Mizzou football notebook: Breaking down Tigers’ missed opportunities at Oklahoma

In a season filled with missed opportunities, Missouri added another eerily familiar chapter Saturday.

Just like in its loss at Vanderbilt on Oct. 25, the Tigers found themselves in a low-scoring defensive battle with a chance to seize momentum early — only to watch it vanish in a matter of seconds.

This time, instead of a doinked field goal, it was a blocked one.

On a fourth-and-3 at the Oklahoma 17 early in the second quarter, Missouri sent out Robert Meyer for a 35-yard attempt that would have put the Tigers up six. Peyton Bowen got a hand on it, and three plays later, Oklahoma QB John Mateer hit Isaiah Sategna III on a slant that turned into an 87-yard touchdown.

Just like that, Oklahoma led by four. And just like that, momentum was gone.

"Things were going well," Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "And then they hit that home-run play, and that seemed to turn the whole game around."

Mizzou never recovered, falling 17-6 to the No. 8 Sooners at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and extending its winless streak in Norman to 19 games.

The Tigers are now 0-4 against ranked opponents this season, 7-0 against everyone else. By contrast, Oklahoma has beaten five ranked teams.

Questionable calls, familiar outcomes

The field-goal attempt that was blocked wasn't the only decision that drew scrutiny.

After initially lining up to go for it, Missouri burned a timeout, then saw Oklahoma counter with one of its own timeouts before Drinkwitz sent Meyer back out for the kick attempt. The result was Bowen's block and Oklahoma's first touchdown.

Late in the half, with his team trailing 14-3 but driving, Drinkwitz again opted for a field goal instead of risking it on fourth down. This time, a different kicker trotted out.

"Our operation time was too slow," Drinkwitz said of Meyer's kick. "That's why we went to Oliver after that."

Oliver Robbins converted from 21 yards to make it 14-6, but the choice left the Tigers needing two scores instead of one.

Drinkwitz defended the call.

"We thought, if we could keep it a one-possession game, the field goal makes it a one-possession game," he said. "We didn't want to go into half with no momentum."

Then came another key moment in the third quarter. Down 17-6 with just under 10 minutes left, Missouri faced a fourth-and-3 at midfield. Instead of going for it, the Tigers punted, a field-position decision that never paid off.

"I just didn't feel like we had the rhythm offensively to convert," Drinkwitz said. "I felt like our defense was playing well, so we tried to play the field-position game."

The defense did its part, holding Oklahoma to three second-half points and six consecutive punts to end the game. The offense never capitalized.

The Missouri offense lacked rhythm

For Missouri, that was the theme of the day.

The Tigers went 3-for-15 on third down and averaged 8.5 yards to go on those attempts.

In the first half alone, MU converted just 2 of 9 third downs for 3 total yards. Oklahoma, meanwhile, went 4-for-7 on third down in the first half for 122 yards, including the game-breaking touchdown.

"We just had zero rhythm," Drinkwitz said. "Zero rhythm, zero creativity. … When you're 3-for-15 on third down, you're not having any type of rhythm."

Missouri's offense continually worked behind the chains, becoming predictable and one-dimensional. Once the Tigers couldn't run efficiently on early downs, sustaining drives became impossible.

Beau Pribula beats early prognosis

Saturday also marked Beau Pribula's first start since dislocating his ankle four weeks ago against Vanderbilt. At the time, some feared he would miss the remainder of the regular season.

He showed toughness and mobility at times, but struggled with decision-making under Oklahoma's relentless pressure and committed two costly turnovers late.

"I felt good physically," Pribula said. "The trainers did an unbelievable job getting me back. I thought we just got too inefficient on first and second down and put ourselves in bad third-down situations."

While Drinkwitz praised Pribula's courage, the lack of offensive rhythm was obvious.

"I was really proud of the courage he showed," Drinkwitz said. "But ultimately, we weren't good enough on offense."

There was a gap on special teams

In a game featuring 16 punts and four field-goal attempts, special teams loomed large, and the gap between these programs showed.

Oklahoma entered ranked 16th nationally in special teams (ESPN SP+). Missouri came in at 116th. That disparity played out.

Peyton Bowen's block on Meyer changed the game.

OU punter Grayson Halton averaged 44.9 yards on nine punts and pinned Missouri inside its 20 four times.

Tate Sandell calmly drilled a 45-yard field goal for Oklahoma. The Lou Groza Award frontrunner's range and reliability are traits Missouri fans would love to have. Kicking has been a nightmare ever since sophomore Blake Craig went down with a season-ending torn ACL in Week 1.

Missouri's Connor Weselman averaged a mere 40 yards per punt, but one 31-yarder set the Sooners up at the Missouri 35, directly leading to another Oklahoma touchdown.

Missouri's average starting field position was its own 22-yard line, another direct reflection of Oklahoma's edge in the hidden yardage battle.

Another opportunity, another missed chance

Defensively, Missouri was strong enough to win. Offensively, it wasn't.

The Tigers bottled up the Sooners' run game, limited big plays outside of the Sategna touchdown and held Oklahoma scoreless in the fourth quarter.

But like so many times this season, the offense just couldn't capitalize.

"We have to convert for touchdowns," Pribula said. "We can't put ourselves in a position where we're relying on field goals."

Instead of being remembered for breaking a nearly 60-year curse in Norman, Mizzou leaves with another familiar outcome: a close loss, another missed opportunity and a growing list of near-misses against elite competition in 2025.

Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian

This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Mizzou football notebook: Breaking down Tigers’ missed opportunities at Oklahoma."