Final score and recap: Mizzou football holds off South Carolina 31-28
Missouri is hosting South Carolina in a winnable SEC matchup Saturday, with the Tigers looking for their second SEC win of the season.
The updates at the top of this story are the most recent.
Badie seals the win
With third-and-3 on the scoreboard, Tyler Badie just clinched the game for Missouri. His first down allowed the Tigers to run out the clock.
That will do it, and MU is one win away from bowl eligibility.
Stick with us for more post game coverage from the Tigers' 31-28 win at Faurot Field.
Cook takes over, the closer is on
After his bad interception, Connor Bazelak has been benched for Brady Cook.
Cook is leading MU, but Badie has chugged the Tigers into SC territory with chunk-gain runs.
It's an interesting move, to be sure, replacing your starting quarterback in the most important moment of the game. But, MU needs to close out this Gamecock team and Cook is the man Drinkwitz is choosing to do so.
MU is giving the game away
Up 10, with five minutes to go, with third and long, Bazelak threw his second interception of the game.
Three plays later, SC is in the end zone. White scored his second touchdown of the game to bring this game within three, as MU leads 31-28.
It's a wild turn of events, as MU was just plays away from sealing this game. Calling a pass on third and long, instead of trusting perhaps the best player on offense in Badie.
Even if Badie doesn't make the first, it forces South Carolina to put together a sustained drive which takes much more time off the clock.
Either way, buckle up.
Gamecocks are still in it
On fourth down, MU's defense can't seal the deal.
With about seven minutes remaining, ZaQuandre White caught a swing pass and went the distance for 38 yards. That touchdown puts the Gamecocks within 10, as Missouri still leads 31-21 with 6:56 remaining.
A long drive that ends in points of some kind would put the Tigers in great shape. A touchdown would most likely seal the game for MU.
MU can't put SC away
Forcing a turnover on downs in South Carolina territory, the Gamecocks were on life support. The SC defense made sure it still had a fighting chance.
Mookie Cooper fumbled the ball, and SC recovered, as the Gamecocks remain in the game, but barely.
That was MU's first lost fumble of the year, amazingly enough.
Welcome back to the end zone, Badie
Tyler Badie, who was held out of the end zone last weekend for the first time this season last week, gets back to pay dirt.
Badie scampered into the end zone to put Missouri up 31-14 with 12:31 left in the game.
That touchdown capped a 10-play, 61-yard drive that spanned five minutes of game time. It's a wonder what would have happened if this Missouri team showed up against Boston College, or even Tennessee.
End of the third: Home crowd is showing out
Missouri's announced attendance Saturday is at smallest total attendance of all home games thus far. Although, it doesn't feel like it.
The crowd of 44,092 at Faurot Field has been loud, shaking the press box slightly at times. The M-I-Z, Z-O-U chants have been full.
That's because Missouri will head into the fourth quarter leading 24-14.
Ball does not lie
A play after Akayleb Evans got flagged for a questionable holding penalty, Missouri got retribution.
Martez Manuel sacked Brown, forced a fumble and Trajan Jeffcoat jumped on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. That puts Missouri up 24-14 with 4:28 left in the third.
That's the second defensive touchdown on the season for MU, with the first coming as Mekhi Wingo returned an interception for a touchdown against North Texas.
Second half opens in a sloppy way
Missouri punts away after its first possession, and almost hands South Carolina points.
The Gamecocks, backed into their own end zone, threw incomplete on third and long. Officials tabbed Missouri with a hands to the face penalty, and then followed that up with pass interference on Akayleb and an unsportsmanlike conduct on the MU sideline.
All of that, somehow, ended in a gain of 21 yards on third and 27, which led to a South Carolina punt.
Tigers take a halftime lead
When Niko Hea was stopped at the one-yard line, Harrison Mevis showed he can do anything.
Racing on the field with the special teams unit, Mevis knocked through a 19-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give Missouri a 17-14 halftime lead.
Daniel Parker Jr. set up the score with a one-handed grab down inside the 10 yard line. Credit to the Tigers' coaching staff, which had the special teams ready to race out with the clock running, set up properly and hit a field goa.
MU gets one more drive for halftime
Isaiah McGuire has a sack to go with his forced fumble and fumble recovery. The defensive lineman also stymied South Carolina on third and long.
That forces a South Carolina punt and gives the Tigers a chance to score before halftime.
Gamecocks tie the game
Jascon Brown is a baller. The quarterback has rebounded well since throwing his interception and threw a near perfect pass to Josh Vann for a 26-yard, over-the-shoulder score.
That ties the game at 14-14, with 4:19 left in the half.
Mu had multiple chances to get off the field with a stop, but South Carolina kept converting on third and long opportunities. Given that many chances, the Gamecocks were bound to tie the game.
The MU defense is lacking a clutch gene today. They'll have halftime to figure it out.
Welcome to the end zone, Mookie
Mookie Cooper has finally scored his first college touchdown, and in dramatic fashion to boot.
Bazelak fired a 60-yard touchdown to Cooper, who was as wide open as wide open can be. The Ohio State transfer showed what makes him special as MU goes up 14-7.
Cooper, in the slot, just ran through and took the top all the way off the defense. The Gamecocks defense never got its top back.
Credit Bazelak, too, who stood in the pocket and took a hit as he delivered the throw, showcasing his arm strength.
Bazelak gets MU on the board
After his early interception, Bazelak has tied the game for Missouri.
The quarterback threw a short-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Parker Jr. to tie the game at 7-7. That capped a 12-plays, 79-yard drive.
Missouri dug way into its bag of tricks, going with a two-quarterback formation on third and short, a double-pass play with Keke Chism and an end around with Dominic Lovett.
If that's a sign of what's to come, Missouri might be deep within its bag of tricks today if it wants to pull out a win.
End of the first: South Carolina 7, Missouri 0
Tigers defense came to play
Out of three South Carolina drives, Missouri has forced three turnovers.
Isaiah McGuire recovered a Gamecocks fumble deep in MU territory, as the Tigers stymie South Carolina on what was a successful drive to that point.
Now it's up to the MU offense to finally string together successful plays. Bazelak hasn't recorded a first down since throwing his interception earlier. It's safe to say the offense looked better against Georgia's defense to start last weekend than how it's played thus far today.
South Carolina takes the lead
After Martez Manuel almost forced a fumble, South Carolina foraged ahead to take an early lead.
Kevin Harris plunged in for a short-yardage touchdown to take a 7-0 lead on the Tigers as MU is in an early hole as it punts the ball back to the Gamecocks.
Bazelak needs to shake off any rust he might have after missing last week, and quickly. The MU offense hasn't worked its way out of many come-from-behind situations this season, if any at all.
The defenses start strong
Kris Abrams-Draine picks Gamecock quarterback Jason Brown on Brown's second pass of the game. Abrams-Draine turned at the perfect time, and picked the bal
Quarterback Connor Bazelak is starting for MU, ending the week's worth of speculation on Missouri's starting quarterback.
Bazelak, on the fourth play of Missouri's drive, throws an interception of his own. Away we go!
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Chris Kwiecinski is the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, overseeing University of Missouri and Boone County sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter @OchoK_ and contact him at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com, or 435 414-3261.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Live updates: Mizzou holds off South Carolina 31-28
