Brady Cook shook off an ankle injury and passed for 194 yards as No. 19 Missouri rallied for a 21-17 homecoming victory over Auburn on Saturday in Columbia, Mo.
After getting hurt early in the first quarter and sitting out until late in the third quarter, Cook help Missouri (6-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) erase a 14-point deficit.
Down 17-14, Missouri marched 95 yards on 17 plays to score the winning touchdown on Jamal Roberts’ 4-yard run with 46 seconds left.
Payton Thorne was 17 of 29 for 176 yards and a touchdown for Auburn (2-5, 0-4).
Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter had 85 combined yards rushing and receiving. Towns McGough kicked a 32-yard field goal, but he also missed from 30 yards.
Cook was hurt on Missouri’s first possession. Drew Pyne replaced him and completed 10 of 21 passes for 78 yards.
Nate Noel, Missouri’s leading rusher, suffered a foot injury during the first half. He returned briefly in the second half, but Marcus Carroll took over as the lead running back and rushed for 40 yards and a touchdown.
Blake Craig kicked field goals from 51 and 38 yards for Missouri, but he missed from 49 and 55 yards.
Missouri took a 3-0 lead on its first possession, moving 41 yards to set up Craig’s 51-yard field goal.
Auburn tied the game 3-3 late in the second quarter on McGough’s 32-yard field goal. That capped a 64-yard drive highlighted by Thorne’s 18-yard pass to Hunter.
Thorne’s 47-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman propelled Auburn to a 10-3 lead 2:26 into the third quarter.
Auburn upped its lead to 17-3 when Antonio Kite recovered Luther Burden III’s muffed punt in the end zone.
Craig’s 38-yard field goal, set up by a 20-yard Carroll run, cut Missouri’s deficit to 17-6 with 11:08 left in the third quarter.
After McGough missed a 30-yard field goal, Cook returned to the field and hit a 78-yard pass to Mookie Cooper to set up Carroll’s 2-yard TD run 3 seconds into the fourth quarter. Cook’s two-point conversion run cut Auburn’s lead to 17-14.
Missouri started its last offensive possession on its own 5-yard line. Cook kept it alive with a 14-yard scramble, then he hit a key fourth-down completion to Burden and a pass to Theo Wease on third down to set up Roberts’ winning run.
