GAME RECAP: Auburn 17, Missouri 14

Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Missouri fumbles away the win, and Auburn survives another day.

What just happened?

Auburn beat Missouri 17-14 in overtime after Mizzou literally fumbled away the win. This is after they missed an extra-point length field goal for the win in regulation. Nothing really worked for Auburn on offense, but Missouri was equally pitiful and we went the entire second half without points.

Let’s get into the recap of this one.

GAME RECAP

Auburn forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the game, and went to work with Robby Ashford in his first start at quarterback. The Tigers leaned on Tank Bigsby for the first few plays, and he converted a 4th-and-1 around midfield. After Tate Johnson went down with an injury on a play where Ashford was taken down in the backfield, the drive seemed doomed. Ashford scrambled on a 3rd-and-12 and converted the first down with Jalil Irvin taking over at center.

The Tigers went inside the red zone before bogging down for another 4th down, and Tank converted to set up a first down before Ashford scampered into the end zone on a draw from 12 yards away. Auburn struck first blood and led 7-0 after a 14-play, 59-yard drive that took more than half of the first quarter off the clock.

.@robby_ashford gets us on the board first ☝️ https://t.co/4qge82W7s5 pic.twitter.com/pSvL7mArcZ

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 24, 2022

After the score, the Auburn defense showed up as well with Derick Hall recording the first turnover of the season on his first career interception.

DERICK HALL CAN DO ALL

☑️ First career INT for @derick_hall9#WarEagle | https://t.co/pQk5h4rqz3 pic.twitter.com/WgTKUjuo3g

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 24, 2022

The Tigers set up shop at the Mizzou 24-yard line, and after a couple of passes (the first of the game) to Omari Kelly and Camden Brown, Tank Bigsby bowled into the end zone from a couple yards away and increased the lead to 14-0.

Auburn’s offense did not work at the beginning of the second quarter, and Missouri got the ball to push into Auburn’s end of the field. They faced a 3rd-and-2 at the Auburn 9-yard line and Cody Schrader took an option pitch around right end for the first Missouri touchdown of the day to cut the lead to 14-7.

Once Auburn’s offense got off the early-game script, they started to struggle. After the first two drives going for touchdowns, the next two went for a combined 10 plays and -8 yards. Meanwhile, Mizzou’s drives went -10 yards, 13 yards, 33 yards, and 54 yards as they started to improve with each possession.

A 40-yard pass from Cook to Dominic Lovett got the Tigers started on their next drive, and they moved inside the red zone again to face 3rd-and-short at the Auburn 19. Cook would convert to set up first-and-goal as we neared the final minute of play in the first half. With just :30 remaining in the half, Brady Cook plunged into the endzone on fourth-and-goal from just inside the 1-yard line to tie the game at 14-14.

Auburn drove into field goal range, but Anders Carlson missed a 50-yard try, then got another chance after an offsides by Missouri, and promptly missed from 45 yards away. We went into the locker room locked up at 14-14.

Even though Auburn scored touchdowns on the opening two drives of the game, they only managed 122 total yards in the first half, with 77 rushing yards on 26 carries. Missouri adjusted and found something effective on offense, while Auburn got progressively worse as the game wore on.

The second half started out poorly for everyone. Both teams punted on their first two drives, and Robby Ashford got hurt for Auburn so the Tigers had to bring in Holden Geriner for his first game action. His drive went backward on three consecutive plays and the Tigers erased a big gain on a Koy Moore scramble.

Both teams ended the third quarter without a score, punting a combined 7 times in the period. Things didn’t change in the fourth quarter, with Auburn going three-and-out twice to start the quarter. Missouri gained a little more offense, but still couldn’t make anything happen in terms of scoring.

Finally, Auburn’s defense pinned Missouri back with only a few minutes remaining in the game and got solid field position after another punt. Robby Ashford completed a 20-yard pass to Koy Moore to get down to the Mizzou 38, and then came close to converting on a third down. It brought up fourth down, and the Tigers went for it. On a handoff to Tank Bigsby, Missouri got two guys in the backfield and stuffed the run with 1:37 left.

Then, after reaching Auburn territory, Missouri went for the knockout punch and Brady Cook lofted a pass for Dominic Lovett 39 yards downfield. He caught it at the Auburn 3, and Mizzou set things up in the middle of the field for the game-winning field goal. Harrison Mevis — chonky boy — booted the ball, and missed it to the right sending us to overtime.

In the first overtime period, Anders Carlson missed a 44-yard field goal, but got another try on an offside penalty by Missouri. He nailed the 39-yard kick to give the Tigers a 17-14 lead, and Missouri got the ball with a chance to win.

Nathaniel Peat burst around left end, on his way to the end zone, and fumbled going into the end zone. Auburn recovered in the end zone and won 17-14 in overtime. What the hell, man.

FINAL STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Derick Hall was wild today. He notched the first turnover of the year for the Auburn defense with his first quarter interception, along with 2 sacks 5 total tackles.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Derick Hall’s interception was a fantastic time from many moons ago.

THREE IMPRESSIONS

• Offense is so bad. SO BAD. We knew this already, but a game against Missouri where you have five punts to start the second half really hammers it home. In the two games that Gus coached against this team, he scored 110 total points. Nothing worked, and we’re going to have trouble winning a game in the SEC if we can’t put up more than two touchdowns on Missouri.
• Derick Hall is still an absolute man, and you should show up to cheer for him the rest of the way.
• It’s likely that Harsin is going to be fired very shortly, so keep these names in mind. Lane Kiffin, Mark Stoops, Jeff Grimes, Deion Sanders. Hey-ohhhhhhh.

UP NEXT

You want to get weird? Auburn. LSU. Next Saturday night. 6 pm CST kickoff. Potential hurricane. Likely interim coach for Auburn. Let’s. Get. WEIRD.

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