Mizzou Football Falls in Season Opener at Wyoming, 37-31

Saturday, August 31

Laramie, Wyo.

6:30 PM (CT)

University of Missouri

0-1

Wyoming

1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Missouri

Wyoming

Mizzou Football Falls in Season Opener at Wyoming, 37-31

8/31/2019 10:40:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Redzone turnovers, 27-point Wyoming second quarter cost Tigers in season opener in Laramie

Photo Gallery

LARAMIE, Wyo. – Mizzou Football dropped its 2019 season opener, 37-31, to Wyoming Saturday night (Aug. 31) at War Memorial Stadium. Mizzou jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to a pair of long scoring drives and took that lead into the second quarter. That's when the game flipped as Wyoming scored 27 points in the second, connecting for touchdowns on runs of 61 and 75 yards while also getting a 30-yard, scoop-and-score fumble recovery. The Cowboys led, 27-17, at intermission and held off the Tigers in the second half to seal the win.

Mizzou falls to 0-1 on the year while Wyoming goes to 1-0. Mizzou returns home next Saturday (Sept. 7) to face West Virginia (1-0 after defeating James Madison Saturday).

TOP PERFORMERS

Mizzou senior QB Kelly Bryant set career-highs for passing yards (423), completions (31) and pass attempts (48).
Senior LB Cale Garrett posted his 11^th career game with 10 or more tackles and first since Nov. 3, 2018, in a 38-17 win at Florida.
In his Mizzou debut, senior WR Jonathan Nance caught three passes for 63 yards and matched a career-high with two TDs.
RS junior TE Albert Okwuegbunam caught three passes for 72 yards, his most yards since a 159-yard outburst against Memphis on Oct. 27, 2018.
Sophomore RB Tyler Badie tallied a fourth-quarter TD, the third in his career and first since Nov. 17 of last season against Vanderbilt. He finished the game with 53 yards on 16 attempts.

RECAP

Mizzou won the toss and deferred its choice to the second half, putting its defense on the field. After All-SEC LB Cale Garrett made a tackle for a gain of three on the first play from scrimmage, junior caption DT Jordan Elliott then wreaked havoc in the backfield, blowing up a run play before a third-down QB hurry to force an incompletion to force a three-and-out.

QB Kelly Bryant and the offense took the field with great field position and they marched 65 yards in 12 plays as Bryant found fellow graduate transfer Jonathan Nance for a three-yard TD score to give Mizzou an early 7-0 lead.

The Tigers forced another three-and-out on Wyoming's second drive and again took the ball for a long scoring drive, this time for 75 yards on 11 plays. Junior RB Larry Rountree III capped the drive with a one-yard TD run, his first of the season. That gave Mizzou a 14-0 lead.

But as quick as Mizzou gained its lead, the lead evaporated. The key play was a Bryant keeper with Mizzou leading 14-3. On the play, Wyoming defender Esias Gandy put the hat on the football to jar it loose and Wyoming recovered the fumble ran it 30 yards for the score. Wyoming then gained the lead on a 61-yard rush on its next possession, making it 17-14.

Trailing 24-17, Mizzou was knocking on the door with time winding down in the first half, facing a third-and-goal from the three-yard line. After a Wyoming timeout, Rountree took the handoff and was stuffed and fumbled and Wyoming recovered and returned it all the way to the seven-yard line after a horse collar penalty. Wyoming was rewarded an untimed down for the personal foul and kicked a field goal. That was part of a 27-point second quarter for Wyoming as it took a 27-17 lead into the intermission.

Following the break, Mizzou marched all the way down to the two-yard line, but an offensive pass interference call on third down and a Bryant interception on the next play again kept the Tigers off the board. Wyoming marched down the field and scored to gain a 34-17 lead with just 19:21 to play.

TEAM NOTES

Saturday's game marked the second all-time meeting between Mizzou and Wyoming. The all-time series between Mizzou and Wyoming is now tied at 1-1 after Saturday's loss.
Mizzou is just the second SEC team to play at Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium. The last team to do so was Ole Miss in 2004, a 37-32 win for the Pokes.
Saturday's game marked the first time since 2016 that Mizzou opened a game on the road. Mizzou is now 6-18-3 in road openers since 1980.
Mizzou falls to 83-41-5 in season openers in program history.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

Mizzou RS senior QB Kelly Bryant started the game, his first in a Mizzou uniform. He is the first Mizzou QB to make his first Mizzou start as a senior since Oct. 25, 1980, when Dan McDaniel did so at Kansas State (W, 13-3). McDaniel started the seventh game that year in place of an injured Phil Bradley. Bryant is the first transfer QB to start a game in his first year at Mizzou since Kent Kiefer did so in 1989.
Bryant set career-highs in pass completions (31), attempts (48) and pass yards (423) while throwing for two scores.
Senior WR Jonathan Nance scored his first touchdown as a Tiger and first since Oct. 7, 2017, when he played at Arkansas. He ended the game with three receptions for 63 yards and two TDs.
Junior RB Larry Rountree III scored a one-yard TD plunge and now has TDs in back-to-back games after scoring in last year's finale at the Liberty Bowl.
Senior PR Richaud Floyd had a fourth-quarter punt return of 43 yards. That was Mizzou's longest punt return since Floyd's 74-yard TD return at Vanderbilt on Nov. 18, 2017. Mizzou had just 52 total punt return yards a year ago.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

Mizzou senior MLB Cale Garrett tallied his 11^th career game with 10 or more tackles, leading the Tigers with 16 on the game, a new career-high.
Sophomore LB Nick Bolton tallied a career-high eight tackles.
Junior S Tyree Gillespie posted a career-high six tackles.

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