As Missouri prepared to play Texas in its third-to-last game as a member of the Big 12 Conference, memories of six straight defeats to the Longhorns played on repeat in the Tigers’ minds.
But if the final image is what matters, Missouri will look back on the series with a smile.
Chants of “S-E-C!” waved a final good-bye to the Longhorns after Missouri upset No. 16 Texas 17-5 on Saturday at Faurot Field.
Punctuated by immense defensive improvement and just enough offense, the Tigers notched an upset over a ranked opponent for the second time in three weeks.
“I’m certainly very proud of my football team,” coach Gary Pinkel said after the win. “It’s been a tough year — a lot of losses, low-score losses, a lot of frustration on this team. I thought we battled well (as) we played a very good Texas team.”
The long-awaited victory hit home for many Texans that now play for the Tigers – 32 of them, in fact.
“I could hear after the game how crazy everyone was going,” said quarterback James Franklin, a native of South Lake, Texas. “All I heard was a lot of screaming just like if we’d made a big play and run it back for a touchdown, something like that. It was definitely cool to be in that kind of atmosphere.”
The Tigers claimed victory behind a defense that suffocated all ends of the Longhorn offense for the entirety of the game, particularly in the final three quarters.
Texas found itself with early opportunities, amassing 104 yards in the first quarter. Quarterback David Ash hit wide receiver Marquise Goodwin for a 45-yard pass down the left sideline to set up an eventual field goal that gave the Longhorns a 3-0 lead.
Beyond the first quarter, it was all Missouri. The Tigers held the Longhorns to 103 yards and zero offensive points in the final three quarters while amassing enough offense to put up 17 points of its own.
“A lot of times we start off slow,” Missouri cornerback E.J. Gaines said. “I felt like we started off a lot better than we have.”
Despite a conservative approach due to the dominant play of the defense, the offense came around and found scoring opportunities for itself. Franklin capped off a nine-play, 83-yard drive in the middle of the second quarter with a two-yard run to take a 7-3 lead.
The Tigers kept adding to the lead from there. On the next possession, running back Kendial Lawrence dashed 35 yards for another touchdown to grab a 14-3 lead the Tigers would take into halftime.
Lawrence ran for a season-high 106 yards on 18 carries, receiving opportunities the Tigers hadn’t planned on giving him.
Freshman starting running back Henry Josey, the Big 12’s leader in rushing and a Doak Walker Award finalist, went down in the fourth quarter with a knee injury Pinkel labeled as “serious.” Josey was taken off the field on a cart after shaking hands with Texas coach Mack Brown, who ran across the field to console Josey in his moment of pain and anguish.
“I feel really bad for Henry, obviously,” Pinkel said. “Our whole football team does. Whatever happens, if he has to have surgery, we have the best people and we’ll get him back 100 percent.”
Lawrence took over from there, grabbing a 100-yard performance in simply running out the time the Longhorn’s had to pull a comeback.
And with that, the storybook closed on the Missouri-Texas series in the Big 12 Conference. Texas still takes the series, 7-2.
But that’s not the stat the Tigers will remember.
“I think that going out with a win is always good,” Gaines said. “Knowing that we’ve been playing them for a while, getting the last laugh is always good.”