Inside Kelly Bryant’s first start for Missouri ... a game that ended with a loss

Missouri quarterback Kelly Bryant expected to show some rust on Saturday as he played in his first college game in almost a year.

Instead, he had a career night, if one that ultimately resulted in a 37-31 loss to Wyoming.

Bryant threw for a career-high 423 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 20 yards. Bryant’s previous career high for passing yards in a game at Clemson was 316 against Louisville in 2017.

Bryant wasn’t perfect. He had a costly fumble returned for a touchdown and an interception on a pass he should not have thrown, making for a unique debut in a game that will ultimately be remembered as one of the worst losses in Barry Odom’s four-year tenure.

“I was proud of him,” said MU linebacker Cale Garrett. “I thought he was poised as a leader.”

Bryant started the game using his legs, as offensive coordinator Derek Dooley elected to rely more on the run in MU’s opening drives. After leading MU downfield, Bryant avoided a sack and scrambled to find fellow graduate transfer Jonathan Nance for a 3-yard touchdown to put the Tigers up 7-0. The play capped a 12-play, 65-yard drive that had MU looking good early.

Bryant picked up where he left off on MU’s second series, finding Johnathon Johnson and Daniel Parker on consecutive third downs for gains of 13 and 10 yards, respectively. Bryant also hooked up with sophomore Kam Scott for a 29-yard gain before going back to Johnson for a 16-yard catch to get MU into the red zone. Tailback Larry Rountree ran in a 2-yard touchdown a few plays later to extend MU’s lead to 14-0 in the first quarter.

Bryant’s perfect track record didn’t last past the second quarter, though. He spotted Wyoming its first touchdown on a fumble returned 30 yards by cornerback C.J. Coldon to cut MU’s lead to four, at 14-10.

With MU trailing 24-17 with less than two minutes left in the first half, Bryant led MU 74 yards to Wyoming’s 1-yard line after finding Scott for a 35-yard gain. But Rountree fumbled on his way across the goal line, and Alijah Halliburton nearly returned it for a touchdown.

The play came in the final seconds and forced Bryant to tackle Halliburton violently, resulting in a horse-collar penalty. Wyoming was awarded an untimed down, which it used to convert a 20-yard field goal into a 27-17 halftime lead.

“I don’t know that anyone hit the panic button at halftime,” Odom said. “Very stern wake-up call. Then we weren’t able to convert enough to get the lead back.”

Bryant said his statistical performance is secondary to the result of the game. Bryant was 16-2 as a starter at Clemson and lost his debut at MU with a team that’s considered to be Odom’s best and due yet.

Now that’s uncertain as MU begins to prepare for its home opener against West Virginia.

“(I have to) look myself in the mirror and make sure I did everything I can do,” Bryant said. “I’m just focused on how we can get better and win next week.”

This story was originally published August 31, 2019 at 10:18 PM.