No. 24 Mississippi State hands No. 19 Mizzou first loss of season in heartbreaker
STARKVILLE, Miss. (KMIZ)
No. 24 Mississippi State handed No. 19 Mizzou its first loss of the season, on Saturday night, 31-24 at a sold out Davis Wade Stadium.
The Tigers fell short of their first Top-25 win since 2024, despite having an opportunity in the final 50 seconds of the game to lead a game-tying drive. With the loss, MU drops to 3-1 on the season.
You can watch a stream of head coach Eli Drinkwitz's full postgame press conference in the video player below.
Mizzou football took its lumps out of the gates, as Mississippi State jumped out to a 14-0 lead at Davis Wade Stadium. That two-touchdown advantage came courtesy of a pair of touchdown tosses from quarterback Kamario Taylor, who ended the night with 360 passing yards and three scores.
It took until the second quarter, but head coach Eli Drinkwitz's offense finally woke up.
A 35-yard field goal off the leg of kicker Blake Craig made it a 14-3 game and from there, the Tigers began their comeback tour. The pendulum began to swing Mizzou's direction thanks to "Death Row Defense," as safety Trajen Greco picked off Taylor for the MU defense's third-straight game with at takeaway. The Tigers capitalized on that opportunity and ideal field position with an Austin Simmons touchdown throw to Donovan Olugbode to make it a one-score game, heading into halftime.
After halftime, the Mizzou offense came out swinging.
After a big return on the third quarter opening kickoff from DaMarion Fowlkes, Simmons and company were working with prime field position, once again. He turned that opportunity into points, again, as well. Simmons led Mizzou on a 7-play, 43-yard touchdown drive, which ended in a 21-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to Cayden Lee to go up 17-14. That touchdown marked just the start of a big night for the former Ole Miss teammates.
The Bulldogs managed to tie the game at 17, courtesy of a 28-yard field goal, however, the Tigers leaned on the Simmons and Lee connection, once again. A 28-yard touchdown pass to Lee near the end of the third quarter put Mizzou on top, again, leading Mississippi State 24-17.
But, the stress wasn't quite over for Coach Drinkwitz and his squad, yet.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs tied the game, once again. Mississippi State running back completed a 73-yard drive with a touchdown run from four yards out to put everybody at 24 points apiece.
Mizzou desperately needed an answer on offense...but it was the Bulldogs who found the answer they needed. Taylor threw his third touchdown of the night, hitting SanFrisco Magee in the end zone for a 24-yard score to put his team back on top, 31-24.
With less than four minutes in the game, and MU'S unbeaten record on the line, Simmons and the offense retook the field. Thanks to a 37-yard strike to Cayden Lee and some gritty running from running back Jamal Roberts, the Tigers made it to the red zone. However, Mississippi State came up with a critical stop with less than two minutes in the game, to put Mizzou on the edge of taking their first loss of the season.
After that, there was nothing Mizzou could do to stop Taylor and the Bulldog offense, as they managed to run down the clock in the win.
Despite the loss and the slow start, it was a solid day for Simmons. He completed 59 percent of his passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns, two of which were thrown to Lee. That performance was complimented by 95 yards on 26 carries on the ground by Roberts.
However, it wasn't enough to stay unbeaten.
Up next - No. 19 Mizzou will look to make a trip back to the win column, when it hosts No. 21 Florida for homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 2:30 p.m.
