Kamario Taylor leads 4th-quarter rally and No. 24 Mississippi State beats No. 19 Missouri 31-24

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Kamario Taylor threw for 360 yards and three touchdowns, including a tiebreaking, 24-yard pass to Sanfrisco Magee with 3:57 remaining, and No. 24 Mississippi State rallied past No. 19 Missouri 31-24 on Saturday night.

Fluff Bothwell rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown and had six catches for 55 yards and another score for the Bulldogs (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference). Anthony Evans III had eight catches for 114 yards, and Magee had two TD receptions.

Bothwell is the sixth Mississippi State running back since 1995 to record 120-plus yards rushing and 50-plus yards receiving in the same game.

“Things weren’t perfect,” said, Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby, whose team has put together back-to-back 4-0 starts for the first time since 1944-45. “We get out to the lead, obviously we lose it, there’s all kinds of mistakes that will need to get cleaned up, but, man, put your cleats in the ground, go play the next play.”

Magee finished with three catches for 76 yards and has now caught a TD pass in five consecutive games dating to last season.

“We got some matchups and some one-on-one situations where we were able to go throw and catch and go make the play,” Lebby said, explaining the winning drive. “We were able to play with tempo on the last touchdown, which gives us a real chance for (Magee) to have the matchup that we want and we took advantage of it.”

The Bulldogs had 499 yards of total offense and have gained 400 or more total yards in four consecutive games for the first time since 2022. A ranked Mississippi State won a game against a ranked opponent for the first time since Oct. 11, 2014 when the No. 3 Bulldogs led by Dak Prescott beat No. 2 Auburn.

Taylor, who finished 27 of 38, led the Bulldogs on two long touchdown drives in the first quarter and two more in the fourth. In between, it was all Missouri.

Austin Simmons finished with 295 yards passing and three touchdowns for the Tigers (3-1, 0-1), and Cayden Lee had 11 receptions for 156 yards and two TDs.

Trajen Greco intercepted Taylor midway through the second quarter, and Simmons threw a 9-yard TD pass to Donovan Olugbode to get the Tigers within 14-10.

Simmons connected with Lee for TDs of 21 and 28 yards in the third quarter, the latter giving Missouri a 24-17 advantage.

The teams traded punts before Taylor led a 14-play, 73-yard drive capped by Bothwell’s 4-yard run to tie it at 24-all. Mississippi State forced another punt to set up the decisive score.

“It’s life in the SEC,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “That game on the road is going to be challenging. You just have to fight and find a way to win.”

Missouri advanced to the Mississippi State 38 to set up a Hail Mary on the final play. Simmons’ pass was broken up in the end zone by cornerback Kelley Jones.

“We can give them better calls right there. Obviously they didn’t work. So, that’s on us,” Drinkwitz said about the offense stalling in the end.

Up next

Missouri: Hosts No. 21 Florida next Saturday.

Mississippi State: Hosts No. 8 Alabama next Saturday.

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