Football Falls 27-17 To Wake Forest In Gasparilla Bowl

TAMPA, Fla. – Sam Hartman threw two second-half touchdown passes after the Missouri Tigers had taken a 17-14 lead to pace the Wake Forest Demon Deacons to a 27-17 victory in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. 

Completing 23-of-36 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns, Hartman set the ACC record for career touchdown passes with 110, eclipsing the previous record of 107 set by Clemson’s Tajh Boyd (2009-13). His first and last TD passes went to Taylor Morin, the clincher coming with just 2:33 remaining in the game.

The Tigers trailed 14-10 at halftime but forced Wake Forest (8-5) to punt on its first possession. Brady Cook then directed a 13-play, 83-yard drive that took 6:22 off the clock with Cody Schrader scoring on a four-yard run that gave the Tigers their first lead at 17-14.

Wake Forest, though, responded with a quick four-play drive that covered 75 yards and led to a 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Jahmal Banks, before Matthew Dennis missed the extra point, leaving the Deacons with a 20-17 lead.

Missouri (6-7) had two possessions after that near midfield with an opportunity to regain the lead but the Tigers failed to convert on fourth-down opportunities both times.

With about six minutes to play, Hartman led the Deacons on a 75-yard drive and hit Morin for his second TD reception that produced the game’s final points. Morin’s first scoring catch was a five-yarder that came on Wake Forest’s first possession of the game to give the Deacons a 7-0 lead.

Missouri got a 35-yard field goal from Harrison Mevis to narrow the score to 7-3, before Hartman put together a second-quarter touchdown drive of 63 yards that resulted in a one-yard TD plunge up the middle by Justice Ellison to up the Wake Forest lead to 14-3.

The Tigers then survived a crazy sequence of events late in the second quarter. After Mizzou forced a three-and-out by the Deacons, Luther Burden III muffed a punt at the 35-yard line that was recovered by Wake’s Will Cobb. But Jaylon Carlies thwarted the ensuing possession by intercepting a Hartman pass in the end zone.

Mizzou then marched 80 yards down the field, sparked by a 36-yard run by Cook to the WF two-yard line. Cook snared a premature snap and ran to his right and with the defense closing in near the sideline, he tossed a touchdown pass to Demariyon ‘Peanut’ Houston for his first touchdown as a Tiger. Houston caught his first six passes of the season in the game.

Cook finished the game 29-of-48 passing for 215 yards and rushed 14 times for 38 yards but was sacked four times for 33 yards in losses. Schrader led Mizzou in rushing with 54 yards on 13 carries, and in his final game as a Tiger, Barrett Banister was the top pass catcher with seven receptions for 49 yards.

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The Tigers will open the 2023 season hosting South Dakota on Faurot Field on Sept. 2.

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