Missouri had Texas on the ropes for most of Saturday, then watched the game slip away in the final stretch.
The No. 18 Tigers led nearly the entire afternoon at home before No.
7 Texas ripped off a 21-0 run and left Columbia with a 34-20 win. For Missouri, the loss marked its third of the season and dealt a heavy blow to whatever path remained toward an SEC title push or a College Football Playoff run.
There’s no time to sit on it, either. No.
2 Georgia is next week’s opponent, with No. 6 Kentucky following after that.
Missouri’s first meeting with Texas in almost a decade ended with a familiar problem: the Tigers couldn’t finish.
On offense, the grade lands at a C, and the numbers tell the story. Missouri went just 3-for-16 on third down, the kind of inefficiency head coach Eli Drinkwitz pointed to right away. The Tigers also entered the day among the worst red-zone teams in FBS, and while they did convert 2 of 3 trips, the issues never really disappeared.
The final quarter was especially rough. Missouri never crossed midfield in the fourth, while Texas seized control for the first time all game.
Quarterback Austin Simmons had one of his toughest outings as a Tiger, though even that came with flashes. He finished 23 of 43 for 252 yards and two touchdowns, but the second half was a grind.
Will Muschamp’s aggressive defense forced incompletions, contested throws and batted balls that knocked Missouri out of rhythm. Simmons was also shaken up after getting wrapped up on a QB draw, though he returned and said afterward he was fine.
The run game didn’t provide much relief. Jamal Roberts was limited to 66 yards on 19 carries and got only six rushing attempts after halftime. Ahmad Hardy drew a strong reaction from the Mizzou crowd in his first home game of the season and saw a few more snaps as he continues to work into the rotation.
There were bright spots in the passing game. Cayden Lee led Missouri with 79 yards on nine catches, though he was banged up multiple times and eventually left after fumbling a catch into the air and into a defender’s hands to seal the Texas win.
Trainers helped him off the field, and his status was not available after the game. Naeshaun Montgomery delivered his first college touchdown on a 72-yard catch-and-run, and tight end Brett Norfleet caught his first touchdown of the season.
Even with those plays, Missouri finished with just 336 total yards, its lowest output since the Sept. 19 win over Troy.
Defensively, Missouri earned a C- after hanging around for as long as it could before Arch Manning and Texas found their footing. Manning turned in one of his best games, throwing for 297 yards and three touchdowns while completing 74% of his passes.
Steve Sarkisian helped settle Manning down early with RPOs, screens and quick throws, and as the game wore on, Manning became more decisive against Missouri’s zone looks. The Tigers kept Texas in check in the first half, but the Longhorns’ passing game and ground attack both took over after the break.
Raleek Brown was a major problem in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns that ended up as game-winners and finishing with 133 total yards. Ryan Wingo, the St.
Louis native and former Mizzou recruit, heard boos from the crowd and caught six passes for 53 yards. Emmett Mosley V led Texas with 85 yards and a touchdown on five receptions.
Texas also played without All-SEC receiver Cam Coleman, who was a game-time decision and sat out with a shoulder injury. The Longhorns were also missing star left tackle Trevor Goosby, who is out for the season with a knee injury.
Missouri’s leading tacklers were familiar names again. Nicholas Rodriguez finished with 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a half-sack, while Santana Banner added 10 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and another steady showing.
Special teams had a hand in the collapse, too, and that’s where the grade drops to a D.
Blake Craig missed 2 of his 4 field-goal tries. One from 38 yards in the second quarter would have pushed Missouri ahead 13-7, and another from 46 yards early in the third would have made it 16-10 after the Tigers forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff after one of Craig’s makes.
Brunno Reus was solid on three of his five punts, pinning Texas inside the 20 each time. But his fourth-quarter punt from the Missouri 5 went only 44 yards and gave Texas the ball at its own 46.
The Longhorns scored less than three minutes later. Reus also had a punt blocked in the second quarter, helping Texas tie the game at 10 at the two-minute warning.
DaMarion Fowlkes also had a tense moment when he recovered his own muffed punt catch right at the two-minute mark, just before Missouri tried to answer Texas’ 27-20 lead in the fourth.
The player of the game was Santana Banner, whose physical presence kept showing up while Missouri was still in control. He made several big stops, including a touchdown-saving tackle on Wingo during a Texas reverse in the second quarter and another stop on a Wingo screen shortly after.
Banner has had his share of challenges in coverage, but his value against the run keeps showing up. He remains one of Missouri’s top tacklers, both in the SEC and across FBS, and he kept making plays even as the game turned against the Tigers.
In Other News...
Missouri Fans Have Every Right To Be Furious With The SEC
Missouris latest frustration with the SEC came in the kind of moment that lingers long after the final whistle. During a recent football game, a replay review upheld a ruling that a Missouri forward fumble was recovered by the offense, a decision that kept a Texas drive alive and eventually led to a touchdown. Eli Drinkwitz addressed the officiating afterward, but he stopped short of directly blaming the officials, knowing how quickly that can turn into a fine.
The SEC later issued its own explanation, saying the replay crew did not have clear and obvious video evidence to overturn the call. Even with that clarification, the sequence only added to the sense of grievance around Missouri, where fans were left watching a pivotal possession swing on a review that the league says met the standard but many in Columbia will never view the same way. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Just Got A Ranking Snub At The Worst Time
Missouris stumble against Texas came with an extra sting on Sunday, when the Tigers fell out of the US LBM Coaches Poll altogether. A week after sitting at No. 19, they are now the second team outside the top 25, a reminder of how quickly one loss can change the national view of a team trying to stay in the SEC race.
The timing makes the drop feel even sharper with Georgia next on the schedule, a matchup that will give Missouri an immediate chance to change the conversation. For a team that had been climbing the rankings, the margin for error is suddenly much thinner, and the path back into the poll now runs straight through one of the toughest tests on the calendar. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Let A Huge Opportunity Slip Away Against Texas
Missouri had a chance to turn a marquee matchup into a statement win, but Texas kept finding answers when the game tightened. Arch Manning threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead strike to Raleek Brown, and No. 10 Texas pulled away for a 34-20 victory over No. 19 Missouri in a game that featured multiple video reviews and the first meeting between the programs since 2017.
Austin Simmons did his part for Missouri with 252 passing yards and two touchdowns, but the Tigers could not match Texas late. The Longhorns made key defensive plays in the fourth quarter to close it out, leaving Missouri to wonder how much different the night might have looked if a few pivotal moments had gone the other way. [Read more 🡒]