Texas A&M Loses At Mizzou

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COLUMBIA, Mo. — A 57-yard sprint to the end zone by Henry Josey sent No. 5 Missouri to the SEC championship game in Atlanta with a 28-21 win over 19th-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday night.

With the scored tied 21-21, the Missouri offense went quiet in the fourth quarter as the game plan went away from its trio of running backs.

Facing a third-and-1 with under four minutes remaining in the game, James Franklin handed the ball to Josey out of a pistol formation.

Josey raced through the line of scrimmage, hurdling an ankle tackle by a Texas A&M defender. Fifty-seven yards later, Josey was in the end zone, giving Missouri a 28-21 lead.

The Tigers’ defense held on from there, forcing Johnny Manziel and the high-powered Aggies offense into two consecutive three-and-outs. After the Aggies scored on a nine-play, 98-yard touchdown drive with 10:43 left in the game, Missouri’s defense held them to nine plays that netted 1 yard.

It was a stunning turn of events for Missouri, who came into this season predicted to finish sixth in the SEC East. In its biggest game to date, the Tigers saw a 17-0 fourth-quarter lead against

South Carolina evaporate into a double-overtime loss.

That defeat set the stage for Saturday’s win-and-in situation. Missouri had to win to advance to the SEC championship in Atlanta. A loss would have sent the Gamecocks, whose conference schedule ended two weeks ago.

Against its partner in the Big 12-to-SEC defection, Missouri again had to face the Aggies, who were trying to play the role of spoiler. A year ago, a 59-29 loss in College Station ended Missouri’s bowl hopes.

This year, Missouri kept Manziel and Texas A&M’s offense in check.

Manziel finished with 195 yards passing and one touchdown, and carried the ball 11 times for 21 yards. It was his lowest yardage output of the season in games he started.

Still, Missouri’s offense struggled to get going in the first half, scoring just one touchdown and missing a 47-yard field goal attempt as time expired to go into halftime trailing 14-7.

The Tigers turned to their ground game to score on back-to-back drives and take the lead. Missouri started the second half.

Missouri couldn’t get much going in the first half and trailed 14-7 at halftime.

Both offenses struggled early on as the teams traded punts to start the game.

The Aggies broke through first, relying mainly on their ground game and a 31-yard touchdown run by Tra Carson in the first quarter.

Missouri answered in the second-quarter as Franklin threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Dorial Green-Beckham to tie the score, ending a seven-play, 94-yard drive that nearly doubled the Tigers’ total yardage up to that point.

After a sluggish start, Manziel immediately answered Missouri’s first points of the game. Just over a minute after the Tigers’ scored, Manziel threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Derel Walker, who was wide open in the end zone.

Outside of that play, Missouri’s defensive front had largely contained Manziel in the first half, sacking him twice and holding him to 5 rushing yards.

However, on his touchdown pass, Missouri DE Michael Sam hit Manziel a second late, allowing the pass to be completed.

Continuing his season-long struggles, Missouri kicker Andrew Baggett missed a 47-yard attempt as time expired in the second quarter.

The Tigers trailed at halftime for the first time all season.

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