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Little Rock, AR

Mizzou beats Arkansas in Battle Line rivalry

1392 days ago
Missouri Athletics
Photo: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Mizzou Football claimed the Battle Line Rivalry with a 24-14 win over Arkansas Friday afternoon (Nov. 29) at War Memorial Stadium. Mizzou QB Taylor Powell found former Razorback Jonathan Nance, who graduate transferred to Mizzou this season, for a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Mizzou finishes the regular season 6-6 (3-5 in SEC play) while Arkansas falls to 2-10 and 0-8 in league contests. Mizzou has dominated its permanent cross-division rival Arkansas as of late, winning the last four meetings against the Razorbacks.

QUICK RECAP

The Tigers took a 10-7 lead into intermission and got the ball back on the second half's opening possession with a chance to extend the lead. However, Arkansas CB Greg Brooks picked off Mizzou QB Taylor Powell on the first play of the drive. Arkansas scored three plays later on a Jack Lindsey completion to Grayson Gunter for a 10-yard strike, giving the Hogs a 14-10 lead.

The four-point cushion was short-lived as Powell led an impressive touchdown drive, aided by big runs from sophomore RB Tyler Badie, who capped an eight-play, 84-yard drive with a three-yard score. Badie had 53 of Mizzou's 84 yards on the go-ahead drive to give the Tigers a 17-14 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

The play of the game then came courtesy of redshirt freshman WR Tauskie Dove, who went up and over an Arkansas defender on third-and-10 from Mizzou's own 36 to haul in a 37-yard reception. Five plays later, Powell connected with former Arkansas WR Jonathan Nance for a 10-yard TD strike to put the game out of reach of his former team.

TOP PERFORMERS

  • Mizzou true freshman QB Connor Bazelak started the game and completed 7-of-9 passes for 80 yards before exiting the game in the second quarter with a right knee sprain.
  • Sophomore WR Barrett Banister finished the game with six catches for 60 yards, both career highs. Mizzou's first scoring drive, he had four catches for 39 yards. Three of those came on third down and all four resulted in first downs.
  • Senior K Tucker McCann tallied six points in the game and he finishes his Mizzou career ranked second on the school's all-time scoring list with 358 in his four years. He passed Andrew Baggett who had 355 from 2012-15. He finished four points shy of catching Jeff Wolfert for the all-time career record (362).
  • Junior RB Larry Rountree III posted 88 yards on 24 carries. He closes the year ranked sixth on Mizzou's all-time rushing list with 2,748 career yards, just 23 shy of fifth-place Henry Josey.
  • Sophomore RB Tyler Badie scored a three-yard touchdown among his 12 carries for 59 yards Friday.
  • WR Tauskie Dove caught his first career pass, a huge fourth-quarter, 37-yard strike on third-and-long to extend a Mizzou drive.
  • WR Jonathan Nance hauled in his fourth receiving TD of the year in the fourth quarter.

NOTES

  • Mizzou now leads the all-time series with Arkansas, 8-3-1, and has won four straight meetings with Arkansas, dating back to 2016.
  • Mizzou now has four straight wins in regular season finales and is 13-4 in regular season finales since 2003.
  • Mizzou's defense held Arkansas to just 242 total yards of offense. It marked the 10th time in 12 games this season that Mizzou has held an opponent to fewer than 400 yards in a game. That's tied for the fourth-most games doing so in a single season at Mizzou since 1982.
  • Rountree's five-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter was Mizzou's first on the ground since Oct. 19 at Vanderbilt, also a TD plunge by Rountree.