Auburn continued to struggle late in the loss versus Missouri 21-17 on Saturday. The Tigers dropped to 2-5 on the season. The trend for Auburn controlling a game for three quarters and falling apart in the fourth continued. The return of Missouri quarterback Brady Cook late in the third quarter energized the home team for the comeback win when Missouri was down 17-6. Cook finished 11 of 22 for 194 yards. Auburn made more effort to get running back Jarquez Hunter the ball, but it wasn’t enough. Hunter carried the ball 19 times but only accumulated 57 yards. Auburn as a team rushed for 110 yards. The loss puts the Auburn Tigers at 0-4 in conference play with another road game coming up against Kentucky.
Auburn Loses Late Versus Missouri 21-17
Tied at Halftime
The Auburn offense struggled to open the game with back-to-back three and outs. A lot was said during the week that Auburn would feature Hunter more than in previous weeks. However, on the first play from scrimmage, Auburn went with a pass that resulted in a sack. Payton Thorne was hit with a five-yard loss when he was sacked by Zion Young. The next drive for Auburn did feature two runs for Hunter, but only picked up four yards.
The defense held Missouri to field goal attempts in the first quarter which kept scoring to a minimum. On the opening drive of the game, Blake Craig made a 51-yard field goal to give Missouri a 3-0 lead with 8:24 left in the first quarter. Two plays before, Cook left the game with a non-contact injury that resulted in an 11-yard loss. Drew Pyne came in for Cook until he returned in the third quarter. Craig missed his second field goal attempt of 49 yards with 4:56 in the first.
Auburn tied the game at three with a 32-yard field goal by Towns McGough with 11:12 left in the first half. The two teams exchanged fumbles on the next two possessions. For Missouri, it was on a bad handoff exchange from Pyne and running back Marcus Carroll. Auburn gave the ball back when Thorne ran into Robert Lewis while he was blocking a defender. The Auburn fumble did not result in Missouri points as Craig missed a 55-yard field goal.
Auburn Takes the Lead
Auburn received the opening kickoff of the second half and scored the first touchdown of the game. With 12:34 in the third quarter, Thorne connected with Cam Coleman for a 47-yard touchdown to take a 10-3 lead. That was the only catch for Coleman in the game and capped off a six-play, 75-yard drive.
After forcing a three and out of the Missouri offense, Auburn was forced to punt with 11:24 remaining in the third quarter. Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden fumbled the punt. This resulted in a recovery in the endzone by Antonio Kite. The second turnover for Missouri gave Auburn a 17-3 lead with 11:08 in the third.
Auburn Missed Opportunity
After Missouri cut into the lead with a 38-yard field goal to make it 17-6, Auburn looked to extend the lead. Auburn went on a 13-play, 63-yard drive that chewed up 7:13 off the clock. The drive was mostly on the ground with Auburn gaining 50 yards. Auburn was at the Missouri 10-yard line before Thorne was sacked by Jahkai Lang for a loss of 12 yards. There was also a dropped pass in the end zone by Lewis that would have given Auburn a three-score lead. McGough then missed a 30-yard field goal.
Brady Cook Returns
Cook returned to the field on the next Missouri possession that began with 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter. He missed his first two passes before connecting with Mookie Cooper for 78 yards to end the quarter. Running back Marcus Carroll scored on a two-yard run to open the final quarter, and Cook converted on a two-point conversion to make it 17-14.
During the fourth quarter, Auburn could not consistently move the ball and was forced to punt three times. Overall Auburn had five sacks in the game. Eugene Asante and Jalen McLeod both had two sacks. The Auburn defense did its best to hold Missouri out of the endzone. That was until the final Missouri drive. Missouri went on a 17-play, 95-yard drive that took 3:40 off the clock. With 1:34 left in the game, Missouri faced fourth and five on the Auburn 41. Cook connected with Burden for a 16-yard completion to the Auburn 25 to keep the drive going.
Three plays later Cook found Theo Wease for 10 yards to the Auburn 15 with 1:11 left in the game. Three plays later Jamal Roberts scored on a four-yard run with 46 seconds left to go up 21-17. The Auburn offense was unable to gain a first down, and Missouri ran out the clock for the win.
