No. 7 Texas at No. 18 Missouri live updates: Tigers kick FG for 10-7 lead after first quarter

The No. 7 Texas Longhorns are in Columbia to play the No. 18 Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field on Saturday with College Football Playoff implications for both two-loss teams.

Texas boasts three of the best wins in college football and two frustrating losses to unranked opponents. Missouri is currently on the outside of the playoff picture looking in after falling to the state of Mississippi, dropping road games to the Bulldogs and the Rebels. At home, Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers have conference wins over the Gators and Razorbacks.

Pregame injury report

On Friday, junior wide receiver Ryan Wingo, sophomore cornerback Kade Phillips, and sophomore nickel back Graceson Littleton were upgraded from questionable to probable before coming off the injury report on Saturday. Listed as questionable on the first three injury reports, junior wide receiver Cam Coleman and junior edge Colin Simmons are game-time decisions.

As kickoff approached, Simmons was going through pregame warmups.

First quarter

Missouri won the toss and deferred to the second half. Fifth-year running back Raleek Brown moved the chains on a swing pass and a run up the middle and Wingo caught a speed out for four yards for a positive first-down play. But after senior quarterback Arch Manning checked down to sophomore tight end Emaree Winston for one yard, Winston’s effort to chip Missouri edge Darris Smith wasn’t ultimately effective when senior left tackle Melvin Siani got beat quickly and Manning held the ball too long in the pocket.

The punt by senior Mac Chiumento only traveled 33 yards.

The Tigers opened the game offensively with an effective script, taking advantage of a matchup against senior safety Derek Williams for a 15-yard completion over the middle, a six-yard run by Jamal Roberts, then a rub route caused senior cornerback Warren Roberson and senior safety Jelani McDonald to run into each other as Robertson grabbed the wide receiver and was flagged for pass interference.

A push pass out leveraged the Texas defense for a 16-yard gain to set up 1st and goal from the 6-yard line. On 2nd and goal, quarterback Austin Simmons pulled a zone run and followed a block by his tight end that knocked Williams back to the goal line, where Simmons was initially ruled to find the corner of the end zone, but overturned on review, forcing Missouri to convert in short yardage.

Going with a quick snap in an unbalanced formation, the Longhorns won at the point of attack on a toss play that went for a one-yard loss, but the Tigers were able to get tight end Brett Norfleet in motion behind the formation and into the flat, where Williams was just a little bit late to the catch point for a 7-0 lead. The seven-play, 68-yard drive took 3:22 off the clock.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian schemed up a good look for Wingo on a wheel route, but Manning floated the ball too much to hit the window underneath the safety for an incompletion. Good feet in the hole from Brown picked up 13 yards and a screen to Wingo went for four yards on a play that left Missouri defender end Langden Kitchen down on the field injured.

Brown’s quickness to the edge allowed him to beat a linebacker coming downhill for 12 yards and Manning connected with fifth-year tight end Michael Masunas for a five-yard gain with a free runner coming off the edge. Another flash of good vision from Brown picked up seven yards, setting up another return of Sarkisian’s patented throwback screen to freshman running back Derrek Cooper, who took it 24 yards for a touchdown behind well-executed blocks.

The game-tying drive went 65 yards on seven plays took just 2:30.

After a 27-yard return by Missouri, Simmons started the drive with a nine-yard completion before Roberts secured a fresh set of downs. A well-placed back-shoulder throw by Simmons to Donovan Olugbode was initially ruled incomplete, a call upheld on review. Misses by Simmons on second and third down ended the drive as Roberson had sticky coverage on the money down.

Missouri was flagged for holding on the punt, allowing Texas to start its drive on the 28-yard line. Junior wide receiver Emmett Mosley V found a hole in the zone coverage, but had the ball stripped as he tried to make an upfield move and the Tigers recovered.

The Missouri drive quickly got a boost from Texas senior defensive tackle Ian Geffrard tackling Roberts by his face mask, then from Norfleet on a 15-yard reception on a crossing route. Simmons lost his footwork on a mesh concept that wasn’t space well, causing him to miss a receiver who came open. An option route by Cayden Lee from a bunch formation beat two defenders to convert 3rd and 7 set up a fade route initially ruled a touchdown against more sticky coverage by Roberson, who was only beat by a perfectly-placed throw, but the review determined that the receiver did not maintain possession to the ground. The Texas defense got off the field when senior linebacker Rasheem Biles broke up a pass in the end zone and Eli Drinkwitz opted against testing the Longhorns in short yardage once again, settling for a 22-yard field goal.

After a touchback, a designed run by Manning was well defended, leading to a 3rd and 6 after a three-yard run by sophomore running back Michael Terry III that ended the first quarter.