Texas kept rolling Saturday in Columbia, and Mizzou’s Playoff hopes took a hard hit with it.
The Longhorns strung together 21 straight points and leaned on a defense that slammed the door late in a 34-20 win over the Tigers at Faurot Field. It was Texas’ third consecutive victory, and the finish was all Longhorns after Mizzou briefly looked ready to seize control.
The Tigers were up 20-13 with a little more than five minutes left in the third quarter when Naeshaun Montgomery turned an Austin Simmons pass into a 72-yard touchdown. Texas answered on the next meaningful stretch, though the drive came with a twist. On 3rd-and-10 from the Mizzou 39 with 2:22 left in the quarter, Arch Manning appeared to throw incomplete, but the play was ruled a fumble and Texas recovered at the 25.
A few snaps later, the Longhorns made it count. Jermaine Bishop Jr. hauled in a 25-yard touchdown to pull Texas even at 20 before the quarter ended.
From there, the game tilted sharply. Texas’ defense forced consecutive Mizzou punts, then Manning delivered the go-ahead strike with 5:03 left, finding Raleek Brown on a 23-yard touchdown down the right sideline.
Brown wasn’t done. After another stop, Mizzou got the ball back just before the two-minute timeout, but on 3rd and 5, Cayden Lee lost the ball near midfield on a hit from Texas’s Warren Roberson.
Graceson Littleton scooped it up and returned it to the Mizzou 6, setting up Brown’s eight-yard touchdown run to put it away.
Mizzou’s final stretch told the story of the night: punt, punt, punt, fumble, turnover on downs after Montgomery’s score. The Tigers also finished just 3-of-16 on third down.
Manning completed 28 of 38 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns. Brown accounted for 133 yards from scrimmage, with 85 on the ground and 48 through the air.
Simmons went 23-of-43 for 252 yards and two touchdowns before briefly leaving in the fourth quarter. Jamal Roberts carried 19 times for 66 yards, while Ahmad Hardy had one carry for three yards.
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 🡒]