COLUMBIA, Mo. – In a Southeastern Conference football matchup 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 protocol, and first-year coach Eli Drinkwitz’s bunch held four times at 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 midway 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 touchdowns, 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. However, Tyrion Davis-Price was then stuffed twice up the middle, and Missouri batted down two straight passes to preserve the upset.