Columbia, MO – The Missouri Tigers survive a Texas shootout as they top the Texas A&M Aggies 40-26 Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field in Columbia.
The Tigers wasted little time putting points on the board, scoring a major on the team’s first possession from the opening kickoff. Mizzou started out at its own 29 yard line and drove 71 yards in 5 plays, eating up only 1:31 as Tony Temple ended the scoring drive with a 44 yard touchdown run. Jeff Wolfert’s extra point made it Missouri 7, Texas A&M 0.
The Aggies failed to score on their first possession, but scored on Missouri’s next possession. Faced with a 4th down deep in their own territory, the Tigers opted to punt. The ball skipped into the end zone and was knocked out of play by punter Adam Crossett for a safety. Missouri 7, Texas A&M 2. The 1st quarter came to a close with Missouri leading 7-2 and driving downfield with the ball at the 50.
Missouri scored its second touchdown of the day just over 3-and-a-half minutes into the 2nd quarter as Chase Daniel completed a 5 yard pass to Chase Coffman to cap a 17 play, 87 yard drive. Wolfert’s extra point made it Missouri 14, Texas A&M 2.
The A&M offense got its act together on the next series of downs, driving 73 yards in 5 plays for a touchdown that was capped by a 6 yard pass from Stephen McGee to Martellius Bennett. Matt Szymanski’s PAT made it Missouri 14, Texas A&M 9.
Mizzou got back 3 points as Jeff Wolfert connected on a 32 yard field goal with 3:31 to go in the half. It put the finishing touches on a 6 play, 42 yard drive. Missouri 17, Texas A&M 9.
The Tigers earned themselves a little breathing room prior to the end of the half. William Moore’s interception of a Stephen McGee pass gave Mizzou the ball at its own 17. An 83 yard touchdown pass from Chase Daniel to Jeremy Maclin capped a 2 play, 83 yard drive. Wolfert’s conversion made it Missouri 24, Texas A&M 9. That’s how the first half ended.
The Aggies got the ball to start the 2nd half and drove 75 yards in 6 plays to score a major. Jarvorskie Lane took it in from the 2 yard line to complete the drive. Szymanski’s extra point narrowed the Mizzou lead to 24-16.
A fumble at midfield gave the ball back to Texas A&M and the Aggies took advantage of the opportunity. But they settled for a Szymanski 22 yard field goal that capped a 52 yard, 13 play drive to make the score Missouri 24, Texas A&M 19. That’s how the 3rd quarter ended.
Missouri failed to score on its next possession, turned the ball over to Texas A&M, and watched the Aggies move deep into Tiger territory. Once again, the Aggies had to settle for a field goal attempt from Szymanski, whose 36 yard effort sailed wide, keeping the score Missouri 24, Texas A&M 19.
Having had a chance to rest, the Tiger offense marched down for a touchdown, covering 80 yards in 8 plays, with Jimmy Jackson running it in from 6 yards out and Wolfert kicking the PAT to make it Missouri 31, Texas A&M 19.
A&M stormed back, with McGee engineering a 4 play, 65 yard TD drive capped by a 42 yard pass to Bennett for his second major of the afternoon. Szymanski’s conversion made it Missouri 31, Texas A&M 26.
The shootout wasn’t over. Mizzou marched downfield on its next possession, with Jeremy Maclin snatching a 12 yard TD pass from Daniel to cap a 11 play, 80 yard drive. Wolfert’s PAT made it Missouri 38, Texas A&M 26.
A safety on the Aggies’ next possession made it Missouri 40, Texas A&M 26 to wrap up the scoring.
MU gained 555 offensive yards on the day, compared to 380 for the Aggies. In the air, Mizzou picked up 352 net yards to 247 for Texas A&M. Missouri picked up 203 net yards on the ground, while the Aggies had 133.
Tony Temple was the game’s leading rusher with 141 net yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Chase Daniel completed 27 of 35 passes for 352 yards and 3 TDs. Jeremy Maclin snared 5 of those passes, including 2 for touchdowns, while gaining 146 yards.
The Tigers are now 9-1 on the season, 5-1 in the Big 12. Mizzou heads to Manhattan, Kansas, next Saturday to play the Kansas State Wildcats.
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