Texas A&M Falls Short On the Road to No. 14 Missouri 27-6

Texas A&M was able to hang around for most of the afternoon, but No. 14 Missouri eventually pulled away for a 27-6 win in its hometown of Columbia.

Both teams started sloppy in Columbia, with A&M punting on the game's opening drive.

That initial change of possession led to a interception by Mizzou from quarterback Austin Simmons, but Texas A&M gave it right back to the Tigers after an interception from Marcel Reed.

Following the sluggish start out of the gate, the Aggies got on the board first following a drive that started within Mizzou territory off a short punt from deep inside its side of the field.

Texas A&M was able to move the ball to the 35-yard line of the Tigers before settling for a long field goal from David Olano to break the stalemate and give the Aggies a 3-0 lead early.

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Missouri responded just as fast, with Simmons leading his troops down the field on a 10-play, 77-yard drive that was capped off by a strike to Cayden Lee, who sprinted over 30 yards for the game's first touchdown.

After each team was able to make their way onto the scoreboard, defense became the storyline once again. A&M and Mizzou combined for five punts in rest of the second quarter, but that was only scratching the surface of missed opportunities.

Reed tossed another interception and the Tigers missed a field goal to end the first half, but an earlier made kick gave Missouri the 10-3 lead at halftime in a slugfest.

Mizzou made up for the previous miss by cashing in on another field to open the second half and stretch the lead to 13-3. The rest of the third quarter saw an exchange of three consecutive punts before the Tigers reached the end zone on the final play of the period.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Texas A&M found its deficit doubled and in need of a surge on offense that has been seldom seen by the Aggies this season.

On the first drive of the quarter, Reed directed the best drive of the matchup for the Aggies, as they were able to get down to the 10-yard line of Missouri.

However, faced with a 4th and 5, Elko opted to take another field to cut the gap to two touchdowns. Olano successfully converted and A&M inched closer to the upset at 20-6.

The Aggies were able to get the ball back but could not generate the same momentum as their previous drive, as Texas A&M turned it over on downs.

Mizzou would make the Aggies pay with star rusher Jamal Roberts breaking free for the end zone on a nearly 40-yard sprint to put the final nail in the coffin for Texas A&M.

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Reed would appear to throw a touchdown with around a minute to go, however, replay confirmed that receiver Aaron Gregory went out of bounds before making the snag in the end zone.

Texas A&M turned it over on downs one final time and Missouri ran out the clock to wrap up a 27-6 win and hand the Aggies another bitter loss to swallow.

The Aggies were held scoreless in two quarters and got outscored by the Tigers 17-0 in the second half in another disappointing offensive output for Mike Elko and company.

Texas A&M now drops to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the SEC, with that lone win coming against Arkansas. The Aggies aim to get back on track when they return home to College Station to face The Citadel on Saturday, Oct. 17 at noon.