Missouri Football gets bowl eligible behind a Brady Cook show

The Missouri Tigers beat the Arkansas Razorbacks, 29-27. Brady Cook had 380 total scrimmage yards and two touchdowns (one passing and one rushing). KJ Jefferson threw for 212 yards and 20 completions to end his junior regular season. Additionally, he threw one interception that turned into a Missouri Football field goal.

The game started out with a three-and-out from Arkansas’ offense. Brady Cook used his legs and arm to get the Tigers down the field. While they were able to get into field goal range, they couldn’t convert on third and 6 and had to settle for three points on their opening drive.

On the next drive, KJ Jefferson used his legs to awaken the Razorbacks’ offense on their way to score a TD. Within the next three minutes, Brady Cook led his own drive to take the lead with this drive finishing off with a Cody Schrader rushing TD.

Arkansas went back to their offensive struggles and punted after three plays. On the second play of the next drive, Cook threw a pass to Dominic Lovett for 55 yards. This would put the Tigers into the red zone, and on their way to the second TD of the game. Once again, KJ Jefferson used his legs to awaken the offense on their way for a TD. This time, he also competed for 19 yards to Jadon Haselwood midway through the drive.

Missouri Football responded with the Brady Cook show. Although Cook got them into the red zone, they couldn’t capitalize and had to settle for three. Finally, Arkansas took a one-point lead behind KJ Jefferson’s dual-threat abilities. Missouri would be unable to retake the lead before the half, as they had to punt the ball away with :10 seconds left in the half. Arkansas kneeled and took this game into the half.

The passing game opened for Missouri Football, as Brady Cook led the Tigers toward a TD and the lead. The drive had two 20+ yard passes, as the Cook show came back on. On the third play of the next drive, KJ Jefferson threw an interception and Missouri had a one-possession lead and the ball in the redzone.

Despite Cody Schrader trying his best to uplift the Tigers toward a touchdown with his legs, the Brady Cook show was unable to take advantage of the good field position and had to settle for three.

KJ Jefferson made up for his earlier mistake by taking the Razorbacks down the field. They struggled in Missouri territory and had to settle for three, making it a five-point game midway through the third. The Brady Cook show got sacked on second down for a massive loss and had to give this drive a one-star rating, as Missouri had to punt the ball away after three plays.

Raheim Sanders would have his run of the game, as he ran for seventeen yards on the second play of the drive to put Arkansas into the red zone. They couldn’t do anything in the red zone and had to settle for three.

It was a 29-27 game with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter. What followed was a bunch of punts and poor offensive play by both sides. Missouri’s offense would shut down and have to punt after one first down. Arkansas couldn’t take advantage of this and had to punt the ball away after three plays.

In what could have been one of the worst-case scenarios for the Razorbacks, the punt was blocked by Missouri. With 8 minutes left and good field position, Missouri had a chance to be in massive control of this game by scoring a touchdown and taking a two-possession lead. They didn’t do that, as they got nothing on offense and then had the field goal attempt blocked.

Once again, Arkansas couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity and had to punt after three plays. The Tigers couldn’t put this game away though, as they had to punt after getting one first down. With :14 seconds and a considerable amount of field to go before field goal range, the game was partially over. KJ Jefferson couldn’t pull out a miracle drive to win the game, as Missouri won 29-27 and became bowl eligible.

Missouri Football gets bowl eligible with win over Arkansas

I have been disappointed in Arkansas since the win over Missouri State in week three (that was way too close to begin with considering the opponent.) The next week, they lost to Texas A&M behind a missed field goal among other things. They were getting blown out by Alabama until they made a failed comeback that failed because the offense sputtered after making it a 28-23 Bama game. They got blown out by Mississippi State’s offense the week after.

They managed to avoid total disappointment by lighting up BYU on offense, ending a three-game losing streak for the Razorbacks. They beat Auburn, but allowed a poor Tigers team to play them close till the third quarter. They lost to a solid Liberty team the week after behind two interceptions from Jefferson among other things.

Things started to pick up after the Liberty loss, as they only lost to a solid LSU team by three despite Harold Perkins destroying the Razorback’s offensive line. The next week, they dominated Ole Miss.

After these two last weeks, it seemed like better play particularly on the offensive side had arrived for the Razorbacks. The second half proved they still weren’t over those issues. Arkansas could’ve had a really good season, now they will have a season that didn’t meet expectations at all.

I am really happy that Missouri Football got to bowl eligibility. After playing Georgia, Kentucky, and Florida really closely, I am really happy that the Tigers are going bowling this season. The overtime loss to Auburn could have cost them bowl eligibility. Instead, they had wins over South Carolina and Arkansas.

By taking care of business against New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Abilene Christian, and beating Vandy, they have gotten back to a bowl game. Eli Drinkwitz is sending this team to its’ second straight bowl game, and hopefully this time they can get a different result.