Mizzou Football Set for TransPerfect Music City Bowl Matchup with No. 17/16 Iowa on Dec. 30

Wednesday, December 30

Nashville, Tenn.

3 p.m. CT

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Mizzou Football Set for TransPerfect Music City Bowl Matchup with No. 17/16 Iowa on Dec. 30

12/24/2020 4:42:00 PM | Football

Mizzou and Iowa to kick off at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN

Mizzou vs. Iowa in TransPerfect Music City Bowl
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
vs. #17/16 Iowa	Columbia, Mo.	Wednesday, Dec. 30	3:00 PM	ESPN	Stats

#NewZou Game Notes

Mizzou Matches Up with Iowa in TransPerfect Music City Bowl

Mizzou Football (5-5, 5-5 SEC) will close the 2020 season with its 34th all-time bowl appearance as the Tigers face the No. 17/16 Iowa Hawkeyes (6-2, 6-2 Big Ten) in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. The game is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN with Tom Hart, Jordan Rogers and Cole Cubelic on the call. A victory for the Tigers would ensure a fourth-straight season of at least six wins for only the sixth time in the AP Poll Era (since 1936).
It will be Mizzou's first-ever appearance in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, and its 34th bowl game appearance overall, a mark which ranks 30th among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Mizzou is 15-18 all-time in bowl games and made its last appearance in the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl, falling to Oklahoma State, 38-33, on Dec. 31, 2018. Mizzou's last win in a bowl game came against Minnesota at the 2015 Citrus Bowl, when the Tigers defeated the Golden Gophers, 33-17, on Jan. 1, 2015.
Mizzou enters its bowl game matchup coming off a 51-32 setback at Mississippi State, Dec. 19, to close its all-SEC regular season with a record of 5-5. Despite the loss, Mizzou still finished with its second-most league wins as a member of the Southeastern Conference, trailing only the 2013 and 2014 teams, which each won seven games. Senior RB Larry Rountree rushed for a game-high 121 yards on a game-high 25 attempts and scored a pair of touchdowns to tie for the second-most rushing TDs in Mizzou school history with 40 in his career. Unfortunately for Mizzou, the defense was forced to play short-handed in the secondary, down several starters due to injury, and struggled to slow Mike Leach's Air-Raid offense.
Iowa, under 22nd-year head coach Kirk Ferentz, enters the game with a 6-2 mark and a No. 17 ranking in the AP Top 25 and No. 16 ranking in the Coaches Poll. The Hawkeyes also checked in at No. 15 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. After dropping its first two games of the season, Iowa has won its last six games, including a 28-7 victory over Wisconsin (Dec. 12) in its most recent outing. The Hawkeyes last scheduled regular season game against Michigan (Dec. 19) was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Michigan program.
Wednesday's game against Iowa marks the sixth ranked opponent Mizzou has met in 2020; the most for the Tigers since 2013 when they faced a school-record seven ranked opponents. All-told, Mizzou has played six or more games against ranked teams five times in the AP Era (2013—7; 2020—6; 2007—6; 1975—6 and 1972—6) with four of those five seasons ending in bowl games (all but 1975) and the first four teams finishing the season with .500 or better records.

A LOOK AT COACH DRINKWITZ'S IMPRESSIVE FIRST SEASON AT THE #NEWZOU

Under first-year head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, Mizzou has exceeded the expectations that seemingly the entire college football world had for his program in year one, going 5-5 through an all-SEC 10-game regular season, good for third in the SEC East behind No. 10 Florida and No. 11 Georgia. Picked sixth in the SEC East, many around college football thought Mizzou would only win two or three games against one of the nation's toughest schedules, but the Tigers finished with five SEC wins, the second-most as a member of the conference (joined in 2012), trailing only its 7-1 SEC East title winning-performances in 2013 and 2014. In 113 seasons of league play for Mizzou Football, the Tigers have reached five conference wins just 29 times and only seven times since 2000 (including 2020).
Of course, Mizzou had the opportunity to play 10 conference games this season, the most-ever in a single season, but it shouldn't diminish the accomplishment considering Mizzou plays in the nation's premier conference and had five games against Top 25 teams and six against teams receiving votes in a major poll at the time of the matchup.
Drinkwitz joins Warren Powers as the only head coaches in program history to lead Mizzou to a bowl game in their first season along the sideline, and his five victories equal the second-most by a first-year Tiger coach in the AP Poll-Era (1936-present) behind Powers' eight-win debut season in 1978, which was capped by a 20-15 victory over LSU in the Liberty Bowl. Frank Broyles and Dan Devine also won five games in their first seasons along the Tiger sideline in 1957 and 1958, respectively.
Below is a look at each first-year Mizzou head coach since the AP Poll Era began in 1936:
- Eliah Drinkwitz (2020): 5-5
- Barry Odom (2016): 4-8
- Gary Pinkel (2001): 4-7
- Larry Smith (1994): 3-8-1
- Bob Stull (1989): 2-9
- Woody Widenhofer (1985): 1-10
- Warren Powers (1978): 8-4
- Al Onofrio (1971): 1-10
- Dan Devine (1958): 5-4-1
- Frank Broyles (1957): 5-4-1
- Chauncey Simpson (1943): 3-5
- Don Faurot (1935): 3-3-3
Keep in mind, Drinkwitz has done this against an all-SEC slate and still has one game remaining. Should he get to six wins against Iowa, he would join Powers as the only Mizzou coaches to do that in year one.

Series with IOWA

Mizzou and Iowa will meet for the 14th time ever in Nashville, with the last time being a 27-24 Hawkeye victory in the 2010 Insight Bowl at Tempe, Ariz. Mizzou leads the all-time series, 7-6, but 13 of those meetings came between 1892, a 24-0 Tiger win in Columbia, and 1910, a 5-0 Mizzou win in Columbia.
The 2010 Insight Bowl was a back-and-forth battle in the second half, as Mizzou roared back from a 17-3 first-half deficit to grab the lead at 24-20 following a 3-yard TD strike from Blaine Gabbert to Michael Egnew with 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter. But a fourth quarter 72-yard pick six from Iowa's Micah Hyde sealed the victory for the Hawkeyes over the 14th-ranked Tigers.
Mizzou's offense set many records in that bowl game, including Insight Bowl records from Gabbert for completions (41), attempts (57), and most plays (70). Gabbert's 41-of-57 night for 434 yards broke Mizzou all-time bowl records as well. The 41 completions and 57 attempts broke Chase Daniel's 27-of-44 night vs. Northwestern in the 2008 Alamo Bowl, while the 434 yards broke Daniel's 359 yards thrown vs. Oregon State in the 2006 Sun Bowl.
T.J. Moe set an Insight record for most receptions with his 15 grabs. That broke KU's Dezmon Briscoe's 2008 record of 14 set vs. Minnesota. It also broke Mizzou's all-time bowl record of eight catches, set by Thomson Omboga vs. Arkansas, and Chase Coffman vs. South Carolina, in the 2003 and 2005 Independence Bowls, respectively. Moe also recorded 152 receiving yards in the game to set a Mizzou bowl record.
As a team, Mizzou set school bowl records with 86 total plays of offense (85 vs. Auburn, 1973 Sun) and 32 first downs (25 vs. Arkansas, 2003 Independence).

Mizzou Cleans up During Award Season

Ahead of its bowl game Mizzou was well represented during the awards season. Below is a look at the awards given to Mizzou after the conclusion of the 2020 regular season with more likely to come as we approach kick off.

All-SEC (coaches)

QB Connor Bazelak (co-Freshman of the Year, Freshman Team)
LB Nick Bolton (First Team)
DL Trajan Jeffcoat (First Team)
RB Larry Rountree III (Second Team)
K Harrison Mevis (Freshman Team)

All-SEC (media)

LB Nick Bolton (First Team)
DL Trajan Jeffcoat (First Team)

All-SEC (ProFootballFocus)

OL Larry Borom (Second Team)
LB Nick Bolton (Third Team)
K Harrison Mevis (Third Team)
QB Connor Bazelak (Honorable Mention)
WR Damon Hazelton (Honorable Mention)
OL Michael Maietti (Honorable Mention)

The Athletic All-America

LB Nick Bolton (Second Team)

The Athletic Freshman All-America

K Harrison Mevis

Maybe the Best Year One Ever for A Mizzou Coach?

After winning five of its last eight games, Mizzou will be looking for its sixth win of the season in the 2020 TransPerfect Music City Bowl. In his first year leading the program, head coach Eliah Drinkwitz has taken this year's team and got it 100 percent bought into his vision and culture, and the results are evident on the field. Mizzou recorded its most SEC wins since 2014, and the second-most SEC wins in program history. He's done all of this with a team that lost five of its final six games a year ago, scuffling offensively averaging just 11.8 points per game during that span, resulting in a season-ending coaching change. This year, Mizzou is averaging 26.7 points per game.
When the revised schedule was released back in August, many national pundits picked the Tigers to win two or three games and finish six in the SEC East. Below is a snapshot:

       - 247 Sports: 3 wins projected
       - Saturday Down South: 2 wins projected
       - Cover 3 Podcast: 3 wins projected

Well guess what?! Mizzou has five wins with one game yet to play and finished third in the SEC East. Five wins is already the second-most by a first-year Mizzou head coach, behind only Warren Powers, who went 8-4 in his 1978 debut.
When assessing the job of a head coach, many look at the following areas:
Has the team gotten better? That is a resounding yes. Mizzou dropped its first two games of the year to top-ranked Alabama and at then nationally ranked Tennessee. Since that point, Mizzou is 5-3 and has won games in a variety of different ways.
Has the team won close games? Again, a resounding yes. In fact, Mizzou is the only SEC team with a .500 record or better despite allowing more points than its scored on the season. Mizzou pulled out one-score victories against defending national champion LSU (45-41), a 17-10 win at South Carolina while overcoming an injury-riddled offensive line in that game, and the walk-off win over Arkansas. Mizzou also bested Kentucky 20-10 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.
Has the team overcome adversity? Even more so than the first two, this is a resounding yes as well. Mizzou has had just three games this season played on the originally-scheduled date and has had seven schedule changes, most of which have come at the last possible moment. For example, Mizzou was set to face Arkansas on Nov. 28 before having to postpone that game and host Vanderbilt that Saturday instead. Mizzou has also had seven transfers and seven opt outs and is starting a left tackle who joined the program in late July. And Coach Drinkwitz is starting a freshman quarterback in a league that usually takes freshman QBs to the woodshed. And the Tigers overcame the loss of All-SEC DT Kobie Whiteside for five games. And the Tigers beat South Carolina despite being down to 51 scholarship players. We could keep going, but you get the point. The Tigers have been below 60 available scholarship players five times this season, including the Mississippi State game and will be faced with that again this week.

LAST TIME OUT

Senior RB Larry Rountree III rushed for 121 yards and two TDs. It was the 14th time in Rountree's career and the fifth time this season he reached the 100-yard mark. Rountree's two rushing TDs moved him into a tie with former Tiger Zack Abron (2000-03) for second on Mizzou's career list with 40. Rountree also moved into 16th on the SEC career rushing list with 3,720 yards. He passed Nick Fitzgerald (Mississippi State), Sony Michel (Georgia), Trayveon Williams (Texas A&M) and Alex Collins (Arkansas) in the game.
Graduate WR Keke Chism hauled in six catches for 64 yards, including his first TD as a Tiger. He caught a two-yard TD in the third quarter. Chism totaled at least five receptions for the fifth time in the last six games.
Sophomore TE Niko Hea caught a 24-yard TD in the fourth quarter for the second TD of his career.
Redshirt sophomore WR Tauskie Dove recorded his first career pass and completion when he connected with junior TE Daniel Parker Jr. on a 16-yard strike in the first quarter.
Junior RB Tyler Badie had three receptions for 19 yards to mark the 22nd time in the last 23 games he recorded a catch, including every game this season.
Sophomore LB Devin Nicholson matched his career-high with 13 tackles for the third double-digit outing of his career.
Redshirt junior S Shawn Robinson recorded five tackles, an INT, PBU and a TFL in his first action on the defensive side of the ball.
Sophomore DL Isaiah McGuire recorded his second career sack and first career forced fumble, both in the third quarter. The forced fumble set up a Tiger score.
Sophomore S Martez Manuel recorded a career-best two PBUs.
Sophomore S Jalani Williams had career-bests with seven tackles and two PBUs.
Freshman C Ennis Rakestraw Jr. had a career-high seven tackles.
Senior S Joshuah Bledsoe picked off a pass in the end zone for his first career INT. He also had a career-high-tying two PBUs.
Redshirt senior DB Mason Pack made his first career start against the Bulldogs and recorded four tackles, a career-high.
Senior DL Kobie Whiteside recovered a fumble, the first of his career, in the third quarter.
Freshman PK Harrison Mevis converted a 33-yard FG in the second quarter to improve to 17-20 on the season. He has FGs in nine of 10 games in his freshman campaign.

ROUNTREE AMONG SEC'S ALL-TIME BEST

Against Arkansas, RB Larry Rountree III became just the 23rd player in SEC history to amass 3,500 career rushing yards. Last week against Mississippi State, he moved past Mississippi State's Nick Fitzgerald, Georgia's Sony Michel, Texas A&M's Trayveon Williams and Arkansas' Alex Collins to rank 16th on the SEC's all-time rushing list. Below is a look at the players he has a chance to pass against Iowa:
- #12 – Benny Snell – 3,873 – 2016-18 – Kentucky
- #13 – Sonny Collins – 3,835 – 1972-75 – Kentucky
- #14 – Carnell "Cadillac" Williams – 3,831 – 2001-04 – Auburn
- #15 – Leonard Fournette – 3,830 – 2014-16 – LSU
- #16 – Larry Rountree III – 3,720 – 2017-20 - Mizzou

Bolton IS THE NATION'S BEST LINEBACKER, DON'T @ US

As national award season arrives, allow us to take this time to launch a campaign for Nick Bolton to be considered for basically every national defensive player of the year award. He is undoubtedly Mizzou's best defensive player at any position, and has been a workhorse all season for Coach Drinkwitz and DC Ryan Walters, playing in all 10 games, despite missing much of the second half against Arkansas after being ejected for targeting. Here are the awards he is currently in consideration for:
- Nagurski Trophy (awarded to Tusla's Zaven Collins)
- Butkus Award (awarded to Notre Dame's Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah)
- Bednarik Award
- Lott IMPACT Trophy
- Jason Witten Man of the Year
Bolton was named as one of five finalists for the 36th Annual Butkus Award®, given to college football's top linebacker.
With a skillset and a track-record known nationally coming into the season, Bolton has not disappointed during his junior campaign when other players with similar credentials were opting out. A projected first-round draft pick, Bolton has opted out of playing in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl and will focus on preparing for his NFL career. He has done plenty to impress NFL scouts already this season.
Bolton had seven tackles, 0.5 TFL and one pass break-ups in Mizzou's regular season finale against Mississippi State (Dec. 19).
Against Vanderbilt (Dec. 12), he was just flying all over the field while stuffing the stat sheet. He had nine tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and a pass breakup while sitting much of the second half as Mizzou had put the game away, keying Mizzou's first SEC shutout since 2018. All nine of his tackles last Saturday were solo tackles.
He now ranks 36th nationally and 19th in Power 5 in tackles per game (9.5). That mark is seventh-best in the SEC as well. Keep in mind he ranks that highly despite not playing the second half in either the Vanderbilt or Arkansas games.
Bolton has 13 more tackles than the next-closest Mizzou defender with 95 on the year (67 solo), and leads the team in tackles for loss (7.5).
He is seventh in the SEC in tackles for loss as well.
Bolton was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week following Mizzou's win over Kentucky, posting seven tackles in the dominant defensive performance, while the seven tackles may not seem like many by Bolton's lofty standards, he tallied those seven solo tackles among just 28 team tackles against Kentucky as the Wildcats ran just 36 offensive plays.
Since Oct. 12, 2019, after Mizzou senior captain LB Cale Garrett went down with a season-ending injury, Bolton has tallied 166 tackles over the last 17 games (9.8 per-game average).
The last Tiger to average better than 9.8 tackles per game over a similar span was LB Kentrell Brothers during his All-American 2015 season when he led the nation with 152 tackles. Brothers averaged 12.7 tackles per game that year and 11.8 over the final 16 games of his career.
Bolton's 17 tackles at Tennessee are tied for the second-most at Mizzou since the turn of the century and are the most since a 20-takcle performance by LB Sean Weatherspoon against Buffalo on Sept. 20, 2008.
Bolton has entered the prestigious 21-MPH club at Mizzou as the strength staff tracks each players' top speed. At 6-0, 235 pounds, Bolton is by far the heaviest player on the team to run faster than 21 MPH, showing why he has NFL scouts turning their heads to watch him play.

BADIE GIVES MIZZOU DYNAMIC 1-2 BACKFIELD PUNCH

While Larry Rountree III gets many of the accolades for Mizzou, junior RB Tyler Badie gives the Tigers one of the nation's elite 1-2 punches at running back. Rountree is the workhorse back who gets the bulk of the carries, but Badie is dynamic with the ball in his hands and the staff finds creative ways to get him touches. The Tigers' last two wins are evidence of that.
Against Vanderbilt, Badie shined in the passing game, catching seven passes for a team-high 102 yards. He became the first Tiger running back to go over 100 yards receiving since 1990.
Against Arkansas, Badie did his work on the ground, rushing six times for 79 yards, including two touchdowns, one of which was from 46 yards out and sparked Mizzou when it trailed in the fourth quarter, 40-26. He then added the go-ahead 25-yard score two possessions later.
Dating back to last season, Badie has emerged as a threat in the passing game. In fact, he has caught five of Mizzou's last 12 TD receptions, and six of the last 14.
On his last seven scores, Badie has taken it to the house from all parts of the field, averaging 34.6 yards per score as he continued to be dynamic with the ball in his hands. His scores vs. Arkansas were from 46 and 25 yards, both coming on the ground.
Badie has six scores on the year, four on the ground and two through the air.

Bazelak is THE GUY at QB

With Mizzou winning five of its last eight games, one of the keys to the recovery from an 0-2 start was the emergence of RS freshman Connor Bazelak as the team's starting quarterback. In his young career, Bazelak is now 6-3 as a starting QB dating back to his first career start at Arkansas last season, with two of his losses coming to Top 10 foes.
In his nine career starts, Mizzou's freshman QB is now 205-for-298 (68.8%) for 2,160 yards and seven touchdowns, most importantly winning six of those nine games.
He was great again vs. Arkansas, connecting on 32-of-49 passes for 380 yards. He was 4-for-4 on the game's final drive, going for 54 yards and three first downs as Mizzou drove and won the game. He earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for his performance, the third time he's done so this season, an SEC-high.
He was highly productive and efficient despite not throwing a touchdown vs. Vandy, going 30-of-37 (81%) for 318 passing yards. It stood as his second game this season with a completion percentage greater than 81% and 300-plus passing yards. Since 2000, Bazelak and Chase Daniel, a 2007 Heisman finalist, are the only Tiger QBs with multiple contests of an 81% or higher completion percentage.
He was the first Mizzou QB to complete 30 passes in a game since Kelly Bryant did so in last year's season-opener at Wyoming.

THE THICCER KICKER

One of the stories of college football this month is Mizzou true freshman K Harrison Mevis, affectionately nicknamed the Thiccer Kicker by Mizzou's drove of fans on social media, a Groza Award semifinalist.
Mevis has produced a highly impressive debut campaign in the Black & Gold, as he has been successful on 17-of-20 field goals for the Tigers and a perfect 28-of-28 on PATs. He has been lethal from deep, as he has connected on 3-of-4 kicks from 50+ yards and is one of just four Tigers in program history to make three or more kicks of 50+ yards, joining Tom Whelihan (6, 1984-87), Jeff Jacke (4, 1988-92) and Tucker McCann (3, 2016-19).
He matched a school record for a kicker with five field goals against Arkansas, the most by any kicker nationally this season, and reset the school record by scoring 20 of Mizzou's 50 points in a 50-48 win over SEC West rival Arkansas.
Included in those five field goals was a walk-off, game-winning 32-yarder to send Mizzou to its fifth straight win over Arkansas and its fifth win in six games this season.
He also connected on FGs from 51, 29, 37 and 40 and hit all five of hit PATs as well in a game where Mizzou needed every point to defeat the Razorbacks.
He is just the fourth Tiger kicker to make three kicks of 50+ yards in his career and is the first Tiger with five field goals in a game since Tucker McCann knocked in five vs. South Carolina on Oct. 6, 2018.
Mevis became the first Mizzou player this century to make five or more field goals in a game, including a 50-yard attempt, with a 100 percent conversion rate, per the Sports Reference play index.
Mevis ranks 12th nationally in field goals made per game (1.7) and is eighth nationally with his 17 makes.
A native of Warsaw, Ind., Mevis was the No. 2-ranked kicker nationally coming out of Warsaw Community High School by Kohl's Kicking. He has lived up to those expectations early in his young career, connecting on 17 of his 20 field goal attempts this season, with one of his misses coming from 56 yards.
He is the first Mizzou kicker ever to connect on his first five field goals as a collegiate kicker, and he did so in incredible fashion, hitting a pair from 50+ yards. His 52-yard field goal vs. LSU marks the longest by a Mizzou freshman in program history.
He is also the first Mizzou freshman to make a 50+ yard FG since Jeff Jacke in 1988.
His 17 made FGs match the eighth-best effort in program history, while his 79 points rank 25th on Mizzou's single-season list and are the most-ever by a Mizzou freshman kicker.

Rountree is a Work Horse

Mizzou senior RB Larry Rountree III is arguably one of the SEC's top running backs and the numbers prove it. He is just the fifth Mizzou RB to post back-to-back 150-yard games in Mizzou's wins over Vanderbilt and Arkansas, and we have even more proof of this below.
With a pair of 25-plus yard rushes against Arkansas, Rountree III now possesses 20-such rushes in his career. That's the second-most all-time 25-plus yard rushing plays in Mizzou history, trailing only Brad Smith.
Rountree III is now responsible for the last three Tiger individual performances of three-plus rushing touchdowns, joining his performance two years ago vs. Memphis (Oct. 20, 2018) and in 2020 games vs. Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
After rushing 25 times for 121 yards at Mississippi State, Rountree moved his career rushing total to 3,720 yards as he is fourth on the NCAA's list of active rushers.

JEFFCOAT MAKING AN IMPACT

In his third year with the program, RS sophomore buck DE Trajan Jeffcoat has shined this season, earning All-SEC honors by both the league's coaches and media. Through nine appearances, he leads the team with 6.0 sacks and seven QB hurries while pitching in 23 tackles (20 solo). His 6.0 sacks rank second in the SEC. He has the most sacks for a Mizzou DE since Charles Harris had 9.0 in 2016.

SHAWN ROBINSON POSITION CHANGE

Redshirt junior S Shawn Robinson, Mizzou's starting QB in week 1 and 2, recently made the switch to the defensive side of the ball, and has responded nicely. In his defensive debut against Mississippi State (Dec. 19), Robinson recorded five tackles, and INT, PBU and a TFL. Pretty impressive considering he hadn't played defense since the eighth grade!