Missouri wins 48-45 shootout over Arkansas

Drew Lock threw for 448 yards and five touchdowns as he led Missouri (7-5, 4-4 SEC) to a 48-45 win over Arkansas (4-8, 1-7 SEC). The Tigers needed every single yard and score in what became an unexpected shootout.

The Razorbacks tied the game at 45-45 with five minutes remaining, and then Missouri did the unthinkable: the Tigers used up almost all of the clock on a 13-play drive, and Tucker McCann put the game to bed. After a huge third-down catch by Johnathon Johnson, Ish Witter’s 22-yard run — the senior had an incredible 39 carries for 170 yards — put Mizzou in scoring position, and the the Tigers ran the clock down from there.

Lock seems obligated to make at least one terrible decision at the start of games.

The junior quarterback floated a duck over the middle of the field on the opening drive and Henre’ Toliver returned the interception 28 yards. Austin Allen found Jordan Jones for a 65-yard gain, and after two short rushes, Allen scored on a one-yard bootleg run to put the Razorbacks up 7-0.

The Tigers tied things up on a one-yard rush by Ish Witter, but that didn’t last long. This time it was DeMarkus Acy’s turn to get beat by Jones to the tune of a 57-yard touchdown grab. David Williams’ 16-yard score made it 21-7 Arkansas soon after.

After the Hogs jumped offsides, Lock used the free play to take a deep shot to Emanuel Hall. The dynamic duo connected for a 55-yard touchdown down the right sideline. With his 39th touchdown pass of the year, Lock tied Chase Daniel for the most in school history. Williams scored again, but Lock responded with a 56-yard missile that dropped right into the arms of Hall. Missouri made it 28-21, and the shootout was officially on. The throw gave Lock the all-time Mizzou record and tied the SEC record.

On the next drive Lock found Okwuegbunam for a 10-yard score that gave him the SEC record. More importantly, he tied the game. Sparks redeemed himself with his second interception of the year, and the Tigers took a 31-28 lead on a 37-yard field goal by Tucker McCann.

The scoring dramatically slowed to start the second half, with the only points of the third quarter coming on a 28-yard rush by Devwah Whaley to make it 35-31 Arkansas. But the pace picked back up in the fourth: Lock’s touchdown throw to Albert Okwuegbunam gave Mizzou the lead briefly, but a 24-yard catch and run by Williams gave it right back to Arkansas. J’Mon Moore made an acrobatic 24-yard touchdown catch, and Arkansas tied the game with a 42-yard field goal. Then came the five-minute drill.

While the Mizzou defense and secondary had improved as of late, both returned to early-season form against Arkansas. The Tigers allowed 45 points, 446 yards and five completions of 30 yards or more.

With its regular season now over, Missouri will wait until Dec. 3 to see which bowl game it’ll be playing in. The extra practices would be wisely used on shoring up their issues completing and defending passes if they want to finish the year 8-5.