU its biggest lead of the game. The Sooners appeared to be in the driver’s seat, but the game was far finished.
Missouri drove right down the field to tie the game. Pyne found Theo Wease for his second touchdown catch of the night with 1:03 left on the clock. On OU’s ensuing possession, Arnold fumbled the ball right back to Mizzou — who scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning touchdown. In total, the teams combined to score 4 touchdowns in 3:18 after managing just 1 touchdown over the previous 56:42 of the game.
Missouri’s defense was lights-out
Mizzou’s defense deserves credit for keeping Oklahoma in-check. The Sooners have been poor offensively all season, but the Tigers did well on Saturday night to defend their home turf.
Oklahoma’s offense averaged just 4 yards per play. More importantly, Mizzou forced 5 Oklahoma fumbles and recovered 4 of them. The Tigers converted those 4 turnovers into 13 points, which proved to be the difference in the game.
Mizzou also held Oklahoma to just 5-of-15 on third down, which prevented the Sooners from establishing any momentum offensively.
Where does Mizzou go from here?
Missouri struggled offensively for much of the night, but the Tigers did enough to win this game and extend hope of reaching the College Football Playoff.
The Tigers are now 7-2 on the season and still have an outside chance of reaching the 12-team field if they can win out for the rest of the regular season. But even if that doesn’t happen for Mizzou, this win ensures the Tigers have a shot at winning 10 regular-season games for the second consecutive year under Eli Drinkwitz.
Missouri will travel to face South Carolina next weekend on the road.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
