30 Years, 30 Games, 30 Days: #20
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. 20.
Missouri 21, No. 13 South Carolina 20 -- Columbia, SC -- September 27, 2014
Missouri entered SEC play fresh off a stunning 31-27 loss to Indiana. Most had already written off the Tigers based on falling to the Hoosiers. The first three-and-a-half quarters of this one did little to prove anyone wrong.
With 7:25 to go, Pharoh Cooper's touchdown catch gave the Gamecocks a 19-7 lead over Mizzou. Steve Spurrier chose to kick the PAT rather than going for two and at the time, few thought it would much matter. The extra point put the Gamecocks up 20-7 on a Missouri offense that had done next to nothing all night long.
But Maty Mauk completions to Bud Sasser for 41 yards and Wesley Leftwich for 26 put the Tigers at the South Carolina one. Russell Hansbrough plunged in on the next play, capping a 36-second drive that cut the lead to 20-14.
South Carolina went three-and-out and Mizzou took over at its own 49 with 4:40 to play. On fourth and one, Mauk hit Sean Culkin for a first down to keep the drive alive at the SC 39.
The Tigers would have first and goal at the two-yard line a couple minutes later. Three runs got nothing. Mizzou faced fourth-and-goal at the one with less than two minutes to go. Hansbrough broke the plane again and the extra point put Mizzou up 21-20.
Dylan Thompson could not play the role of Connor Shaw. He threw four straight incompletions and Missouri came out with a shocking win. The Tigers would end up in Atlanta in the SEC Championship Game for a second consecutive season.
WHY IT'S ON THE LIST: For nearly 53 minutes, there was absolutely no indication Missouri could come close to winning this game...much less actually do it. But multiple players came up big in the final seven minutes and Mizzou snatched a win away from South Carolina. The Tigers were embarrassed 34-0 by Georgia the next week, but then ran off six straight wins to win the SEC East again.