For the first 40 minutes of the 88th Cotton Bowl Classic, the Missouri Tigers offense was stuck in quicksand. Eight of its first nine drives resulted in punts. The other outlier was a failed Hail Mary to end the first half after a false start backed them out of even Harrison Mevis’ field goal range.
At the end of the third quarter, the Tigers were pinned at their own 5-yard line and unable to get anything going offensively. It looked like Missouri would stall out again. However, Brady Cook managed to get his unit out from underneath its own goalpost. After being mostly quiet for the first two and half quarters, Cook launched a 50-yard completion right into the hands of true freshman Marquis Johnson. Missouri capped off the 95-yard drive with a 7-yard TD run from Cody Schrader after going scoreless through three quarters. The perfectly timed shot play from Kirby Moore gave Missouri a spark that it wouldn’t let go of en route to a 14-3 victory.
Missouri capped off the 95-yard drive with a 7-yard TD run from Cody Schrader after going scoreless through three quarters.
Cotton Bowl Offensive MVP, Cook threaded the needle on a touchdown pass to Luther Burden III on the ensuing drive to give Missouri a comfortable lead it never surrendered.
Despite having far and away their worst offensive output this season, the Tigers managed to pull away late for the program’s biggest win in a decade.
Missouri was shut out for an entire half for the first time all season, yet that’s not what any Tiger fans will remember from this night in Arlington. Blake Baker’s side of the ball gave up a season low three points against a Buckeyes squad battling attrition. Any hope of an Ohio State comeback was thwarted by a forced fumble from Daylan Carnell that fell into the hands of his teammate Joe Moore. Eliah Drinkwitz said in the postgame that he expected Carnell to play well against the Buckeyes. Carnell is from Indianapolis but wasn’t offered by Ohio State, the top recruiting power in the midwest.
Carnell was far from the only defensive player to make an impact for Mizzou. The game’s defensive MVP, Johnny Walker Jr. had a huge sack early in the contest that appeared to result in a fumble recovered by Mizzou.
The Tigers didn’t get the apparent fumble, however that didn’t stop them from holding Ohio State to its fewest points since getting shut out by Clemson in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl.
Meanwhile, Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles also did a great job of making life miserable for the opposing quarterback. While Cook picked things up late, he had his hands full with the Buckeyes’ pass rush. Ohio State sacked Cook six times with three coming from Jack Sawyer alone.
This game was a defensive struggle largely due to both offenses being unable to extend drives. Missouri and Ohio State went a combined 6/31 on third down, making punters Riley Williams and Jesse Mirco work overtime. Ohio State also played without a few of its key playmakers who transferred and opted out.
Starting quarterback Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal and Biletnikoff Award winner Marvin Harrison Jr. wasn’t available. Devin Brown filled in for the departing McCord, however exited the contest in the first half after suffering an apparent ankle injury.
True freshman Lincoln Kienholz was thrust from third stringer to playing in a New Year’s Six Bowl in a matter of weeks. Kienholz had the struggles you would expect from an inexperienced QB being thrown against an SEC defense without his best WR.
Missouri felt it had something to prove in 2023. While it vastly exceeded preseason expectations, it missed a couple of opportunities to take down elite programs in the regular season.
While no one should downplay going 10-2 in the SEC, the Tigers narrowly missed out on opportunities to take down LSU and Georgia. Eli Drinkwitz and his squad didn’t let this one slip through their fingers and picked up their first win against a top ten opponent since beating Georgia in 2013.
Friday night’s win ended a nine-season bowl win drought for the Tigers. Since beating Minnesota in the Citrus Bowl after the 2014 season, the Tigers lost four straight bowl games.
Defeating Ohio State also gave the Tigers their third Cotton Bowl victory in program history. 2023 will be a season held in similar regards to 2007 and 2013 by the Mizzou faithful. Those squads came home 12-2 with wins in the Cotton Bowl while this one finished a strong 11-2 and ended its season the same way.
Drinkwitz faced scrutiny and real questions about his job security just a matter of months ago. Now he is a part of an exclusive club with Mizzou legends, Gary Pinkel and Dan Devine as the only head coaches to have a double digit win season in Columbia.
Missouri hopes to build off of its breakout 2023 season by taking the next step and making the new 12-team playoff in 2024. While that is still a ways away, the Tigers bring back any key pieces including Brady Cook and Luther Burden III.
The schedule is incredibly manageable by SEC standards and the Tigers are bringing in a top-25 recruiting class along with an impressive haul of transfers.
Time will tell if Missouri can continue its upward trajectory heading into next fall, however there is no question that the Tigers win in the Cotton Bowl will go down as one of the greatest in program history.