The University of Missouri Tigers defeated the University of Iowa Hawkeyes in the Transperfect Music City Bowl on Dec 30, 27-24.
Missouri was without star wideout Luther Burden III for the game, who had opted-out to prepare for the NFL draft, leaving quarterback Brady Cook and wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. to rely on underclassmen to help them win the game. Running back Kaleb Johnson and defensive back Jermari Harris opted-out of the game for the Hawkeyes. In spite of numerous opt-outs by players on both teams, Missouri entered the game as a slight 2.5 point favorite according to CBS Sports.
Mizzou started the game with the ball, but Cook and the offense got off to a slow start, punting the ball away after only six plays. Iowa capitalized on Missouri’s initial struggles, scoring a quick touchdown to take the lead. The Tigers then drove down the field, scoring a touchdown via a Cook-to-Wease connection, leveling the score 7-7. Iowa responded immediately, however, taking a 100 yard kickoff return to the house and regaining their lead.
After a back-and-forth first half where it seemed like Iowa responded to every punch Missouri would throw their way, the Tigers went into the locker room trailing 21-14.
In a press conference following the game, head coach Eli Drinkwitz said that he had hoped that his team would make up for their mistakes in the second half and send the seniors off with a victory.
“We talk about ‘start fast, finish strong’ all the time, it’s one of those things that’s important to our program, and I just felt like these seniors had come this far, we just needed to finish,” Drinkwitz said.
Coming out of the locker room, Mizzou and Iowa shared scoreless possessions before Iowa was able to make a field goal with five minutes left in the third quarter. Those would be the final points that Iowa would score in the game.
Mizzou responded to the Hawkeye field goal by quickly driving down the field and scoring a touchdown, sparked by a 44 yard pass by Cook to sophomore wide receiver Marquis Johnson to get within the redzone.
“You can see [Marquis’] ball skills. Whether the ball’s underthrown, overthrown, left, right, doesn’t matter, he’s gonna go up, he’s gonna make a play, he’s gonna be physical and he’s gonna hold onto it and that’s what he does,” Cook said.
After a few important stops by the Missouri defense, redshirt freshman kicker Blake Craig was able to hit two key field goals, which would ultimately be the deciding factor in the game.
In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Iowa had exhausted all of their remaining time-outs and had driven the ball into field goal range, but were stopped inches short of a first down. On fourth down they made the decision to go for it, but thanks to a mismanaged snap and a leap over the offensive linemen by Missouri linebacker Corey Flagg Jr, the Tigers were able to finish the game with a win.
After capping off their second straight ten win season, Drinkwitz and the Tigers will look to carry the upward trajectory of Mizzou football into 2025.
