No. 16 Mizzou hangs on for dramatic, double-overtime win at Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. (KMIZ)
No. 16 Mizzou football hung tough in its first road trip of the season to grind out a 23-17 double-overtime win over Auburn, courtesy of a three-yard touchdown off the legs of quarterback Beau Pribula.
With the victory, MU improved 6-1 on the season and 2-1 in Southeastern Conference play. The win also avenged the Tigers' 2022 overtime loss at Jordan-Hare Stadium, evening up the all-time series 3-3.
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz has now won 22-consecutive games over unranked opponents, as that was Mizzou's 14th win when trailing in the fourth quarter over the last three seasons.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Drinkwitz in the video player below.
It didn't come to them easy, though. It was a dramatic game from start to finish.
Mizzou carried a 10-7 lead into the locker room at halftime, despite two quarters that featured some of the good, bad and ugly to start the action at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Auburn set the tone out of the gates, with a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on its first possession of the game to put Coach Drink and company in a seven-point hole.
It was a deficit that took the Columbia Tigers a little bit of time to climb out of, too. MU cut the deficit to four point courtesy of a 24-yard field goal off the leg of Robert Meyer in the first quarter. But, it took until about the 10-minute mark in the second quarter for Mizzou to find end zone for the first time.
Drinkwitz's team grabbed their first lead of the game, thanks to the group's 10th rushing touchdown of the season on an Ahmad Hardy score from two yards out.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Hardy in the video player below.
Pribula and his offense had a chance to put some cushion on that lead before halftime, sitting on the Auburn 16-yard line. However, MU's interception streak carried into another game. On MU's red zone possession, Pribula threw his sixth interception in five games to erase a chance of extending the lead.
After a slow start to the third quarter, Auburn found a little life thanks to linebacker Nick Rodriguez's second personal foul of the night. The sophomore put a late hit out of bounds on Arnold to gift the other Tigers a new set of downs. That would lead to a touchdown and a 14-10 lead for head coach Hugh Freeze's group, just minutes later, as Omar Mabson II scored a one-yard touchdown to finish out a 12-play, 86-yard drive.
The home team worked quickly at the start of the fourth quarter, scoring in just under four minutes to take a touchdown lead courtesy of a 24-yard field goal to cap off 73-yard drive.
After making four second half trips across mid-field and scoring no points, Mizzou's offense finally broke through with less than six minutes left in the game. Helped out by about 30 yards of penalties from Auburn, Hardy reached over the line for his second score of the night to tie the game up at 17 points apiece.
Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon's unit made one more big stop with just minutes remaining at Jordan-Hare Stadium to give the offense to lead the Tigers to a come-from-behind win. Pribula got his unit into field goal range, but penalties and negative plays backed them up into a 3rd and 28 situation. Trying to get his team back into field goal range, Pribula threw his second interception of the night with 18 seconds left to send the game overtime.
After Auburn failed to hit its field goal in its first overtime possession, the Columbia Tigers had a chance to win it on a field goal. However, Meyer's 38-yard attempt went wide to send the game to another overtime period.
On Mizzou's second overtime possession, Pribula and the offense found end zone, as QB1 scored from three yards out to take a 23-17 lead.
Auburn couldn't follow that up with a score of their own, as defensive end Damon Wilson and linebacker Josiah Trotter both got home to pressure Arnold into throwing a pass for no gain to turn it over on downs and end the ball game. In that final Auburn possession, defensive end Zion Young was an unstoppable force for Coach Drink, taking down wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. for a three-yard loss on the first play.
Young finished the night with five total tackles, two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. All-in-all, the MU defense racked up five sacks and nine tackles for loss against Arnold and company, on Saturday night.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Young in the video player below.
On the flip side, Pribula finished the night throwing for 252 yards and two interceptions, along with one rushing touchdown in overtime. His go-to receiver emerged in the second half, as true freshman Donovan Olugbode led the charge with 69 yards on five catches.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Pribula in the video player below.
Olugbode's outing was followed closely by both receivers Joshua Manning and Kevin Coleman Jr., who had 63 and 61 receiving yards, respectively.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Coleman Jr. in the video player below.
Although Hardy was held to less than 100 yards rushing for the second-straight game, he still ran in for two scores against Auburn. He tallied 58 yards on 24 carries.
Up next - Mizzou will hit the road to face No. 17 Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium,
