No. 19 Missouri Suffers First Loss, 31-24 at No. 24 Mississippi State

The 19th-ranked Tigers dropped their first game of the season Saturday in Starkville, trailing 14-0 early, committing eight penalties and giving up two late touchdown drives.

No. 19 Missouri suffered its first loss of the season Saturday night, falling 31-24 to No. 24 Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi, on Sept. 26. The Tigers, who opened the year 4-0, dropped to 4-1.

Missouri entered the matchup unbeaten at 4-0 and chasing the program's first road win over a ranked opponent since before Eli Drinkwitz became head coach.

For the third consecutive game, the Tigers fell behind early, and this time the deficit was their largest of the season. Mississippi State jumped ahead 14-0 in the first quarter, starting with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Kamario Taylor to Sanfrisco Magee, who beat Santana Banner in single coverage on the play. Missouri's answering drive ended in a missed 52-yard field goal, and the Bulldogs added another touchdown on a long drive to build the two-score lead.

Penalties hurt Missouri all night. The Tigers drew eight flags for 91 yards, including two holding calls in the red zone. A fourth-quarter hold stalled a Missouri drive shortly before the first of two straight Mississippi State touchdowns that put the Bulldogs in front, and another hold came on the Tigers' final possession, which ended with a Hail Mary attempt.

The offense also spent much of the night in unfavorable down-and-distance spots. By one count, coordinator Chip Lindsey called eight running plays on second-and-8 or longer — seven of them in the first half — with one negated by a penalty and only one gaining at least half the yards needed for a first down. That pattern left Missouri facing long third downs throughout the game.

Missouri's pass rush was depleted before kickoff and lost another piece early. Darris Smith was ruled out Friday with a lower-body injury, and starter Langdon Kitchen left with a leg injury in the first quarter. Second-year pass rusher Daeden Hopkins, a Hermann native, responded with four sacks: two in the first half, one of them just before halftime, another in the third quarter and a fourth in the fourth quarter while Mississippi State was moving the ball.

After the rough opening quarter, the Missouri defense settled in. The Tigers kept Mississippi State off the scoreboard for the entire second and third quarters behind Hopkins' pressure and tighter coverage downfield. The Bulldogs' fast-tempo offense and the 230-pound Fluff Bothwell eventually took a toll on the middle of the defense, and Mississippi State scored on two long drives late — split by a Missouri three-and-out — to take the lead.

Quarterback Austin Simmons and receiver Cayden Lee remained Missouri's most productive pairing. Simmons found Lee 10 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns, much of it with Lee lined up in the slot while cornerback Kelley Jones limited Donovan Olugbode, who caught a first-half touchdown. In the closing minutes, Simmons looked almost exclusively toward Lee, and several of those passes nearly were intercepted.

Missouri (4-1) faces Florida next week, a matchup that had drawn College GameDay speculation while the Tigers were unbeaten. Saturday's loss in Starkville cost them the perfect start and the chance at a ranked road victory.