Missouri’s undefeated season did not come quietly. Rather, it came with a loud clank off the left upright in the second overtime. South Carolina handed Missouri their first loss in the season after Connor Shaw came off the sidelines for a wild rally and Andrew Baggett‘s 24-yard kick in the second overtime ran in to the upright and bounced the BCS dreams of Missouri from the conversation. South Carolina, down 17-0 at one point in the second half, stormed back for a wild 27-24 victory.
South Carolina needed a spark in the second half. Trailing 14-0 to Missouri, Steve Spurrier wanted to see Dylan Thompson lead the Gamecocks back with the SEC East on the line, but three straight incomplete passes turned the football over on downs in Missouri territory, the ol’ ball coach made the move to call on a beat-up Connor Shaw. The way Shaw played some might wonder why he did not get the start in the first place.
Shaw led the Gamecocks all the way back from a 17-0 deficit in the in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 17-17 with 42 seconds to spare and the defense held Missouri to force overtime on the road.
Missouri struck first in the overtime, taking the overtime’s opening possession in on the ground with a Marcus Murphy run to the left side of the line near the goal line. With the game one down away from being clinched by Missouri, Shaw once again came through in the clutch with a fourth-and-goal pass to the end zone, where it was secured by Bruce Ellington to send the game to a second overtime.
The tension only built from there. With Missouri feeling so close to a trip to Atlanta as the SEC East champions, it would be up to the defense to make the first play in the second overtime. During the possession though South Carolina lost running back Mike Davis to what appeared to be a gruesome lower leg injury on his right leg. Amazingly, Davis walked off the field. Two plays later, the Elliott Fry kicked a 40-yard field goal to give the Gamecocks their first lead of the night. then the kicking game caught up to Missouri, when Baggett’s much shorter attempt hit the upright and fell no good.
Missouri’s loss will hurt in the standings, but the Tigers may still have a good shot to get to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. Missouri still holds a one-game lead in the loss column in the SEC East, with South Carolina now right behind them and owning a tiebreaker. This loss will be a setback for a team that has built plenty of momentum and deserved credit. This Missouri team is still going to play a factor in the SEC race and could still get back in to the BCS conversation before the end of the season. Missouri could still make a run to become the nation’s top one-loss team. If the Tigers can manage to run the table the rest of the way, which would likely include a win over Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, then Missouri would absolutely be one of the favorites to get in to the BCS Championship when all is said and done.
But for now Missouri just needs to bounce back next week against at home against Tennessee.