FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Battle Line Rivalry trophy, the 180-pound behemoth that’s taken up residency in Columbia, Mo., for five years, is leaving town.
It’s been in Missouri’s possession every year since 2016, but the Tigers’ plodding offense couldn’t keep pace with Arkansas’ explosive attack in the Razorbacks’ 34-17 victory on a chilly Black Friday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Hogs (8-4, 4-4 SEC) snapped their five-game losing streak to Missouri (6-6, 3-5) and denied the Tigers a chance to clinch a winning record in the regular-season finale. They’ll have to get that done in a bowl game to be determined.
Sticking with quarterback Connor Bazelak after last week’s game-winning 2-point conversion pass to beat Florida, Eli Drinkwitz watched his offense struggle to sustain drives, struggle to complete downfield passes and struggle to avoid back-breaking penalties.
Bazelak completed only 10 of 26 passes for 65 yards before Brady Cook replaced him late in the fourth quarter. The Tigers wasted another prolific game from Tyler Badie, who set the single-season Mizzou record for rushing yards with his fifth 200-yard game of the season. But he couldn’t do it alone, not with this dysfunctional passing game. To open the game, Bazelak overthrow Boo Smith on what could have been a touchdown to spoil the first possession. The Tigers didn’t get much closer to the end zone until the score was out of hand.
Until Badie’s touchdown with 1:25 left, all the Tigers managed against Barry Odom’s defense were three Harrison Mevis field goals.
Badie finished with 219 rushing yards on 41 carries, giving him 1,604 yards on the season, enough to break Devin West’s team record of 1,578 set in 1998.
A year after making his starting debut against the Tigers in Columbia, Arkansas QB K.J. Jefferson shook off a slow start and carried his offense with 320 yards of total offense, 262 coming through the air.
It wasn’t the best start for the Hogs. Jefferson rumbled through the Tigers for 49 yards into the red zone, but MU held the Hogs to a field goal after a third-down sack by Blaze Alldredge. The graduate transfer linebacker came through again on the next drive with a third-down tackle behind the line. Then, after another Tigers punt, Alldredge forced a fumble on the first play of the Hogs’ next series, drilling Dominique Johnson to spring the ball loose. Mizzou linebacker Chad Bailey recovered it deep in Arkansas territory, but the Tigers could only manage a 46-yard Mevis field goal to open the second quarter.
Arkansas finally broke the seal on the goal line with a 1-yard touchdown by Rocket Sanders with 5:53 left in the first half. The Hogs took advantage of a breakdown in the Mizzou secondary that somehow allowed Treylon Burks to sneak past cornerback D.J. Jackson to grab a wide-open 43-yard pass down the seam. Two plays later, the Hogs punched in a 1-yard TD run.
Things got heated late in the second quarter when Badie yanked on safety Myles Slusher’s and tossed him over a chair on the Tigers’ sideline, resulting in a 15-yard penalty on the running back. The offense stalled after the penalty, but Mevis came through with a 49-yard field goal.
Arkansas discovered its quick-strike attack in the third, first with a 55-yard screen to wideout De’Vion Warren that set up Trelon Smith’s 4-yard touchdown run. A series later, after another Mizzou three-and-out, Jefferson beat the blitz and unloaded a strike to Treylon Burks, a 52-yard touchdown pass for a 24-6 lead.
After the teams trade touchdowns, Bazelak gave the ball away with his first interception in two weeks, an underthrown ball for Keke Chism along the sideline right to cornerback Montaric Brown. The Hogs pounced on the turnover and converted with a touchdown, the final touches on a dominant performance.
