One last chance.
In both of Eli Drinkwitz’s first two seasons at the helm of the Missouri football program, the Tigers ended the regular season with a .500 record and were invited to a bowl game.
With the Tigers sitting at 5-6 going into their final contest, the Borderline Rivalry this afternoon against the Arkansas Razorbacks has become a must-win game.
Missouri is coming off a get-right game last Saturday night against the New Mexico State Aggies where the Tigers cruised to a 45-14 win.
Brady Cook had a good day, passing for 251 yards and three touchdowns on 19-of-27 passing, giving him 472 yards and six touchdowns the past two games.
Two of those touchdowns went to Luther Burden, keeping him tied for the team lead with seven total touchdowns alongside Cody Schrader who rushed for two Saturday as well.
For his freshman season, Burden now has 36 catches for 299 yards and five touchdowns through the air to go with 91 rushing yards on 17 carries and two scores. Schrader has taken the lead back role in his first Division I season with 603 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 139 carries.
The past two weeks have doubled Cook’s passing touchdown total for the year, bringing him to 12 scores and 2,267 air yards with seven interceptions, to go with 409 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
The improved Missouri offense will battle an Arkansas defense allowing 28.7 points per game on 452.4 yards. The Razorbacks have struggled to defend through the air, allowing 276.8 passing yards per game and 175.5 rushing yards per contest.
Junior linebacker Drew Sanders (6-foot-5, 233 pounds) leads the Razorback defense with 96 tackles, including 12.5 for loss and 8.5 sacks, and has brought down an interception, forced three fumbles and recovered another. Senior linebacker Bumper Pool (6-2, 232) has 92 tackles for Arkansas to go with 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Redshirt senior defensive back Simeon Blair (5-10, 208) has 60 touchdowns and redshirt junior Hudson Clark (6-2, 182) has 56.
Junior defensive back Dwight McGlothern (6-2, 181) leads the Razorbacks with three interceptions.
The strength of Arkansas’ team, though, has been the offense, which has reached 40 points three times this season including a 42-27 win against No. 20 Mississippi last week.
The Razorback’s offense averages 31 points per game on 465.5 total yards with a near-even split of 233.5 rushing yards and 232.2 passing yards per game.
Sophomore running back Raheim Sanders (6-2, 227) leads the Arkansas rushing attack with 1,379 yards and 10 touchdowns on 209 carries, while redshirt junior quarterback KJ Jefferson (6-3, 242), who returned from injury last week, has 472 yards and six touchdowns on 125 attempts.
Jefferson has also passed for 2,149 yards and 20 touchdowns on 165-of-244 (67.6 percent) passing with only three interceptions.
Redshirt junior receiver Jadon Haselwood (6-3, 213) has been Jefferson’s main target with 52 catches for 628 yards and three touchdowns, while senior receiver Matt Landers (6-5, 197) is the team yardage leader with 701 and six touchdowns on 40 catches.
Missouri has won five of the past six Borderline Rivalry games, winning each one from Dec. 25, 2016-Nov. 5, 2020, but Arkansas won last year 34-17 in Fayetteville.
Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. (KRCG-TV).