On Oct. 14,  Missouri football found itself in a sea of blue in Lexington, Kentucky. 

It’s a sold-out SEC Saturday night filled with passionate Kentucky fans looking for a bounce-back homecoming win after the Wildcats’ 51-13 loss against Georgia the previous week. 

For about two drives, it appeared they would get their wish, as Kentucky led Missouri 14-0 in the first quarter.

Missouri looked hopeless, until its biggest play of the 2023 season came from an unlikely hero. On a trick play in the second quarter, sophomore punter Luke Bauer faked a punt and instead launched a 39-yard pass directly to freshman receiver Marquis Johnson for a touchdown. 

Kroger Field fell silent. “Big Blue Nation” was in disbelief after an unbelievable play — one that altered the course of the first half and evaporated Kentucky’s momentum. 

The Tigers scored 17 points in the second quarter to take a three-point lead, a scenario that had seemed almost inconceivable not that long before. By the end of the first half, Wildcat fans were even booing their own team according to Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz.  

“I knew that when their fans were booing their home team going into half that we were going to win,” Drinkwitz said.

He knew. 

The momentum continued into the second half. The Tigers scored 21 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, to put the Wildcats away. With eight minutes left in the game, the stadium was nearly empty, leaving their team without a home crowd down the stretch.

Drinkwitz’s statement echoed a familiar fan sentiment earlier this season, when Missouri fans booed junior quarterback Brady Cook as he was announced in the starting lineup before its matchup against Kansas State. While it ended with a win for Missouri, the lack of support towards his quarterback stuck with Drinkwitz even after senior kicker Harrison Mevis’ historic 62-yard buzzer-beating field goal. 

“You don’t ‘boo’ the starting quarterback,” Drinkwitz said. “That pissed me off. [Brady] went out there and played his butt off for this university and this team […] We need to get behind this young man.” 

Missouri’s coach was appalled at the idea of “treason,” by college football standards. That a fan base would turn on its own quarterback — especially one like Cook, who only ever wanted to play for his home-state team. 

Drinkwitz wouldn’t accept that. His Tigers radiate togetherness. They practice together, they eat together and they live together. But more than that, they support each other. Saturday proved that.

Following the hard-fought victory over a previously ranked No. 24 Kentucky team, graduate running back Cody Schrader gave a private speech to his teammates and coaches that addressed the disrespect the team has felt over the past year from fans and media alike, feeling the energy of a program that hasn’t been this successful in a decade. 

“To be [Kentucky’s] Homecoming [game]. To be not picked [to win]. Everybody disrespecting us all year. It was personal,” Drinkwitz said of the speech.

For long-tenured Missouri players such as graduate defensive lineman Darius Robinson, the feeling of being considered one of the top 20 college football teams in the country is a far cry from the painfully average teams of the last several seasons. Missouri’s six wins are already even with last year’s win total, and there are still five games remaining. 

“When I really thought about coming into college, this is what I envisioned,” Robinson said. “I envisioned us being a team that can start fast, win games early and get momentum.”

“And to think that last year [against] Arkansas we were fighting for our lives just to get to the bowl game. Now we’re here, but we can’t ease up,” Robinson said. 

This season is night and day for the Tigers compared to the 2022 season, and while part of that is the development of its players such as Cook and sophomore receiver Luther Burden lll, it also comes down to the dynamic of the team behind the scenes.

“On past teams you couldn’t really talk to certain people, and people didn’t understand the team always comes first,” Robinson said. “[For] this team, the team always comes first no matter what’s going on.”

The Tigers have fully embraced each other and have built a camaraderie unlike previous seasons, which has helped guide them to a 6-1 record up to this point. Through adversity and longtime struggles, the Tigers have made themselves into one of the SEC’s best teams in just a season.

Five games remain for Missouri before the postseason begins, and the Tigers currently sit in a position to potentially win the SEC and compete for a national championship. Missouri will play South Carolina (2-4) on Oct. 21, followed by arguably their biggest test of the season against Georgia (7-0) on Nov. 11. 

Although there can be no certainty of a win in Georgia, the 2023 Tigers have proven in Lexington that they can win in any environment they step in…together. 

Edited by Quentin Corpuel | qcorpuel@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Grace KnightEdited by Sophie Rentschler | srentschler@themaneater.com