MU Tigers’ Drinkwitz after South Carolina loss: ‘We’ve got 2 games left to go finish’

One week after last-minute theatrics sealed a comeback victory for Mizzou, South Carolina handed the Missouri Tigers a dose of their own medicine Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.

A defense that had lifted up the flat MU offense for weeks crumbled in the final minute, as South Carolina marched the field for a go-ahead touchdown with 15 seconds remaining.

The final: South Carolina 34, Missouri 30.

“Congratulations to Coach (Shane) Beamer and his football team,” Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “They earned it right there on that last drive. Hats off to them.”

This was an unquestionably deflating defeat for Mizzou, which welcomed back quarterback Brady Cook for the game. Earlier in the week, it looked like he would not be playing for the Mayor’s Cup trophy (which is up for grabs annually in this game between teams whose respective universities are both located in cities called Columbia).

After being officially listed as doubtful all week — and missing last week’s win at home against Oklahoma — Cook, not backup Drew Pyne, was the one who trotted out as the team’s starting quarterback.

Cook finished the day 21 of 31 for 237 yards and a touchdown with one interception.

“He led his team down there (and) he played well,” Drinkwitz said. “Obviously we missed on some third downs, and that’s going to be something we have to assess. But I thought he did everything he could to give us a chance to win.”

The offense started slow but picked it up with 24 second-half points to give Mizzou a shot. In the end, though, Cook and running back Nate Noel, who piled up 150 rushing yards, couldn’t will the Tigers to a victory.

Trailing 27-22 with just over five minutes left in the game, Missouri embarked on an eight-play, 66-yard touchdown drive. Cook and Noel did much of the heavy lifting.

The Tigers’ leading rusher, Noel ran the ball on the first five plays of the possession before Cook found Luther Burden III for a 6-yard gain. A miscommunication on third down resulted in a loss of two yards, setting up a crucial fourth-and-5 with less than two minutes to go.

On the biggest play of the game — at the time it occurred, anyway — Cook found Burden again for a 37-yard touchdown.

With a defender draped all over him, Burden reeled in the pass with one hand. After shaking off a defender, he walked into the end zone.

A successful two-point conversion — on a direct snap and designed run for freshman running back Jamal Roberts — gave Missouri a 30-27 lead with 1:10 showing on the clock.

“(Burden) had a great release,” Drinkwitz said. “It was a great football throw and one-handed catch for a touchdown. Disappointed that we wasted that.”

“I audibled that route to Luther,” Cook said. “I saw the guy covering him was a little tighter than we wanted so I checked the play and gave Luther the route he loves most. That’s one I’m never going to forget, and I know he won’t either. It was a fun, fun play.”

It could’ve been so much more memorable for all involved in black and gold. With about a minute remaining in the game, South Carolina drove the field and took the lead for good.

The Gamecocks worked their way to Missouri’s 15-yard line in just five plays, capitalizing on a 39-yard completion from Sellers to receiver Dalevon Campbell. And then the other shoe dropped.

Sellers completed a shovel pass to running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, who bounced off multiple would-be tacklers as he covered 15 yards to the end zone with 15 seconds to go.

“We missed tackles and we gave up too many plays,” Tigers defensive end Johnny Walker Jr. said. “We gotta help the offense out. They did their jobs. We’ve got to do ours.”

The touchdown represented the fifth of the day for Sellers, who went 21-for-30 with 353 yards through the air. He also ran for 45 yards on 11 carries.

Sellers’ first touchdown came on a 26-yard pass to wide receiver Nyck Harbor, making it 7-3 after Mizzou kicker Blake Craig had knocked in a 38-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive. Craig added a 37-yard field goal on the Tigers’ second possession.

But then the offense stalled, leading to a disastrous end to the first half that saw the Tigers’ deficit balloon from 7-6 to 21-6 in a matter of minutes.

A pair of touchdown passes by Sellers — the first to tight end Joshua Simon and the second to wide receiver Jared Brown — accounted for the scores.

Cook and the Tigers’ offense responded right away in the second half, however. After Missouri’s defense forced the second of three South Carolina turnovers on downs on the opening possession of the half, the Tigers marched 66 yards in 10 plays to cash in their first touchdown of the game.

On South Carolina’s next drive, Missouri’s defense, once again, forced a turnover on downs. On fourth-and-1 on the Gamecocks’ 37-yard line, Sellers tried to pick up the yard himself but was stuffed by MU linebackers Triston Newson and Corey Flagg Jr.

The Tigers finished the day an anemic 1-for-9 on third downs and managed just six points — on two field goals — before intermission.

“Our inability to convert third downs in the red zone in the first half was why we were behind,” Drinkwitz said. “If any of those are touchdowns it’s a different game.”

The Tigers’ second-half offense looked much better.

Mizzou scored on its first four drives after halftime and finally took the lead on the third, when Noel scored on a simple one-yard blast up the middle.

But Sellers put the Gamecocks back in front not long after that with a TD pass to Michael Smith. It was 27-22 South Carolina with 5:04 left to play.

Mizzou remains on the road next weekend, facing Mississippi State next Saturday, Nov. 23, in Starkville, Miss.

“We’ve got two games left to go finish,” Drinkwitz said. “We can be disappointed, but we can’t be devastated.”

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