How the Missouri Tigers rallied to grind out Mayor’s Cup win over South Carolina

Missouri’s offensive line leaned forward, and Ahmad Hardy lowered his shoulder into the pile.

It wasn’t one play that defined the Tigers’ 29-20 win over South Carolina on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. It was a 10-play, 75-yard drive in the fourth quarter that summed up the night — Hardy and Jamal Roberts churning through defenders, Beau Pribula keeping the chains moving with his legs and finally Roberts breaking tackles on a 16-yard touchdown run to give Missouri a lead it wouldn’t surrender.

“That’s what we live for,” Pribula said. “When the run game is rolling like that, setting the line of scrimmage, it just changes everything for us.”

That drive, capped by Pribula’s quarterback sneak for the two-point conversion, gave Mizzou a 26-20 lead with 9:32 remaining. From there, the Tigers leaned on a defense that suffocated South Carolina’s run game and delivered key stops in the final minutes.

Freshman Robert Meyer’s 41-yard field goal with 1:34 left iced the win, giving MU a 29-20 advantage.

The victory, Missouri’s sixth in the last seven meetings against its Columbia counterpart, carried extra weight.

Just last November in Columbia East, South Carolina dealt Mizzou a crushing 34-30 loss, effectively eliminating the Tigers from the College Football Playoff picture. On Saturday, the script flipped: Missouri’s punishing ground game dealt the Gamecocks a second consecutive loss and likely was a dagger in their postseason hopes.

Hardy set the tone from the backfield, piling up 138 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Roberts added 76 rushing yards and a score of his own, while Pribula ran eight times for 72 more. Altogether, Missouri racked up 285 rushing yards, compared to South Carolina’s minus-9 on the ground.

“We knew we had to work a little harder,” Hardy said. “Even when they knew we were running, it was just our mindset and execution. That’s what carried us.”

Hardy’s biggest moment came midway through the third quarter, when he burst loose for a 38-yard run, then punched in a 5-yard touchdown to reclaim the lead. Even then, Missouri was stopped on the two-point try, clinging to an 18-17 advantage.

South Carolina briefly went back in front with a field goal late in the third, but it was short-lived. Missouri’s offensive front, backed by a rocking home crowd, took control when it mattered most. The crowd noise certainly contributed to the victory, prompting multiple false-start penalties from the South Carolina O-line.

The Tigers’ defensive front bullied South Carolina all night, recording five sacks and eight tackles for loss. Linebacker Josiah Trotter led the onslaught with eight tackles, including one for loss, and defensive end Zion Young was a constant presence in the backfield.

Outside of two explosive touchdown passes from quarterback LaNorris Sellers — a 49-yarder to Vandrevius Jacobs and a 24-yarder to Brian Rowe Jr. — Missouri’s defense smothered the Gamecocks. Sellers still finished 18-of-28 for 302 yards and two scores, but he spent much of the second half scrambling against relentless pressure.

“We’ve got to shore up our pass defense, but I was really proud of how we stopped the run,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “In the fourth quarter, you’ve got to run to win — and that’s what we did.”

The Gamecocks’ struggles on the ground made Sellers’ job more difficult. They punted on back-to-back three-and-outs in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.

Before Missouri’s ground game put the contest away, both teams traded momentum swings in the opening 30 minutes.

Pinned at their own 1-yard line late in the first quarter, the Tigers mounted a 99-yard touchdown drive. Pribula scrambled for a key third-down conversion, Hardy barreled off a 27-yard rush and tight end Brett Norfleet hauled in a 25-yard grab. Early in the second quarter, Pribula found Joshua Manning in the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown. Meyer’s extra point attempt clanged off the upright, leaving Mizzou ahead 6-0.

South Carolina answered with its own strike: Sellers launched a 49-yard touchdown pass to Jacobs, capitalizing on Mizzou’s secondary. After a Tigers field goal put them back ahead 9-7, Pribula threw an interception to Gerald Kilgore. The Gamecocks cashed in with another Sellers touchdown pass, this time to Rowe Jr., and surged in front 14-9.

“That play happened, and there’s nothing you can do about it after it happens,” Pribula said. “It’s all about learning from your mistakes. It could be anything, not just an interception. You’ve got to use it and get better.”

Missouri clawed back just before halftime, as Marquis Johnson and Roberts set up a short field goal to cut the deficit to 14-12. By the break, Mizzou had outgained South Carolina 246-144 but trailed on the scoreboard, haunted by its lone turnover, Pribula’s interception.

South Carolina briefly stretched its lead to 17-12 with a field goal early in the third quarter, but Hardy’s punishing 38-yard run flipped the momentum back. From there, it was Missouri’s big men dictating the game.

After Meyer’s late field goal made it a two-possession contest, Memorial Stadium exhaled. The crowd had been a factor throughout — forcing false starts, roaring on sacks, and waiting until the ball left Meyer’s foot in the closing minutes to erupt.

The Tigers improved to 4-0 for the third straight season, pushing their all-time edge in the series to 10-6. More important, they showcased a formula that wins in November: a bruising ground attack and a defense that makes a quarterback’s life miserable.

Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian

This story was originally published September 20, 2025 at 10:22 PM.