Goal-line stand upsets champs
COLUMBIA, Mo. — In a game thatwas dominated by a pair of offenses that seemingly couldn’t be stopped, it was the much-maligned-Missouri defense that managed to stand tall against No. 17 LSU when it came time to decide the game.
Connor Bazelak threw for 406 yards and four touchdowns despite missing three of his top receiving targets due to COVID-19 protocols and coach Eli Drinkwitz’s bunch held four times at the the 1-yard line in the final minute to escape with a 45-41 victory in a game moved from Baton Rouge because of Hurricane Delta.
“Our guys didn’t flinch today,” Drinkwitz said. “They didn’t flinch after terrible turnovers. They didn’t flinch at the goal line. They just kept fighting. And that’s our No. 1 core value, always compete.”
LSU had taken a 41-38 lead when Cade York hit a 51-yard field goal on the final play of the third quarter. But when York tried to extend the lead mid way through the fourth, his 45-yarder was blocked, and Missouri needed just four plays — the big one a 69-yard pass to Chance Luper — before Bazelak hit Nico Hea with the go-ahead touchdown with 5:18 to go.
Myles Brennan, who threw for 430 yards and four TDs, quickly moved LSU the other direction. Terrace Marshall Jr. had four catches on the drive, the last a completion to the 1-yard line with 44 seconds left. But after Tyrion Davis-Price was stuffed twice up the middle, Missouri batted down two straight passes to preserve the upset.
“The defense did a great job at the end,” Bazelak said. “Just unbelievable.”
Tyler Badie took part in an early flea-flicker for a touchdown, then had TDs on the ground and through the air, as Mizzou (1-2) piled up 586 yards of total offense behind a freshman quarterback and his talented running backs.
Larry Rountree ran for 119yards for Mizzou.
The defending national champions, who were 0 for 10 on third down, fell to 1-2 for the first time since 1994.
“We couldn’t stop anybody.
Really poor showing on defense,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “I thought our offense played an outstanding game except for down there, we’re inside the 1, and we have to score. We have to score to win the game.”
Marshall finished with 11 catches for 235 yards and three scores. Arik Gilbert added six catches for 97 yards and a TD.
“It was just all on the defense and we have to get it fixed,” said Orgeron, who proceeded to defend new coordinator Bo Pelini. “I told the players, ‘We have to coach better. I have to coach better.’ It’s just not the LSU defense.”
The gamewas tied 24-all at halftime thanks to some trickery by Missouri’s offense — and no thanks to the Tigers’ miscues, including a pair of muffed punt returns and Bazelak’s fumble that turned into an LSU score.
Missouri struck first when Bazelak took a pitch from Badie on a flea-flicker and threw downfield to Tauskie Dove for a 58-yard TD reception. But the Bayou Bengals answered with back-to-back touchdown passes from Brennan to Marshall, part of an opening salvo in which the LSU quarterback was 7 of 7 for 114 yards passing.
Brennan cooled off, though. He was 6 of 15 for the rest of the half while LSU managed a single yard on the ground.