No. 9 Football Closes Regular Season At Arkansas Friday

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 9 University of Missouri football team treks to Fayetteville to face Arkansas in the Battle Line Rivalry presented by Shelter Insurance on Black Friday with the Tigers going for their first 10-win season in nine years. MU (9-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) and the Razorbacks (4-7, 1-6 SEC) kick off at 3 p.m. CT on Nov. 24 inside Razorback Stadium on CBS and Tiger Radio Network.

THE BATTLE LINE RIVALRY
Friday’s victor receives the massive Battle Line Trophy, which is made of silver, stands more than four feet tall and weighs 180+ pounds. The trophy depicts the outline of the two states with the border of the two states being divided by interchangeable silver inserts with the words Battle Line in either gold or cardinal. The color of the Battle Line reflects of the winner of the series’ most recent game — gold for the six of the last seven years, representing MU triumphs.

THE SERIES
The Tigers and the Razorbacks first met in 1906, in CoMo, with Mizzou taking the 11-0 decision. Since then, the two teams have tangled for a total of 14 games. MU holds the 10-4 edge over UA and won the 2022 matchup in Columbia.

MISSOURI TIGERS
Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz
Record at Mizzou 26-21 (Fourth Year)
Overall Record 38-22 (Fifth Year)

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS
Head Coach Sam Pittman
Record at School 23-24 (Fourth Year)
Overall Record Same

GAME INFORMATION
Facility Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium
Capacity 76,000
TV CBS
Radio 1580 AM / 105.1 FM / SiriusXM 84
Online The Varsity Network: “Search Mizzou”
Series Record MU leads 10-4
In Fayetteville, Ark. UA leads 2-1
Last Meeting Nov. 25, 2022 (H), MU W, 29-27

TV: CBS
• Play-by-Play: Rich Waltz
• Analyst: Aaron Taylor
• Reporter: Amanda Guerra
• Online: CBSSports.com/watch
• Mobile App: Paramount+

RADIO: TIGER RADIO NETWORK
• Play-by-Play: Mike Kelly
• Analyst: Howard Richards
• Sideline Reporter: Chris Gervino
• Host: Matt Michaels
• Engineer: Jeremy Washington
• Local: 1580 AM / 105.1 FM
• Satellite: SiriusXM 84 and on the SXM App
• App: Mizzou Tigers / The Varsity Network: “Search Mizzou”

THE COACHES
ELIAH DRINKWITZ is in his fourth season as Mizzou’s head coach. He had led the Tigers to bowl appearances in each of his first three seasons, joining former head coach Warren Powers as the only two MU head coaches to achieve that feat. Additionally, only Powers won more games in his first two seasons at MU (1978-79, 15) than Drinkwitz (11). Prior to taking the Mizzou job, Drinkwitz was 12-1 as the head coach at Appalachian State in 2019. He had previous stops as the OC at NC State, Boise State and Arkansas State.

Sam Pittman is 23-24 in his fourth season at Arkansas. He coached the offensive line at Mizzou in 2000.

STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS … 
• Mizzou is playing its 133rd season of college football and is the 33rd FBS school to reach the 700-win milestone.
• Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz has led Mizzou to a bowl in each of his first three seasons — and hit the six-win threshold in season four — only the second coach in school history to do so along with the late Warren Powers (1978-84). 
• The 2023 roster features 32 players who have started at least four games in the collegiate career at the FBS level. 
• Thirty-eight student-athletes on the team are from Missouri, including eight from the 573 area code, 19 from the St. Louis metropolitan region, nine from the Kansas City area and two from southwest Missouri.
• Mizzou finished nonconference play undefeated for the 10th time since 2000, and first since 2018.
• MU leads the NCAA FBS in red-zone offense, converting at a 97.9-percent (47-of-48) clip.
• The Tigers’ two losses have both came in SEC play by a combined margin of 19 points to ranked teams.
• CB Kris Abrams-Draine is a semifinalist for the Bednarik and Thorpe Awards, leads the SEC with 16 passes defended and 12 PBUs. His four INTs – a single-season best for the senior – are second in the SEC and tied for 11th in the FBS. 
• LB Ty’Ron Hopper is one of five finalists for the Butkus Award. He has caused havoc on the field all season long leading the MU defense with 53 tackles, six for a loss along with 3.0 sacks, six QB hurries and three pass break ups.
• WR Luther Burden III — a semifinalist for the 87th Maxwell Award and Biletnikoff Award — is third in the SEC in receiving, racking up 103.8 yards per game and is the eighth 1,000-yard receiver in school history. 
• RB Cody Schrader — former walk-on and finalist for the Burlsworth Award — leads the SEC and is seventh nationally in rushing (115.6 ypg). He had 205 yards rushing and 116 yards receiving against Tennessee and is the first SEC player to rush for 200+ yards and have 100-yards receiving in the same game.
• DE Darius Robinson has a sack in seven-straight games and is third in the SEC with 7.5 this season.
• Attendance is up 10.4% from 2022, a mark which leads the SEC and ranks among the Top 11 Power 5 teams.

LAST TIME OUT – MIZZOU 33, FLORIDA 31
• PK Harrison Mevis kicked a 30-yard field goal with five ticks left to lift Missouri to a 33-31 victory over Florida.
• Mevis’ kick, the fourth of the game for the most prolific kicker in Mizzou history, capped a late scoring drive engineered by QB Brady Cook in the game’s final 1:36. 
• Facing 4th-and-17 at the MU 33-yard line with 38 seconds left, Cook found WR Luther Burden III for 27 yards to the Florida 40, then hit WR Mekhi Miller for 11 yards and WR Mookie Cooper for 16 more to the UF 13 to set up Mevis’s game winner.
• It looked like the Tigers had salted the game away earlier in the fourth quarter, when DL Kristian Williams recovered a fumble at the Missouri 19-yard line. 
• Two plays later, Cook completed a short pass to WR Theo Wease Jr., who sprinted 77 yards to the end zone on MU’s longest play of the season that made the score 30-21 with 13:14 to play.
• But UF narrowed the MU lead to 30-28 with a 75-yard drive ending with a Trevor Etienne nine-yard TD run. 
• The Gators forced Missouri to punt, and Max Brown ran 27 yards to set up a Trey Smack 35-yard field goal that gave Florida a 31-30 lead.
• Missouri led 13-7 at halftime on two Mevis FGs and a 42-yard TD run by RB Cody Schrader, who had 123 rushing yards in the first two quarters and finished the game with 23 carries for 148 yards.
• After throwing for just 56 yards in the first half, Cook threw for 275 in the second. For the game, he completed 20-of-34 passes for 331 yards. 
• Burden caught nine passes for 158 yards, upping his season receiving yardage total to 1,152.
• LBs Chuck Hicks and Triston Newson led the MU defense, each recording career highs of nine stops. 

TIL FURTHER NOTICE
• LB Chad Bailey will miss the rest of the season due to a core injury suffered early in camp. The senior captain was limited to five games this season with 17 tackles.

ARKANSAS AT A GLANCE
• Missouri has dominated its series with Arkansas, winning 8/10 meetings dating back to the Tigers’ 38-7 rout in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 2008.
• In spite of the lopsided record in favor of Mizzou, the Tigers have claimed several close victories over the Razorbacks since joining the SEC in 2012. Including its vacated 2016 win in Columbia, MU has picked up wins decided by seven points or less in five of its seven victories in the series over the same stretch.
• In their eight wins over Arkansas since the 2007 season, the Tigers have averaged 34.5 points per contest, while allowing an average of just 17.9.

SENIOR SALUTE
• Twenty-seven seniors were honored prior to their final contest at home vs. UF — Kris Abrams-Draine, Chad Bailey, JC Carlies, Joseph Charleston, Mookie Cooper, Xavier Delgado, Javon Foster, Nyles Gaddy, Realus George Jr., Caimin Hayes, Shawn Hendershot, Ty’Ron Hopper, Peanut Houston, Jayden Jernigan, Marcellus Johnson, Josh Landry, Micah Manning, Harrison Mevis, Nate Peat, Bence Polgar, Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Darius Robinson, Cody Schrader, Tyler Stephens, Ben Straatmann, Theo Wease Jr. and Riley Williams.

TRIPLE THREAT
• QB Brady Cook and WR Luther Burden III recently went over the 3,000-yard passing and 1,000-yard receiving plateaus vs. Florida, joining RB Cody Schrader, who passed the 1,000-yard rushing Rubicon vs. Tennessee.
• Only three NCAA FBS teams can claim the 3,000-1,000-1,000 combo at this point in the campaign – Mizzou, LSU and Oregon.

IT WORKS 59% OF THE TIME — ALL THE TIME
• Mizzou has scored within the last two minutes of a half in 13 of 22 total opportunities this season, including game-winning drives vs. K-State and Florida.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
• MU is ranked ninth in the latest College Football Playoff poll, the highest CFP ranking in program history and the first appearance in the Top 10 of any national poll since the end of the 2013 campaign when the Tigers finished the season at No. 5 in both the Associated Press and Coaches’ polls.

UNDER PRESSURE
• One of the bigger reasons for the Tigers’ 9-2 mark is its ability to close out one-score games.
Coming off a 2022 season where they were 2-4 in one-score games, MU is 4-0 in one-score contests this season, most recently knocking off Florida 33-31.

YOUTH OF THE NATION 
• Freshman TE Brett Norfleet has worked his way into the starting lineup in each of MU’s last five games.
• Against Florida, he caught three balls on three targets for a career-best 43 yards and had 35 yards after the catch and a long reception of 16 yards.
• His efforts show up in other ways, like blocking for Cody Schrader’s 148-yard rushing effort and helping the office average 5.5 yards per rush and 7.6 yards per play against the Gators.
• Mizzou has topped the 500-yard mark for total offense five times, including four during SEC play.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou Athletics, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Missouri football (@MizzouFootball) and Coach Drinkwitz (@CoachDrinkwitz) on X. You can also find the Tigers on Instagram and Facebook.