COLUMBIA, Mo. – On a night when Mizzou celebrated the 100-year history of Memorial Stadium and honored the 1960 team as national champions, the No. 20 Tigers overcame a 10-0 first-quarter deficit with a 24-point second quarter and then slugged it out with Troy for a 27-17 victory Saturday night.
With the victory, the Tigers have started the season 3-0 for the fourth straight year, have won 25 consecutive home games against nonconference opponents and 16 straight regular-season night games.
In front of the 22nd consecutive sold-out crowd at Memorial Stadium, Troy quarterback Goose Crowder hit TK Keyes on a crossing route on the game’s second play from scrimmage for a 76-yard touchdown. The Trojans increased the lead to 10-0 with a 19-play, 81-yard drive that culminated with a 27-yard field goal.
But things changed in the second quarter.
Mizzou got on the board with a 35-yard Blake Craig field goal. Then sophomore DeMarion Fowlkes jumpstarted the Tigers with a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown that tied the score at 10-10 midway through the period. He caught the ball at the Missouri 32-yard line, made one man miss and raced untouched to the end zone. It was the longest punt return by a Tiger since Luther Burden III took one back 78 yards for a TD against Abilene Christian in 2022.
The Tigers took the lead 17-10 just two minutes before halftime after cornerback Sione Laulea intercepted a Crowder pass and returned it 28 yards to the Troy 18-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Austin Simmons rolled left and threw a 12-yard TD pass to a sliding Donovan Olugbode in the back of the end zone. For the game, Simmons completed 10 of 19 passes for 91 yards.
On the first play after the kickoff, defensive end Langden Kitchen sacked Crowder for a loss of 10 yards and forced a fumble that was recovered by tackle Jason Dowell and returned 12 yards to the Troy 13. Jamal Roberts ran it in on the next play, upping the lead to 24-10, and giving the Tigers two touchdowns in 19 seconds of elapsed time. Roberts has now scored a rushing TD in five straight games. He ran 21 times for 122 yards – his second straight 100-yard rushing game and the fifth of his career.
“Offensively, just poor, never had a rhythm, never had an answer, always playing behind,” Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “But really proud of the guys for going on a 24-0 run. Punt return was huge for us, DeMarion Fowlkes. For the special teams to bounce back after being a real liability last week, but really be the difference in us winning the game this week with the two field goals, the punt return for a touchdown and I thought Brunno (Reus) really punted the ball really, really well tonight. Defensively, really glad that they got the two takeaways. We needed those, but overall, just not a very good performance.”
Troy (2-1) closed within 24-17 with :06 left in the half when Crowder completed a 55-yard TD pass to Howard Kinchen on a third-and-four from near midfield.
The Tigers shut out the Trojans in the second half, but were only able to manage a 36-yard field goal by Craig in the fourth quarter themselves.
Missouri struggled to maintain any offensive rhythm. Troy ran 71 plays, 30 more than MU, outgained the Tigers 323-224, and had a 37:23-22:37 advantage in time of possession.
Safety Santana Banner led Mizzou’s tacklers with 15 and linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez added 11. End Daeden Hopkins had seven tackles, 1.5 sacks, two tackles for loss and forced a fumble.
Four members of Coach Dan Devine’s 1960 Tigers were on hand for the celebration of their national championship – end Don Wainwright, halfbacks Donnie Smith and Jim Estes and tackle Max Moyer. Devine’s son, Dan Jr., hit the Big Mo drum as part of the pregame tradition.
UP NEXT
The Tigers open Southeastern Conference play next Saturday, Sept. 26 at Mississippi State (3-0, 1-0 SEC) to take on the Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. The Tigers are 4-2 all-time against MSU and 2-2 since joining the SEC, including last year’s 49-27 win in Columbia. The game is set for a 6:45 p.m. kickoff on SEC Network. MSU opened SEC play Saturday with a 41-34 win at South Carolina.
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