Game Notes: Alabama
10/22/2024 4:36:00 PM | Football
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri football will ride the momentum from its come-from-behind victory over Auburn into a top-25 Southeastern Conference matchup on Saturday with the No. 15 Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.
Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast live on ABC and Tiger Radio Network.
Alabama holds a 5-2 edge on the all-time series, including a string of five consecutive victories over Mizzou dating back to 1978. The two teams last met on September 26, 2020, with the then No. 2 Crimson Tide claiming a 38-19 victory on Faurot Field. The last Tiger victory came on September 8, 1975, when Missouri defeated Alabama, 20-7, in Birmingham. Mizzou will be seeking its first true road win in the series on Saturday.
Saturday's ABC broadcast will feature Joe Tessitore, Jordan Rodgers, and Katie George on the call. The game can also be heard on the Tiger Radio Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity Network mobile app and Sirius XM channel 82.
HOW TO FOLLOW
[21] Missouri (6-1, 2-1 SEC) at [15] Alabama (5-2, 2-2 SEC)
Saturday, October 26, 2024 • 2:30 p.m. CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. • Bryant-Denny Stadium (100,077)
TELEVISION • ABC
RADIO • Tiger Radio Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Missouri Notes • Alabama Notes
LIVE STATS • RollTide.com
TWITTER • @MizzouFootball
INTERVIEWS • Coach Drinkwitz Weekly Press Conference | Marcus Bryant Pre-Practice Interview | Luther Burden III Pre-Practice Interview | Johnny Walker Jr. Pre-Practice Interview
GAME NOTES
Mizzou has won six of its first seven games for the second-straight year and for the 25th time overall; with a victory Saturday, the Tigers would log back-to-back 7-1 starts for just the third time in program history, joining the 1968, and 1969 teams as well as the 2006 and 2007 squads on that short list.
The Tigers are riding a string of 20 consecutive weeks ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, marking their longest such streak in a decade.
Missouri rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit for a 21-17 victory over Auburn last Saturday, marking the Tigers biggest come-from-behind win since they erased a 14-0 deficit in a victory at Kentucky on October 14, 2023.
MU head coach Eliah Drinkwitz moved into sole possession of the No. 7 spot on the Tigers' all-time coaching wins list last Saturday, surpassing Larry Smith with his 34th win at Missouri; he needs three more victories to match Dan Devine's program record for wins through the first five seasons of a Mizzou head coaching tenure.
Mizzou's defense ranks ninth in the nation in both total defense (273.0 ypg) and passing defense (157.6).
MU's offense has converted 26-of-28 (.929) red zone opportunities into points this season, which ranks third in the SEC and 19th nationally; the Tigers have scored on 82-of-86 (.953) combined trips to the red zone since the start of the 2023 season.
QB Brady Cook (8,023) ranks fourth on the Tigers' all-time passing yardage list and fifth on MU's career touchdown passes chart (45); he enters Saturday's game 776 yards behind Brad Smith for the No. 3 spot and six TD tosses shy of James Franklin in the No. 4 position, respectively.
With his 194 yards passing last Saturday against Auburn, Cook joined Brad Smith as the only two MU quarterbacks to throw for 8,000+ yards and rush for 1,000+ yards in a career; Cooks sits with 8,023 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards, while Smith finished his career (2002-05) with 8,799 and 4,289, respectively.
K Blake Craig leads the SEC in field goals (15) and ranks second nationally in field goals per game (2.14).
WR Luther Burden III became the 12th Tiger receiver to top the 2,000-career yardage plateau with his performance vs. Auburn last weekend; he joins fellow Mizzou receiver Theo Wease Jr. in that distinguished club, making the Tigers one of just 14 NCAA FBS offenses (and three SEC teams) to feature multiple receivers with 2,000+ career receiving yards to their credit.
TIGERS AGAINST THE TIDE
Alabama brings a 5-2 series edge over the Tigers into Saturday's contest.
Missouri will make its second trip to Tuscaloosa, with its lone visit to Bryan-Denny Stadium resulting in a 39-10 setback on October 13, 2018.
Overall, Alabama has claimed five-straight wins in a series that dates back to the Tigers' 35-10 rout of the Tide in the 1968 Gator Bowl.
In addition to its win in Jacksonville, Mizzou notched a 20-7 upset win over No. 2 Alabama in Birmingham on September 8, 1975.
Most recently, Alabama topped the Tigers in Columbia, 38-19, in Eliah Drinkwitz's debut game as Mizzou's head coach on September 26, 2020.
IN THE ZONE
Mizzou has been nearly unstoppable in the red zone, converting 26-of-28 (.929) trips inside of the opposition's 20-yard line into points this season.
The Tigers have found the end zone on 18 of those possessions overall (64.3%).
Last week vs. Auburn, the Tiger offense made three trips to the red zone, reaching the end zone twice; MU's lone non-conversion in the red zone came on the game-ending kneel-down at the AU 17 yard line.
The Tigers red zone offense was one of the nation's best in 2023, putting points on the board in 56-of-58 (96.6%) trips inside the 20-yard line to rank third among all FBS offenses.
MU converted 36 red zone TDs, while Harrison Mevis booted 20 red zone FGs to rank second among all FBS kickers.
Mizzou82-of-86 (.953) in the red zone overall since the start of last season.
PROOF OF BURDEN
WR Luther Burden III continued his climb on several Mizzou career receiving charts last week, hauling in a game-high six receptions for 49 yards vs. Auburn.
Burden III's six receptions brought his career total to 168, moving him within 14 grabs of Jeremy Maclin's career total of 182, which currently ranks as the No. 6 mark on MU's all-time receptions list.
Burden III became the 12th Tiger in program history to eclipse 2,000 career receiving yards, hiking his total to 2,034 yards, passing Emanuel Hall (2015-18) to move into 11th place on MU's career receiving yards leaderboard.
Burden III joined Theo Wease Jr. (2,189) in the Tigers' 2,000-yard club, making Mizzou one of 14 FBS offenses to feature at least two 2,000-yard receivers; the Tigers join Arkansas and Ole Miss as the only three SEC offenses included on the list.
Burden III, who has recorded at least one catch in 29 consecutive games (since Oct. 1, 2022), became just the eighth Tiger in program history — and the first since J'Mon Moore in 2017 — to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for receiving yardage in a season last fall.
His 1,212 yards for the year ranked third all-time in a season and his total of 86 receptions ranked fifth on the Tigers' single-season chart.
COOKIN' UP A HOLLYWOOD ENDING
QB Brady Cook authored another chapter in a storybook Mizzou career last Saturday, leading the Tigers to a 21-17 come-from-behind victory over Auburn with a performance for the ages.
After sustaining an injury on the Tigers' opening drive of the contest, Cook missed more than two full quarters while seeking treatment, even spending a portion of the first half undergoing evaluation in MU's University Hospital.
Cook returned late in the third quarter with Mizzou trailing 17-6, connecting with WR Mookie Cooper on a critical 78-yard connection that set up the Tigers' first touchdown of the day.
After returning to the contest, Cook went 8-of-18 for 157 yards in just over a quarter, leading the way on MU's deciding 17-play, 95-yard drive in the closing minutes; he picked up a key third down with a 14-yard scamper, before connecting with WR Luther Burden III and WR Theo Wease Jr. on important third and fourth down plays to set up RB Jamal Roberts' clinching TD.
Cook's heroics should come as no surprise, as the St. Louis product has delivered memorable moments throughout his five-year career at Mizzou. He opened the 2024 season with five 200-yard passing performances in the Tigers' first six contests, running his MU career total to 24 games of 200 yards or more.
He trails only Chase Daniel (38) and Drew Lock (34) on the Tigers' career leaderboard for 200-yard games.
With his 226-yard day vs. Vanderbilt (Sept. 21), Cook extended his home streak of 200-yard passing efforts to 10 in a row on Faurot Field (dating back to Sept. 16, 2023 vs. Kansas State).
Cook (9,126) became just the fifth Mizzou QB to top the 8,000-yard mark for total offense September 7 vs. Buffalo, logging a season-high 290 total yards; he surpassed James Franklin (8,691) for the No. 4 spot on the Tigers' career chart for total offense October 5 at No. 25 Texas A&M.
The Missouri native topped the 1,000-yard rushing milestone in the 2024 season opener, becoming just the sixth MU quarterback to do so; he also became just the second QB in program history to pass for 8,000 yards and rush for 1,000 (joining Brad Smith).
With his performance vs. Boston College, Cook moved past Franklin on MU's all-time list of career games with at least one passing and one rushing TD (13 games), trailing just Corby Jones and Smith, who each tallied 14 such games.
He also ranks fourth on MU's all-time passing yardage list (8,023) and trails Smith (8,799) by 776 yards for the No. 3 position on the chart.
Cook (45 TDs) also moved into sole possession of the fifth position on the Tigers' career touchdown passes chart with a pair of scoring strikes to Burden III vs. Vanderbilt, marking the 17th and 18th times the duo has hooked up on a TD pass.
Additionally, Cook's 2023 passing efficiency rating (157.2) ranked as the third-best season mark in program history, while his career rating (143.5) is second on the Tigers' all-time chart.
Cook brings a 23-11 record as the Tigers' starting QB into Saturday's contest. His 23 wins rank fourth among all Mizzou starting QBs on record, just two wins behind Phil Bradley and Smith, who share the No. 2 spot on the list, and seven behind Daniel's program record of 30.
GET YOUR ARKANSAS TICKETS NOW!
A limited number of reserved single-game tickets remain available for the Nov. 30 Arkansas game. Reserved season tickets have sold out as well as single-game reserved tickets for games against Auburn and Oklahoma.
Purchase single-game tickets now by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or buying online.
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