Mizzou takeaway leads to tying score vs. Alabama in opening minutes of second half
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Less than 2 minutes into the third quarter, Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula tied the game with his legs and sent Faurot Field into a frenzy.
As Mizzou’s offense ground to a halt midway through the first half, it looked like Alabama was threatening to run away with the football game. But the Tigers rallied to get within a score at the halftime break. Then, the defense came up with a game-changing play on the opening play of the second half.
Zion Young got to Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Damon Wilson.
Three plays later, Pribula ran in the tying score.
Missouri scored on its opening drive of the game, a 6-play, 78-yard drive that comprehensively diced up the Alabama defense.
Alabama answered with a touchdown drive of its own, aided by a taunting penalty that produced an early first down in a spot where Alabama would have otherwise faced a third-and-long.
That penalty seemed to sap the Mizzou energy a bit. The Tigers went 3-and-out on their next drive and gave up a 67-yard touchdown march to Alabama, which took a 14-7 lead. Then the Tigers punted after 6 plays gained 14 yards. Alabama took the next drive 40 yards to kick a field goal.
Needing anything, Mizzou went 3-and-out again to give the ball back to the Tide. Alabama’s Jam Miller ran for 12 yards on the first play of the ensuing Alabama drive, but Wilson got to Simpson on a third-and-4 for a 9-yard sack to kill off the drive and give the ball back to the Mizzou offense.
The Tigers kicked a 35-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to make it a 17-10 game going into the break.
With things trending away from the Tigers, they had an impressive response to flip the game.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
