For the second consecutive year, the Tigers have double-digit wins.

That’s just the third time in program history.

And Monday, they did it through every aspect of the team.

The offense was clicking early, the defense was dominant late and Blake Craig hit two field goals of more than 50 yards to push the Tigers in front in the fourth for a 27-24 win against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium.

“The story really is our football team and these guys right here and their commitment to finishing the season,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “So proud of the way they battled.”

The Tigers didn’t get off to a hot start in Nashville as the game-opening drive stalled and the Iowa offense charged through the Tiger defense for 70 yards on eight plays, mostly through the air, to jump ahead 7-0.

But the Tigers responded on the back of seniors Brady Cook and Theo Wease playing in their final game as part of the Tigers.

Cook started the drive by faking a pitch and rolling to his right before firing a dart to Marquis Johnson - who went on to have career highs of seven catches and 122 as he prepares to move up the depth chart next season - then Cook kept a read option to gain a first down near mid field.

A sack pushed him back, but Cook scrambled into a third-and-5 before finding Johnson again on an 11-yard pass to set up first-and-10 from the Iowa 35.

Then Cook found Wease for 21 yards before finding him again on a back-shoulder toss as Wease turned behind his defender for a 4-yard touchdown with 2:12 left in the first quarter.

Wease was hurt in the first half and did not return for the second half, but ended with five catches and 75 yards.

“Theo Wease, what an unbelievable job he did in the first half,” Drinkwitz said. “He took an injury and couldn’t return in the game, he laid it all on the line for us.”

The tie didn’t last long as Kaden Wetjen returned the ensuing kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown, tying the longest kick return in Music City Bowl history, to put the Hawkeyes back in front 14-7 with 1:59 left in the first.

But the Tigers kept their momentum.

Cook found Jordon Harris for a 14 yard gain before scrambling for 10 more. He hit Wease with a 23-yard pass before Johnson and Marcus Carroll took runs for a combined 11 yards to get to first-and-goal from the 7.

Then Johnson, wide open cutting across the back of the end zone, ran under a Cook lob and kept his body in bounds to tie the game at 14 with 13:28 left before halftime.

“Marquis has been a special player,” Drinkwitz said. “I mean, we saw it last year. But the thing I’m the most proud of him about is it’s always been about the team and whatever the team has asked him to do, he’s embraced that role.”

After a couple of stalled drives, the Hawkeyes put together a long one, this time mostly on the ground, ending with Kamari Moulton running in a 1-yard score with 49 seconds left in the half to send the Hawkeyes into halftime leading 21-14.

Both offenses lost their spark early in the second half, but Iowa was able to connect on a 38-yard field goal with 5:19 left to extend the advantage to 24-14. Then it was all Missouri.

The Tigers went 75 yards on eight plays, led by a 17-yard pass from Cook to Daniel Blood on a corner route immediately followed by a Cook deep ball to Johnson for 44 yards.

Josh Manning finished the drive with a 4-yard jet sweep run for a touchdown to cut the lead to 24-21 with 1:49 left as Missouri fans got a look at all the young targets they’re likely to see on the field next year.

The Tigers forced Iowa into third-and-3 from the Tiger 47 on the next drive and Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan rolled to his right looking to fire a pass to Reece Vander Zee along the sideline, but Toriano Pride jumped in front of it for an interception - the game’s lone turnover - to give Missouri the ball at it’s own 46.

Six plays later, the Tigers sat at fourth-and-8 from the Iowa 34 and sent out Craig for a 51-yard field goal, which he sent straight through the middle of the uprights to tie the game at 24 and set the Music City Bowl record for longest field goal.

The Tiger defense then forced the first three-and-out of the game to get the Missouri offense the ball back at its own 22 with 7:57 left to play.

Cook found Tavorus Jones for a 20-yard completion on the first play of the drive, then got into Iowa territory when he found Johnson for a 15-yard completion.

The Tigers didn’t get much farther though as they sent Craig out again on fourth-and-15 from the Iowa 39 for a 56-yard field goal. Craig nailed that one as well, resetting his own record for the bowl game and putting the Tigers in front for the first time with 4:36 left to play.

“We prepared really hard for these moments,” Drinkwitz said. “We truly believe in our elite edge. We truly believe in faster, stronger, tougher than you in the fourth quarter. I think there’s a big belief.”

But with more than 4 minutes left, the Tiger defense would have to do what it only had a couple of times Monday, get a stop.

For the second consecutive drive, the Tigers forced a three-and-out, getting the ball back to the offense with 3:13 left.

The Tigers were unable to run out the clock though and a shanked punt gave Iowa the ball at its own 45 with 1:54 left to play.

The Tigers forced Iowa to go for fourth-and-1 from the tiger 46 and Sullivan attempted a quarterback sneak, but Daylan Carnell and a host of Tigers forced their way into the backfield and blew up the attempt, ending the Iowa threat and letting Cook kneel out his final game in a Tiger uniform.

“To finish the season, the win total isn’t important, but being ranked is,” Drinkwitz said. “To finish, to start the season and finish the season ranked is a heck of an accomplishment for the senior class. It’s something they should take pride in. Back-to-back seasons finishing ranked is an unbelievable accomplishment for our program.”

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