COLUMBIA, Mo. – Auburn football hit the road this week to take on the 19th-ranked Missouri Tigers. Despite leading for most of the game, Auburn could not hold on late and surrendered a go-ahead touchdown with just 46 seconds remaining. They couldn’t mount a drive in response, and lost the game 21-17.
The game started as a defensive stalemate, with neither team able to get more than three points in the first half. Missouri kicker Blake Craig drilled a 51-yard field goal early in the first quarter, and Auburn kicker Town McGough responded with a 32-yarder early in the second quarter.
However, the big news early in the game was the loss of Brady Cook, Missouri’s quarterback. On the first drive of the game, Cook rolled out of the pocket, slipped, and fell to the ground. Cook then came up limping, hobbled to the sideline, and was replaced by Notre Dame transfer Drew Pyne. The Auburn defense played well against Pyne, holding him to just ten completions, 78 yards and zero touchdowns on 21 attempts.
Meanwhile, the Auburn offense continued to fight its biggest enemy of the 2024 season: turnovers. Following a fumble recovery by Jalen McLeod, Auburn was set up in a sudden change situation. The offense responded by turning the ball over twice. The first, a Jarquez Hunter fumble, was reversed by a replay review. However, just plays later, Payton Thorne fumbled, and that fumble would stand. Neither team’s offense could get anything moving, and so each coach was looking for adjustments at the half.
Coming out of halftime, it seemed as if Auburn had made the correct adjustments. The orange and blue got the ball first, and capped off a quick drive with a deep pass to freshman receiver Cam Coleman for a 47-yard touchdown to make it 10-3. It was Coleman’s only catch, but was still enough for him to lead Auburn receiving on the day. Then, on Auburn’s next drive, an Oscar Chapman punt was fumbled by Missouri’s Luther Burden III and recovered by Auburn defensive back Antonio Kite in the end zone for a touchdown to extend the lead to 17-3.
However, it all began to unravel for Auburn after that. On their next offensive drive, Towns McGough missed a 30-yard field goal. Then, Missouri quarterback Brady Cook re-entered the game, back from injury and a mid-game MRI. The Missouri crowd immediately became more energetic, the stadium noise reaching a new high for the day. Their excitement was quickly proven warranted, as Cook found receiver Joshua Manning for a 78-yard catch that set up Missouri inside the five yard line to end the 3rd quarter.
It didn’t take long into the 4th quarter for Missouri to capitalize on the big play, as running back Marcus Carroll punched the ball into the end zone. The black and gold Tigers then went for two, and Brady Cook ran the ball in to bring Missouri within three, 14-17. Auburn’s offense could not respond, punting on back-to-back drives. After the second punt, Missouri got the ball on its own five yard line with 4:26 left to play. Auburn’s defense could not hold, and Missouri drove down the field, capping off the 95-yard drive with a four-yard rushing touchdown by running back Jamal Roberts. Missouri took the lead 21-17, the Auburn offense went 4-and-out, and that would be all she wrote for the Tigers of the Plains. The loss was a brutal one for Auburn, as it slipped to 2-5 on the season and 0-4 in SEC play for the second season in a row.
“It’s a difficult year,” said Auburn coach Hugh Freeze following the loss, “where it seems nothing is going quite your way when you need it to.”
It does certainly feel like nothing is going Auburn’s way this season, from the interception-filled Cal game, to the five turnovers vs Arkansas, to the Oklahoma game pick-six, to the comeback allowed in Missouri today. Early in the season, a lot of the blame for that was placed on quarterback Payton Thorne and his interceptions by the Auburn faithful. However, over the last couple of weeks, that blame has shifted to Freeze and the play calling, something that Freeze addressed after the game.
“We seem to not make the right call as coaches or the right play from time to time in critical moments,” said Freeze, “and that’s kind of been the story the whole year.”
Auburn will look to change that story next week as it travels up to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats, another team near the bottom of the SEC. The Tigers will be aiming to avoid an 0-5 start to SEC play for the first time since 2012. If Auburn were to lose that game, it would need to win out to become bowl eligible in 2024.
