The Auburn Tigers fell once again on the road against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday afternoon in Columbia in a game that they had well under control in the third quarter — yet once again found a way to lose.
The Tigers led 17-3 early in the third quarter after a 3-3 halftime tie was broken by a long Cam Coleman touchdown from Payton Thorne followed by a fumble recovery score to take the two touchdown lead:
PAYTON THORNE ➡️ CAM COLEMAN 🎯 @AuburnFootball pic.twitter.com/bOmEYlJ8FI
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 19, 2024
💥 TOUCHDOWN AUBURN 💥
special teams
special plays
special players pic.twitter.com/tOQZCZUeDq— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) October 19, 2024
The special teams touchdown would be the last points Auburn scored on the afternoon as Missouri would make it 17-6 on the following possession before true freshman kicker Towns McGough missed a 30-yard field goal that would have put Auburn up by 14 again.
Missouri quarterback Brady Cook would return from an early injury at the start of the ensuing drive and hit his receiver on a dart that brought them down inside the goal line on the final play of the third quarter before they found the end zone and would convert the 2-point conversion to pull within a field goal:
Mookie Freakin Cooper pic.twitter.com/yE2DnuO6uY
— Represent Mizzou (@RepresentMizzou) October 19, 2024
From there, the fourth quarter became a punt fest for both teams until Missouri got the ball back with less than five minutes remaining where Cook would lead another touchdown drive to give the Tigers their first lead since 3-0 and put them on top for good.
Payton Thorne was sacked and threw three incomplete passes on what wound up as Auburn’s final chance. All in all, Thorne was a pedestrian 17 of 29 for 176 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. He did fumble in the first half, though it led to no points for Missouri.
Auburn found a way once again to lose a game they had complete control of and now drops to 0-4 in the SEC and 2-5 on the season coming off the bye. Next week, they take a trip to Lexington for a winnable game against Kentucky as they try desperately to grab their first conference win.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
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