The Missouri Tigers’ ability to exceed pre-season expectations won’t take the sting away from a 49-39 home loss against the Tigers from Louisiana State, in which Missouri looked poised to dominate after jumping out to a 22-7 early lead. 

LSU’s quarterback Jayden Daniels was the best player in this game, his name was scattered among long plays during the game and addressed by Missouri coaches after the game. The Missouri defense that came into this affair looked extremely stout and able to stop high level offenses, but it was never prepared for the havoc created by Daniels. 

Missouri would go up early, creating a big three and out on the very first drive of the game and scoring on its first three drives with relative ease. Brady Cook would come out of the gates on fire, starting 13-15 with two touchdowns, perfectly placing the ball to wide receivers on tough throws. Things wouldn’t stay simple for Missouri for long, as Cook would throw his first interception of his 2023 campaign to LSU star defensive player Harold Perkins Jr. 

From here, LSU would gain momentum for the majority of the half. Cody Schrader and Luther Burden would help Missouri take a bit of momentum into the half by creating plays to get Harrison Mevis into range, resulting in a drained 50-yard field goal to set the score at 25-17.

Coming out of the half in a one score game, both teams knew that in order to win they would have to play their best football in the second half. Both defenses would come out strong forcing stops on the first two drives. After this, the offenses would wake up, LSU would open the scoring in its second drive, after Jayden Daniels found junior wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. for a 42-yard touchdown. 

That touchdown would open the floodgates as 17 total points would be scored in the last seven minutes of the third quarter. Jayden Daniels was gashing the Missouri offense on the ground. Brady Cook would have to take a trip to the locker room in the middle of the contest, but was deemed healthy enough to play and returned.

While Cook was certainly not bad, the evidence of injury lingered with him as the offense became less explosive after his return. The Tigers inability to stretch the field with Cook’s injury was clear, as Missouri would only score 14 points the entire second half. 

This game would come down to the last five minutes of the game as both teams had an ability to create and defend game-winning drives. On a crucial third down play, Jayden Daniels would take off from the pocket and break multiple tackles on his way to a first down. The preservation of LSU’s game-winning drive would not be for nothing, as Jayden Daniels with under three minutes remaining in the game found a wide-open Malik Nabers for a 29-yard touchdown to put LSU up three points. 

Missouri’s offense would quickly squander its first chance at a game-winning drive in under two minutes. Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz made the decision to punt as Missouri had retained all of its timeouts. This decision would pay off, resulting in Missouri getting the stop they needed to give Brady Cook a game-winning drive attempt with 45 seconds remaining. The Missouri Tigers final drive may remind most Missouri fans of the teams of the most recent years, failing to deliver when it matters the most. Brady Cook would throw his second interception of the season on a game sealing pick-six. 

Missouri didn’t feel bad for themselves in the post game press conference, instead thanking the fans for support. Nothing is out of the picture for Missouri even after the tough loss this week. The Missouri Tigers will face another test next week, as they travel down to Lexington to face a 5-1 Kentucky team. All eyes will be on this Missouri team and how they bounce back after the LSU loss. 

Edited by Chase Gemes | cgemes@themaneater.com