After giving up 308 yards and four touchdowns in the third quarter, A&M surrendered a 13-6 halftime lead and fell 34-27 to Missouri Friday. Mizzou posted 587 yards in the win, 257 more yards than their season average entering the game.
Third downs were dominated by the Tigers, as Mizzou converted 13-of-21 while the Aggies were just 4-of-14.
“The story is third downs, the whole game,” head coach Kevin Sumlin said. “We could get them to third down, they’d convert it. We did not. They were able to stay on the field and we weren’t.”
The Aggies had a chance to tie the game with just under three minutes to play, but Missouri stopped A&M on the 3-yard line on fourth down and were able to run out the clock on the ensuing possession.
“It was just aggravating, honestly,” senior wide receiver Malcome Kennedy said. “We always trust what we call, we always trust what we do, we’re a good enough offense to execute every play, and we just didn’t execute that one.”
Mizzou running back and Texas-native Russell Hansbrough ran wild against the Aggies, racking up 199 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, averaging 10 yards per rush.
“It was really one play that we practiced all week that was hurting us,” junior defensive end Julien Obioha said. “We knew exactly what they were doing and for some reason we couldn’t stop it.”
Josh Lambo connected on a pair of field goals in the first half and Josh Reynolds hauled in his 11th touchdown of the year as the A&M defense held the Tigers to a pair of field goals. Despite being out gained 223-145 in total yards, the Aggies led 13-6 at the break.
Mizzou opened the second half with a 77-yard touchdown drive, and A&M responded as Allen found Reynolds on a 56-yard catch and run to give the Aggies a 20-13 lead. The touchdown gave Reynolds 12 on the year, tying an A&M record held by Jeff Fuller and Mike Evans.
Hansbrough then rushed for scores of 45 and 49 yards, followed by a rushing touchdown from Ish Witter as the Tigers headed into the fourth quarter up 34-17.
The Aggies had a 57-yard touchdown drive to start the final frame as Allen found Kennedy four yards for a score, but it would be the final touchdown of the game as A&M fell to 0-2 at home against SEC teams on the year.
A&M (7-4, 3-4 SEC) will be off next weekend before facing LSU on Thanksgiving.