Mizzou QB Austin Simmons tries to elude Mississippi State’s Jardin Gilbert during Saturday night’s SEC football game in Starkville, Miss. (Photo courtesy: Thomas Grove)
| NCAA Football | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #19 Mizzou (3-1, 0-1) | 0 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| #24 Mississippi State (4-0, 2-0) | 14 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 31 |
STARKVILLE, MS — In one of the more thrilling of the record-breaking six Top 25 matchups on Saturday, the No. 19-ranked University of Missouri football team made a number of mistakes in the final minutes and lost 31-24, on the road, to No. 24 Mississippi State.
Missouri football dug itself out of a two-score hole, but couldn’t hang on, as Mississippi State scored two late touchdowns to pull out the victory.
“It’s going to hurt,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “They made the plays to win the game. We didn’t.”
Mizzou RB Jamal Roberts tries to elude Mississippi State’s Jardin Gilbert during the second quarter of Saturday night’s SEC football game in Starkville, Miss. (Photo courtesy: Mizzou Athletics)
The key plays were a 4-yard touchdown run by Fluff Bowell that tied the score with seven minutes to go, and a 24-yard touchdown pass from emerging superstar quarterback Kamario Taylor to wideout Sanfrisco Magee with just under four minutes left.
Mizzou had two possessions in the final minutes, but both drives were stopped on downs. The final play was a Hail Mary pass into the endzone the Tigers attempted with six seconds left that fell incomplete as time expired.
“We had chances,” Drinkwitz said. “We had several chances in those final minutes. We just didn’t do what we needed to do to turn those chances into points.”
Mizzou WR Shaun Terry tries to elude a Mississippi State defender during Saturday night’s SEC football game in Starkville, Miss. (Photo courtesy: Mizzou Athletics)
The loss was Mizzou’s first this season and dropped the Tigers to 3-1 on the season and 0-1 in Southeastern Conference play. Missouri is now 7-20 against ranked opponents under Drinkwitz, who is in his seventh season at Mizzou. The Tigers are also 2-10, in that time, on the road against ranked opponents.
“That’s life in the SEC,” Drinkwitz said Saturday night. “Night game, on the road, it’s going to be a challenge. You expect a fight, and you have to find a way to win.”
Missouri did find a path to victory on Saturday. It was not a straight-line path, and they did not get all the way to the end, but, again, the opportunity was there.
A few of them, in fact.
The Tigers rallied from down 14-0 in the first quarter with a 24-3 run to lead 24-17 in the fourth. Had the ball with the chance to take a two-score lead when the fourth quarter began.
A holding call backed them up, one of eight total penalties on Mizzou on this night, and one of seven on the offense. They never recovered. Three plays later, the Tigers punted. That opportunity squandered.
“That was a back-breaker for us,” Drinkwitz said. “We couldn’t overcome it.”
Mizzou defenders Robert Woodyard, Jr. and Kamauryn Morgan bring down Mississippi State’s Anthony Evans III, during Saturday night’s SEC football game in Starkville, Miss. (Photo courtesy: Mizzou Athletics)
State pounced on it. Marched 73 yards in 14 plays on their next drive to tie the game at 24. Taylor was the catalyst all night, finishing with 360 passing yards and three touchdowns. Sixteen of his 27 completions went for 10+ yards. He also ran six times for another 22 yards. Four of his six carries resulted in first downs.
On that 14-play fourth-quarter drive, Taylor was money: 5-of-6 passing for 53 yards and three first downs. He also ran for four yards on 3rd-and-1, then got just enough of the necessary yard on 4th-and-1 to set up first-and-goal. Next play, touchdown.
No matter. Still a tie game. Missouri had moved the ball well, finishing with 414 total yards. Austin Simmons fueled the charge, finishing 23-of-39 for 295 yards and three scores. His favorite target was Cayden Lee, who finished with 11 receptions for 156 yards and two touchdowns, all career-bests.
Mizzou’s Jamal Roberts signals first down, after a big play in the third quarter of Saturday night’s SEC football game in Starkville, Miss. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
Defensively, end Daeden Hopkins was the star, racking up 3.5 quarterback sacks and at least six more pressures. Trajen Greco, who played an infamous role in Troy’s big pass plays last week, picked off Taylor in the second quarter.
Linebackers Robert Woodyard Jr. and Nicholas Rodriguez, and defensive back Kensley Louidor-Faustin all recorded double-digit tackles: 14, 13, and 12, respectively.
Unfortunately, no one was able to make the tackle on the missile 24-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to Magee, which proved to be the game-winner.
“I just saw him break open and I knew he was going to score,” Taylor said. “We wanted to be aggressive all night. We missed some chances and that hurt us, but we made the ones we had to and that’s how we won the game.”
Mizzou will be back home for what figures to be another Top 25 matchup next week. The Tigers, who will probably drop in the rankings but will likely remain ranked, will host current No. 21 Florida, who will likely move up in the rankings after walloping No. 4 Ole Miss, 52-28, earlier on Saturday.
Next week’s Mizzou-Florida matchup will be at Faurot Field, Saturday at 2:30 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on ABC.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Quarter | Time | Scoring Play | MIZ | MSU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Quarter | ||||
| 1 | 08:56 | MSU – TOUCHDOWN – Kamario Taylor 43 yard pass to Sanfrisco Magee (PAT good) | 0 | 7 |
| 1 | 00:24 | MSU – TOUCHDOWN – Kamario Taylor 11 yard pass to Fluff Bothwell (PAT good) | 0 | 14 |
| 2nd Quarter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 07:59 | MIZ – FIELD GOAL – Blake Craig,Blake 35 yard field goal | 3 | 14 |
| 2 | 06:09 | MIZ – TOUCHDOWN – Austin Simmons 9 yard pass to Donovan Olugbode (PAT good) | 10 | 14 |
| 3rd Quarter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 10:50 | MIZ – TOUCHDOWN – Austin Simmons 21 yard pass to Cayden Lee (PAT good) | 17 | 14 |
| 3 | 04:37 | MSU – FIELD GOAL – Kyle Ferrie 28 yard field goal | 17 | 17 |
| 3 | 02:53 | MIZ – TOUCHDOWN – Austin Simmons 28 yard pass to Cayden Lee (PAT good) | 24 | 17 |
| 4th Quarter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 07:09 | MSU – TOUCHDOWN – Fluff Bothwell 4 yard run (PAT good) | 24 | 24 |
| 4 | 03:57 | MSU – TOUCHDOWN – Kamario Taylor 24 yard pass to Sanfrisco Magee (PAT good) | 24 | 31 |
2026 MIZZOU TIGERS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 3, 2026 (Thursday) | 7 pm | Home | Arkansas- Pine Bluff | Faurot Field |   | W, 54-14 (1-0) |
| September 11, 2026 (Friday) | 7 pm | Away | Kansas | Lawrence, Kan. / David Booth Memorial Stadium |  | W, 38-21 (2-0) |
| September 19, 2026 (Saturday) | 6 pm | Home | Troy | Faurot Field |  | W, 27-17 (3-0) |
| September 26, 2026 (Saturday) | 6:45 pm | Away | #24 Mississippi State | Starkville, Miss. / Davis Wade Stadium | | L, 31-24 (3-1) |
| October 3, 2026 (Saturday) | 2:30 pm | Home | #21 Florida | Faurot Field | ||
| October 10, 2026 (Saturday) | TBD | Home | Texas A&M | Faurot Field | ||
| October 17, 2026 (Saturday) | TBD | Away | Ole Miss | Oxford, Miss. / Vaught Hemingway Stadium | ||
| October 31, 2026 (Saturday) | TBD | Away | Arkansas | Fayetteville, Ark. / Razorback Stadium | ||
| November 7, 2026 (Saturday) | TBD | Home | Texas | Faurot Field | ||
| November 14, 2026 (Saturday) | TBD | Away | Georgia | Athens, Ga. / Sanford Stadium | ||
| November 21, 2026 (Saturday) | TBD | Home | Kentucky | Faurot Field | ||
| November 28, 2026 (Saturday) | TBD | Home | Oklahoma | Faurot Field |