Missouri blows last-minute lead to South Carolina in rainy, wild, weather-delayed 37-35 loss
In the longest, weirdest, maybe not wettest football game played in the United States on Saturday, Missouri lost 37-35 to South Carolina despite outgaining the Gamecocks by over 100 yards.
A late 57-yard field goal by Tucker McCann with 1:18 left put Missouri up. But that was too much time for Missouri’s defense to hold a one-point lead against South Carolina backup quarterback Michael Scarnecchia , who had started in place of an injured Jake Bentley.
Missouri’s offense started the day without senior wide receivers Nate Brown and Emanuel Hall, who didn’t travel due to groin injuries. The Tigers receiving corps didn’t skip a beat as true freshmen Kam Scott, Tyler Badie and Jalen Knox had a combined 139 yards receiving on 13 catches in the first half.
After a successful opening drive for Missouri’s defense, Drew Lock found Knox for a 44-yard catch at the 1-yard line to put the Tigers in scoring position. Sophomore running back Larry Rountree ran it into the end zone on the following play to give Missouri an early 7-0 lead.
Missouri handed South Carolina its first touchdown on a miscommunication from McCann. In an attempt to keep the ball away from Deebo Samuel, the Gamecock’s star kick returner, McCann attempted an onside kick that was supposed to be pooched to the short man. The play ended miserably, and an additional MU penalty put South Carolina on Missouri’s 37-yard line. Two plays later, the game was tied at 7-7.
Bentley was out with a knee injury, but Scarnecchia was just as good. In his first career start, he threw for 249 yards and three touchdowns.
Missouri’s run game had its best game of the season: All three tailbacks rushed for a combined 289 yards. With 6:40 left in the first half, Rountree helped move the chains for Missouri before Badie broke off a 25-yard run to get the Tigers into the end zone. A Rountree touchdown was overturned after his knee went down at the half-yard line. But Crockett punched it in the next play to extend Missouri’s lead to 14-7 with 4:25 left in the first quarter.
McCann extended Missouri’s lead to 17-7 with 14:53 left in the second quarter with a 22-yard field goal.
With a chance to run away with the game, Missouri’s defense failed to get a stop on the next drive. Facing third and 4 from the South Carolina 38 yard line, Scarnecchia found Samuel for a 37-yard catch to move the Gamecocks into Tiger territory. Two plays later, he hit wideout Bryan Edwards for a 17-yard touchdown to make the score 17-14.
Missouri would add a pair of field goals at the end of the first half after failing to convert in the red zone. Slot receiver Johnathon Johnson had a pair of passes broken up in the end zone.
Missouri offensive coordinator Derek Dooley called for a formation where offensive tackle Yasir Durant lined up as a wideout and Sam Bailey, a converted offensive lineman, as a tight end. Bailey caught a 22-yard pass at the 1-yard line, only to see the drive end with a incompletion inteded for Knox.
Then the third quarter came.
With temperatures in the 80s around kickoff, storm clouds suddenly appeared and a downpour ensued.
Given another chance to get some breathing room, Missouri went three-and-out on its opening drive of the second half.
Scarnecchia led South Carolina 66 yards down the field on the following drive, which ended with an 8-yard touchdown to Samuel to cut the score to 23-21.
Missouri appeared to respond as Crockett broke out for a 70-yard touchdown, but it was called back after he stepped out of bounds at the 10-yard line. A pair of penalties moved Missouri back 20 yards, and the tigers saw the drive end with a loss of 13 more, on a botched punt attempt by Corey Fatony.
South Carolina took its first lead of the game with a 43-yard field goal with 5:15 left in the third quarter, making it 24-23.
The Tigers’ run game continued to give Missouri chances to score as a 41-yard run by Rountree moved the chains to the Gamecocks’ 17-yard line. Lock failed to hit tight end Albert Okwuegbunam in the end zone and McCann missed a 25-yard field-goal attempt.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the rain cleared up and Missouri blocked South Carolina’s punt and recovered it on the Gamecocks’ 21-yard line. Rountree ran for his third touchdown a few plays later, but the Tigers’ two-point conversion failed, cutting the South Carolina lead to 31-29.
A three-and-out by Missouri’s defense gave the Tigers good field position for the second straight drive after another botched punt by South Carolina. The offense failed to get into the end zone, but Missouri regained the lead on a 44-yard field goal by McCann. Missouri had a 32-31 lead with 11:01 left in the game.
South Carolina retook the lead on a 42-yard field goal with 6:23 left.
With Missouri driving down the field in the game’s final minutes, a weather delay was called after lightning was spotted in the area. A second delay was called just as both teams retook the field, which made the total delay time 76 minutes.
Scarnecchia led South Carolina downfield after McCann’s field goal and was able to find holes in Missouri’s defense despite a few blitz and nickel packages.
Lock finished with 204 yards passing and two interceptions. He hasn’t thrown for a touchdown since the first half of Missouri’s win over Purdue.
Missouri heads to Alabama next weekend. Kickoff is slated 6 p.m. Central time.
Alex Schiffer
Alex Schiffer covers University of Missouri athletics for The Star.
This story was originally published October 6, 2018 at 5:03 PM.