6/26/2017 football Edit

30 Years, 30 Games, 30 Days: #17

Gabe DeArmond

Publisher

FOLLOW THE TIGERS EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION

Missouri goes in front of the press to preview the 2017 football season on July 13. To lead up to the unofficial kickoff of the college football season, PowerMizzou.com will take a look back at the 30 best Tiger games in the last 30 years.

In the course of compiling this list, there was no set criteria. I looked at the most memorable games, the most entertaining games, the most important games to the program at the time. All of these factored in when I put together the list. It is an entirely subjective list sure to inspire plenty of disagreement.

We continue the countdown today with Game No. 17.

FEEDBACK: FANS GIVE THEIR TOP 30 OF THE LAST 30 YEARS

No. 3 Auburn 59, No. 5 Missouri 42 -- Atlanta, GA -- December 7, 2013

It can be argued that Missouri has never played a game with more at stake. The Tigers had been a game away from a chance at a national title before, most recently in 2007. They were there again, a win away from a chance to play for the whole thing. But this time, there was the added factor of SEC bragging rights on the line.

The Tigers didn't belong in the best conference in college football. At least if you listened to anyone outside of Columbia, MO. Mizzou's first season did little to disavow anyone of that nation as the Tigers limped to a 5-and-7 finish and missed a bowl game for the first time in eight seasons.

But 2013 was different. Missouri won at Georgia, they destroyed Florida and they won the SEC East. The Tigers entered the conference championship game at 11-and-1. On the other sideline was Auburn, a year removed from a winless conference season and toting a No. 3 ranking and shocking national title hopes of their own into the game.

For three quarters, the two offenses traded haymakers. Missouri scored on a five-yard touchdown run by James Franklin with just nine seconds to play in the third quarter. The final 15 minutes would likely send one team to Pasadena and the other lamenting a lost opportunity as it awaited its bowl bid.

Auburn went up 52-42 with just more than 11 minutes to play and Missouri got its turn again. But, finally, a defense made a stop. Unfortunately for Missouri, it was the wrong one. Mizzou went three-and-out, capped by a Dee Ford sack of Franklin. The Tigers would stop Auburn on the next drive, but got the ball back down ten with 3:22 to play at their own four-yard line and couldn't mount a threat. Tre Mason would score on a 13-yard touchdown run to ice the game and send Auburn off to the national championship, where it would lose to Florida State.

Franklin put up 365 yards of total offense in the loss. Henry Josey ran for 123 on just nine carries. Dorial Green-Beckham had 144 yards and two touchdowns on six catches in what was supposed to be a glimpse of a future with no limits. But none of it was enough to overcome 304 yards on 46 carries by Mason (Auburn had 545 on the ground as a team). Missouri would beat Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl a few weeks later to finish the season 12-2 and in the top five. The Tigers would return to the SEC Championship Game a year later, losing to Alabama.

This game and this season proved Missouri could compete with the big boys in the SEC. But for the third time, Gary Pinkel would come up one game short of the conference title that would elude him for his entire career in Columbia.

WHY IT'S ON THE LIST: Honestly, it should probably be higher. Had Mizzou won, it would likely be No. 1. I remember at halftime thinking it was the first time I'd been able to catch my breath. It was a fantastically entertaining--and incredibly frustrating--football game. Of the four title games he would lose, this one seemed like Pinkel's best chance to get over the hump. It did not happen as Mason simply beat the Tigers into submission. But it was a great game and one that gave Missouri fans hope for the future in the Southeastern Conference.