Let’s continue our look at my rankings of the best wins of the Eliah Drinkwitz era in Columbia and move on to No. 8.
If you want to look back to what I’ve already ranked, here are the stories I’ve already published:
No. 8: Beating Florida 33-31 in 2023
We’re into the best season of Drinkwitz’s time at the helm of the Tigers with one of the wins that helped define the come-from-behind, never-say-die mentality that Tiger fans have seen for so much of the past two seasons.
Coming off a big win against Tennessee that came with a lot of emotional relief, the Tigers walked into a matchup with the Gators at 8-2 and having won three of their past four games.
Cody Schrader continued to run free after posting 200 yards against Tennessee as he ran for 148 more with a touchdown, while Brady Cook had 331 yards through the air, mostly to Luther Burden, who had nine catches for 158 yards.
The Tigers jumped ahead with a pretty easy looking drive. Missouri moved down the field with multiple rushes of 15+ yards, then Cook connected with Brett Norfleet to get within the 10, on a play were Norfleet, of course, hurdled a defender after catching a pass in the flat.
But the drive stalled and Harrison Mevis connected on a 22-yard field goal to put Missouri in front.
Florida quickly got down the field in response as Graham Mertz hit Ricky Pearsall a couple of steps in front of a fallen defender for a 61-yard pass, then hit Eugene Wilson for an 8-yard touchdown to take the lead, which the Gators took into the second quarter.
After a few stalled drives, Schrader broke free for an untouched 42-yard touchdown on the ground down the home sideline to start the second quarter, putting Missouri back in front for the rest of the first half. He ended up with more than 100 yards rushing in the first half alone.
Mevis added a 38-yard field goal late in the first half to build a 13-7 Tiger lead at halftime.
But the Gators got free for another long play to start the second half as Mertz hit Trevor Etienne for a 37-yard touchdown to take a 14-13 lead. That play followed a couple of long Etienne runs as he powered the opening drive of the second half.
The Tigers didn’t take long to respond as the next drive was highlighted by a Cook pass to Burden for 38 yards on a play down the sideline where he shoved a defender off his shoulders, and another 15-yard connection with Norfleet before Cook kept a rush up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown on a fake bubble screen.
The defense continued to struggle on the next drive though as Mertz hit Hayden Hansen for a wide-open 38 yards, then Pearsall broke free on an end-around for a 39-yard touchdown run to put the Gators in front 21-20 with 7:16 left in the third.
The Tiger offense was able to move freely again as Cook heaved a post to a very open Burden, who bounced off a would-be tackler for a 48-yard gain before a roughing the passer call was added to put the Tigers within the Florida 10.
But the Tigers were pushed back by a penalty, then a touchdown was caled off on another penalty, leading to a 24-yard Mevis kick to put Mizzou in front 23-21 with 3:53 left in the third.
On the next Florida drive, Mertz was hurt breaking through two defenders, leading to a change under center a few plays later.
And that change led to a fumbled handoff early in the fourth quarter that Kristiann Williams was able to jump on.
It looked like Missouri might be in control for good as Cook found Theo Wease in the flat and Wease worked his way past four defenders down the sideline for a 77-yard touchdown to put Missouri up 30-21 with 13:14 left.
But backup Florida quarterback Max Brown figured out the offense and was able to hurl a deep pass to Kahleil Jackson for a 27-yard catch, building to a 9-yard Etienne rushing touchdown with 7:49 left to bring the Gators within two.
The Tigers then stalled out and had to kick and Brown and Etienne made the most of it running all the way down the field and setting up a 35-yard Trey Smack field goal to go up 31-30 with 1:36 left to play.
But no Missouri fans will forget what happened next.
On third-and-8, Cook hit Mekhi Miller for a 13-yard completion. Then the Tigers were backed up on a false start and a 2-yard loss, setting up fourth-and-17 with 38 seconds left.
With the season on the line, Cook hurled a pass over the middle to Burden, who went up with two hands as Wease cleared defenders out of the area for a 27-yard gain.
The Tigers got closer with another 11-yard pass to Miller and a 16-yard throw to Mookie Cooper, then Mevis came out and nailed a 30-yard field goal to win.
Mevis gator chomped his way off the field and gave the Tigers another final-second, one-possession win and the run continued as the Tigers built to an 11-2 record.
There were a lot of important wins during the 2023 season, but none by a closer margin than the 2-point victory that came from a fourth-and-17 catch and another Mevis game winner.
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