Dec. 7, 2013
ATLANTA, Ga. – Henry Josey and Dorial Green-Beckham had standout performances offensively, but they were not enough as No. 3 Auburn outlasted No. 5 Missouri, 59-42, to win the SEC Championship inside the Georgia Dome.
Mizzou (11-2) awaits its bowl selection Sunday night. It is Auburn's (12-1) first SEC title since 2010.
On a day that his inspirational comeback story was profiled nationally on ESPN's College GameDay, Josey had his second-highest output of the season, rushing for 123 yards on nine carries. Green-Beckham caught a pair of touchdowns from James Franklin on the way to a career-high 144 yards on six catches.
Auburn's Tre Mason earned MVP honors with an SEC Championship Game records of 304 yards and four touchdowns on 46 carries, scoring on runs of 7, 3, 13 an 1 yards.
It was a back-and-forth game from the start, as the teams combined to score on half of the 18 drives in the first half. Andrew Baggett started things with a 42-yard field goal less than five minutes into the game. The lead changed hands on the next five touchdowns before Baggett's 36-yarder with 7:19 left in the first half brought Mizzou within 21-20. Green-Beckham's second TD reception from Franklin made it 28-27 at the half.
After a 52-yard Cody Parkey field goal, Marcus Murphy gave Mizzou its first lead (34-31) since early in the game on a wide-open 10-yard catch from Franklin, who finished 21-of-37 for 303 yards and three touchdowns.
