6 hours ago 1

Best wins of the Eliah Drinkwitz era: No. 6

Let’s continue our look at my rankings of the best wins of the Eliah Drinkwitz era in Columbia and move on to No. 6.

If you want to look back to what I’ve already ranked, here are the stories I’ve already published:

We’ve reached the most recent game possible as Drinkwitz and co won a second consecutive bowl game and finished a second consecutive year with double-digit wins.

The Tigers won their final two regular-season games after falling to 7-3 and essentially out of the College Football Playoff conversation in Week 12.

But to get to double-digit wins once again, the Tigers would need to win the rematch of the 2021 bowl that wasn’t, a matchup with Iowa in the Music City Bowl.

I’m going to do a little less direct game talk than usual for this edition of the story, hopefully you all remember what happened.

The Tigers went into the matchup without receiver Luther Burden and right tackle Armand Membou as both prepared for the draft.

Iowa went in without primary running back Kaleb Johnson.

Iowa jumped ahead with a first-quarter touchdown as the Tiger defense looked lost early on, but Missouri responded with the final touchdown connection between Brady Cook and Theo Wease to tie it.

As a side note, with each of these stories, I’ve gone back and watched highlights to remind myself of what happened through the game, and boy, I forgot just how bad the Tiger defense looked for most of this game. Iowa was able to do whatever it wanted throughout the first half.

Iowa needed just a handful of seconds to respond to Wease’s score with a kickoff return touchdown, then Wease exited the game with a hand injury that would go on to hamper him at the Senior Bowl.

That’s when Cook began turning to the future of the wide receiver room in Marquis Johnson.

Johnson went on to catch seven passes for 122 yards and the game-tying touchdown early in the second quarter.

Iowa scored again in the final minute before halftime to take a 21-14 lead into the break, then added a field goal with 5:19 left in the third to lead 24-14.

Then the Tiger defense got it all figured out, while the offense got going.

The Tigers quickly drove down the field with Cook connecting with Daniel Blood for 17 yards on an out route perfectly placed on the sideline. Then Cook connected with Johnson for 44 on a deep post that Tiger fans were hoping to see all year before he connected for 12 more and ran up the middle for a touchdown that was called back for holding.

Two plays later, Cook handed off to Joshua Manning on a sweep to the left and Manning worked his way to the sideline for a touchdown.

The Tiger defense finally got it together, started pressuring Brendan Sullivan and Toriano Pride came away with an interception near midfield.

After a drive that nearly ended on a fumble, the Tigers set up a 51-yard Blake Craig field goal to tie the game and he nailed it with 10:10 left to play.

Missouri stopped a designed Sullivan run on third-and-2 to get the ball back, then moved the ball downfield as Cook connected with Tavorus Jones on a wheel for a big gain.

They sent Craig back out for a 56-yard field goal and he once again nailed it, setting the Music City Bowl record for longest kick in the process as he put Missouri up by the final margin of 27-24.

The Tiger defense held up in the end and held Sullivan to less than 50 passing yards in the second half.

I had trouble deciding how to weight a bowl win vs. an SEC win, but this one helped set a new standard for the Tigers, giving them a second consecutive double-digit win season and put Drinkwitz attop the list of Tiger coaches for wins in their first five seasons.

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