STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 19 Missouri Tigers rallied from another early deficit but couldn’t complete the comeback at No. 24 Mississippi State, dropping their Southeastern Conference opener 31-24 Saturday night at Davis Wade Stadium.
After storming back from a 14-0 deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter, the Tigers (3-1, 0-1 SEC) couldn’t finish in the game’s deciding moments with two late chances. A drive to the 11-yard line came up short when a fourth-down Austin Simmons pass was batted down, and on the last play of the game, MSU broke up Simmons’ pass to the end zone for Naeshaun Montgomery.
In the third quarter, Simmons connected twice with former Ole Miss teammate Cayden Lee for touchdowns that gave the Tigers a 24-17 lead. The first came on Mizzou’s first second-half possession, which DaMarion Fowlkes got started with a 54-yard kickoff return and ended on an inside screen that Lee took 21 yards to the end zone.
The second came on a 28-yard pass to Lee who caught the ball on the run at the 2-yard line and carried it into the end zone. Lee finished the game with 11 receptions for 156 yards. Simmons completed 23 of 39 passes for 295 yards and three scores.
In the fourth quarter, Mississippi State tied the score at 24-24 with a 14-play, 73-yard drive that led to a Fluff Bothwell four-yard TD run.
After forcing the Tigers three-and-out, the Bulldogs covered 85 yards in just 1:44 with Anthony Evans III making a diving catch for a 44-yard gain, followed by a 24-yard TD pass from Kamario Taylor to Sanfrisco Magee.
Following a scoreless first quarter for the Tigers, and after Brunno Reus punted the ball dead at the MSU 2-yard line, the Mizzou defense forced a three-and-out and the Tigers took over near midfield. An eight-play, all on the ground drive, got MU into the red zone, and Blake Craig got the Tigers on the board with a 35-yard field goal to make the score 14-3 with 7:59 remaining before the half.
On MSU’s next possession, safety Trajen Greco intercepted a Taylor pass and returned it 18 yards to the 27-yard line. A 21-yard Simmons-to-Jamal Roberts pass got the Tigers inside the 10, and Simmons then hit Donovan Olugbode with a 9-yard strike over the middle for a touchdown that brought the Tigers to within 14-10 with 6:09 left in the half. Roberts led the MU ground game with 26 carries for 95 yards, and Olugbode caught a TD pass for the fourth straight game.
Once again, Daeden Hopkins was a menace along the edge for the Tigers, finishing with 3 ½ sacks, coming just short of the Mizzou single-game record of four, shared by four former Tigers, most recently set by Brian Smith in 2006. The Bulldogs nearly added to their lead with a late touchdown just before halftime, but Hopkins sacked Taylor in the closing seconds — with MSU out of timeouts — setting up a last-second pass for the end zone that fell incomplete.
Mizzou carried the momentum right into the second half, opening the third quarter with a go-ahead 21-yard catch and run to the end zone by Lee on a short third-down pass from Simmons. The touchdown pass extended Mizzou’s scoring surge to 17-0 and put the Tigers in front for the first time 17-14.
UP NEXT
The Tigers return to Memorial Stadium for Saturday’s Homecoming game against Florida, a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on ABC. The Gators are 4-0 and coming off Saturday’s victory over Ole Miss. Mizzou is 7-6 all-time against Florida and 4-2 in Columbia, most recently beating the Gators 33-31 in 2023 on Faurot Field.
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