ARLINGTON, Texas – For Ohio State, it was a case of missing persons that helped do in their chances of winning the 88th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day would not make excuses after the game, far from it. The No. 7 Buckeyes lost, 14-3, to No. 9 Missouri and for much of the game, Ohio State led, 3-0, the halftime score and beyond.
But once Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz and quarterback Brady Cook cracked the code of what THE Ohio State University defense was doing, they were able to hit a few big plays, like a 49-yard pass to set up a 7-yard rushing touchdown by running back Cody Schrader, then a 7-yard backbreaking touchdown pass to Luther Burden III that eventually won the game and earned Cook the J. Curtis Sanford Trophy as the game’s offensive most valuable player.
The St. Louis native summed it up talking about his friend Schrader’s run in the second half.
“I couldn’t have drawn it up any more perfect,” he said. “He embodies what our team is, and what our values are and how we operate.”
It didn’t look like that early on, though, with Ohio State leading by that 3-0 score at halftime, courtesy of a 44-yard field goal by Jayden Fielding. The game had 16 punts.
The Buckeyes were playing without its starting quarterback for the first 12 games of the year (Kyle McCord, who transferred) and their best receiver (Marvin Harrison Jr., who was at the game, but not playing, but hasn’t declared for the NFL Draft – we assume that’s coming).
Missouri, who came in averaging 34 points a game, was held to exactly none by a stingy Buckeyes defense.
A late first-half flag on Missouri defensive lineman Johnny Walker Jr. allowed the Buckeyes to keep their drive going, giving them a first down at their own 16-yard-line, and then wide receiver Xavier Johnson picked up 17 yards on a run that got them out of a hole and to the 34.
Devin Brown started the game at quarterback for the Buckeyes after McCord transferred to Syracuse, but Brown was noticeably limping late in the first quarter and wound up out of the game and riding a stationary bike on the Ohio State sideline.
In the game: freshman Lincoln Kienholz, trying to keep the Buckeyes in front. But Ohio State’s defense weren’t the only ones playing solid. The Tigers held Ohio State to 0-for-8 in third-down attempts in the first half.
Cook hit a 17-yard completion to Mookie Cooper to midfield with eight seconds left in the half, then completed one to Burden for 5 more. With three seconds left, the Tigers lined up to let Harrison Mevis try to kick a 65-yard field goal, but they were flagged for delay of game, and the half ended unceremoniously with Cook rolling out, chased by a Ohio State defender, and his pass billowing harmlessly out of bounds.
At the half, both teams have five first downs each. Missouri has only 28 passing yards, Ohio State, 20. Mizzou has ran 32 total offensive plays; Ohio State, 30. They’ve each punted six times, and each team has been penalized four times (the Buckeyes four for 22 yards and Missouri, four for 25).
The time of possession? You guessed it, almost even. Missouri has held the ball 14:46, Ohio State, 15:14.
Ohio State missed a 46-yard field goal with 12 minutes left in the third quarter, and then a long run by Cook – a 17-yard run across the 50-yard-line into Ohio State territory – was negated a bit when Cook bobbled the snap on the very next play and lost 8 yards.
Two plays later, a sack on Cook by Jack Sawyer forced the Tigers to punt yet again.
When it appeared the Buckeyes’ offense would get going on the next drive after a couple of big runs by TreVeyon Henderson, that, too, stalled at midfield, and the score remained at 3-0 Buckeyes, with Missouri getting the ball back at its own 5-yard-line.
Finally – at the end of the third quarter – the Tigers got something going, with Marquis Johnson and Cook connecting on a 49-yard pass, down inside Ohio State’s 15-yard-line.
On second down and 2, Cody Schrader, the SEC’s leading rusher, scored on a 7-yard run, capping an eight-play, 95-yard drive that took 4:30. Mevis got the point after and put the Tigers in front by four, 7-3.
The Buckeyes sent freshman Kienholz out for another drive, and he completed a pass to Emeka Egbuka for 25 yards, to the 50, then one to the tight end, Gee Scott, for 8.
Before long, though, the Tigers’ defense had Ohio State in third and 11 at the Missouri 40, and a pass to Johnson was incomplete. Ohio State coach Ryan Day wasted no time, and punted, burying Mizzou back at its own 9-yard-line – but with the lead.
On second and 16, Cook got the Buckeyes to jump offside, and completed a big pass to Theo Wease down the Ohio State sideline to the 45, and then got a double-bonus when Schrader, who picked up 8 yards on the next play, was hit out of bounds by Josh Proctor, which drew a personal foul on Ohio State.
That got Missouri all the way to Ohio State’s 32-yard-line, and took the clock under 8 1/2 minutes.
Schrader was stopped twice trying to get a yard, leaving Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz with a decision to make with fourth-and-1 at Ohio State’s 23. Drinkwitz called a time out with 6:38 left, then the Tigers went for it. Cook faked a pitch, then ran up the middle just enough for the first down.
Schrader took the ball outside for 11 yards on the next play, to the Ohio State 10, and then two plays later, the backbreaker: a 7-yard touchdown over the middle, a slant to Burden for the touchdown with 5:12 left. Mevis snuck the extra point just inside the upright, and gave the Tigers the 11-point lead, 14-3, just too much for the Buckeyes’ limping offense to overcome on this night.
The Tigers’ defense ended up with four sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
Ohio State’s defense played fantastic, as well, getting six sacks on Cook and eight tackles for loss.
Walker Jr. earned the Felix R. McKnight Trophy as the game’s defensive most valuable player, finishing the night with a sack, two tackles, and 1.5 tackles for a loss of 8 yards.
The win was just Missouri’s second ever over Ohio State – they’re now 2-10-1 all-time against the Buckeyes – but it was their 11th win this season. They finished the 2023 season with an 11-2 overall record, losing only to Georgia and to LSU.
It also gives Missouri a 3-0 mark in the Cotton Bowl. In their previous appearances, Mizzou beat Arkansas (in 2008) and Oklahoma State (in 2014).
“I think tonight was a testament to a wilderness brotherhood. A bunch of guys that have fought through adversity their entire lives and careers,” Drinkwitz said. “We’re not bluebloods. We’re a dirty, hard-working brotherhood that loves each other, fight for each other.”
For the Buckeyes, it means they dropped their final two games (to Michigan in the regular season finale, 30-24, back on Nov. 25, and then the Cotton Bowl).
Day said his freshman quarterback, Kienholz, “was put in a tough spot, to say the least.”
“I thought he battled his tail off,” Day said. “But clearly, we didn’t help him up front. We didn’t run the ball well enough. And a freshman quarterback out there for the first time playing, and we’re not running the ball well enough up front. So, it’s hard to get much of an evaluation coming out of the game when you can’t get any balance. I just felt like we could have helped him in certain areas, and we didn’t.
“…I mean, when you’re a freshman quarterback who comes in during the summer, you don’t have the spring, you really don’t have much of a preseason, and then you get thrown into it with the scouts a little bit here and there. But when Kyle [McCord] was in there and Devin [Brown] was getting reps in the twos, Lincoln didn’t really get many reps. He did get reps in bowl practice, but that’s not like playing in a game. I think his first few drives were inside the 10-yard line. That’s a tough place to be. What I didn’t want to do is put him in a situation where he’s going to the ball over and maybe see something he’s not used to seeing. And then all of a sudden, we’re really battling uphill.”
A positive note for Ohio State was Jack Sawyer, who had three sacks and matched an Ohio State bowl record in doing so. The defensive end sat between Kienholz and his coach and answered questions afterward.
“I’m just upset about the game,” Sawyer said. “It’s tough when you don’t get the outcome you want, and I just want to give Lincoln a shoutout for stepping in there and playing with confidence in a tough spot.”
Day also commended Brown on trying to give it a go after being injured in the first half. Brown could be seen on a stationary bike on the sidelines, and did get back in after being injured, but couldn’t stay in the game.
As for the entire picture of Ohio State football, Day said everything would be evaluated.
“Yeah, we’re just fresh off the game, so it’s hard for me to process all of it right now. But we’ve got to figure out what’s best for the team moving forward,” he said. “And that’s in a lot of areas. So we’ve got to take a hard look at that and get that figured out. But everything will be looked at.”
There were 70,114 in attendance for the contest.
