COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Maty Mauk completed 18 of 33 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns — both to Bud Sasser — to lead Missouri past Kentucky in a 20-10 win Saturday.

Mauk added another 75 yards on the ground, picking up four first downs, and completed 10 consecutive passes in the first half, including a 26-yard toss to a streaking Sasser in the end zone over defender J.D. Harmon.

Sasser also hauled in a 3-yard toss for a TD and finished with six catches for 67 yards. Andrew Baggett kicked 41- and 21-yard field goals.

Coupled with Georgia’s 38-20 loss to Florida, the Tigers (7-2, 4-1) now lead the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division by a half-game.

Missouri’s offensive struggles reappeared at times as the Tigers gained 320 yards, but the defense limited Kentucky to 258 yards and 2-for-16 on third-down conversions.

Patrick Towles gained 158 yards through the air for Kentucky (5-4, 2-4), a week after throwing for a career-high 390 yards against Mississippi State.

Kentucky struggled to achieve much consistency on offense itself, starting 0-for-8 on third-down conversions. Towles threw for 1 yard and an interception in the first half before leading an 80-yard touchdown drive to narrow his team’s deficit to 20-10 with 3:26 remaining.

The Wildcats then recovered the ensuring onside kick, but Missouri’s Matt Hoch and Michael Scherer stopped Towles for a 2-yard loss on 4th-and-1 at the Tigers’ 21-yard line.

After a 3-and-out by Missouri, Kentucky had another chance but Shane Ray sacked Towles on 4th down, his second sack of the game and his 12th of the season, breaking the previous school record of 11.5 set by Aldon Smith and Michael Sam.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Bud Sasser scored two touchdowns and Russell Hansbrough added another to lead Missouri past Vanderbilt 24-14 Saturday and end a two-game home losing streak.

After scoring twice apiece on special teams and defense last week at Florida, the Tigers (6-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) used three touchdowns by their offense against the Commodores (2-6, 0-5).

Missouri gained 385 total yards, easily eclipsing its combined total of 266 yards in its last two games. Maty Mauk completed 11 of 23 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns while Marcus Murphy added 93 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Johnny McCrary completed 17 of 31 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start for Vanderbilt, becoming the team’s fourth quarterback to start this season because of injuries.

Missouri leaned heavily on its rushing attack, running 46 times for 244 yards compared to 23 passing attempts. Missouri possessed the ball for 31:09, passing the 30-minute mark for the first time in four games.

While the Tigers struggled to maintain much of a rhythm offensively, they did enough to take advantage of a Vanderbilt defense allowing a league-worst 34 points per game.

Sasser finished with 74 receiving yards, including 13 on a touchdown pass from Mauk with 2:27 left in the third quarter on the heels of a 36-yard run by Mauk, who shook off some of the frustrations of a 20-yard performance last week.

The score provided Missouri a 17-7 advantage, but C.J. Duncan pulled the Commodores to within three points after hauling in an over-the-shoulder, 29-yard touchdown pass from McCrary with 6:53 remaining.

The freshman-to-freshman play capped a 76-yard drive.

Despite Vanderbilt having 31 freshmen receiving playing time this season, and a winless conference record, the team trailed by just a field goal with fewer than three minutes remaining and Missouri facing a 2nd-and-20 on Vanderbilt’s 44-yard line.

But linebacker Stephen Weatherly grabbed Mauk’s facemask on a run, giving the Tigers a first down on the Commodores’ 19-yard line. Two plays later, Mauk found Sasser in the back corner of the end zone for a 26-yard score.

Vanderbilt finished with 240 yards, including only 44 on the ground, and only 53 on its first four drives. The Commodores then traveled 75 yards on their next possession as McCrary found fourth-string tight end Nathan Marcus for a 9-yard touchdown.

The touchdown narrowed Vanderbilt’s deficit to 10-7 with eight second remaining in the first half after Hansbrough scored on a 10-yard run three minutes earlier. Missouri’s running backs accounted for all 77 yards on the drive, including 10 carries for 60 yards and a 17-yard reception by Hansbrough, who finished with 87 yards rushing.

— Associated Press —

To the victor go the spoils, and the University of Missouri football team has collected two-fold from its 42-13 road win at Florida last Saturday, as senior TB/KR Marcus Murphy and junior DE Shane Ray were named the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week and Defensive Lineman of the Week, respectively, as announced on the SEC Network tonight.

Murphy was spectacular against the Gators, as he became the first player in Mizzou history to score a touchdown via kickoff return, punt return and rushing as he keyed the big Tiger victory.  Murphy electrified the Swamp crowd with a 96-yard kickoff return to open the game, marking only the third time in Tiger history that MU has run back the game-opening kick for a score (Gahn McGaffie in 2010 vs. Oklahoma and Roger Wehrli in 1967 vs. Iowa State were the others).  Murphy would later score on a 5-yard run to stake the Tigers to a 14-0 first-quarter lead, and he followed with an 82-yard punt return score on a punt safe formation (where MU had its normal defense in to guard against a fake punt, instead of having the punt return unit on the field) for a 28-0 lead.

Murphy ended the night with a career-high 224 all-purpose yards, and he currently leads the SEC and ranks 15th nationally with his 149.14 all-purpose yards per game average.  The kick return scores were the sixth and seventh of his career, which gives him the MU career combined kick return record to himself, breaking the tie he held with former two-time All-American, Jeremy Maclin.

Not to be outdone, Ray was just as impactful on the defensive front in helping the Tigers improve to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in SEC play.  He notched his fourth two-sack game of the season, including a sack/strip play in the 3rd quarter which resulted in teammate Markus Golden’s 21-yard scoop-and-score touchdown return to give Mizzou a 35-0 lead.  Ray ended the night with six tackles, and also added a quarterback pressure.

Ray enters Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt with 10.0 sacks and 14.0 tackles for loss – both figures which lead the SEC and rank 3rd nationally.  He stands just 1.5 sacks away from the MU single-season record of 11.5, set in 2009 by Aldon Smith, and equaled in 2013 by Michael Sam.  This is the third time that Ray has been a weekly honoree by the SEC.  He won the Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against UCF (7 tackles, 4 TFLs, 2 sacks, forced fumble) and was named the Defensive Lineman of the Week against South Carolina (8 tackles, 2 sacks).

This marks the fifth time in 2014 a Tiger has won a weekly conference award.  Earlier in the season, sophomore QB Maty Mauk won the SEC Offensive Player of the Week on September 8th for his play in MU’s win at Toledo (5 passing TDs, 1 rushing TD, 325 passing yards).

Mizzou hosts Vanderbilt this Saturday at 3 p.m. for its annual Homecoming game.  The game will be broadcast on ESPN 1550 AM.

— MU Sports Information —

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Marcus Murphy scored three touchdowns, including two on special teams, and Missouri embarrassed Florida 42-13 Saturday night.

The Tigers (5-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) scored on a kickoff return, a punt return, a fumble return and an interception return. They managed just seven first downs and 119 yards of offense, including 20 passing, and essentially let the Gators self-destruct in nearly every way imaginable.

And they did.

Mizzou bounced back from a shutout loss at home to Georgia, remained in the hunt in the muddled Eastern Division and extended their road winning streak to eight.

The Gators (3-3, 2-3) lost for the second time in eight days, fueling speculation that Will Muschamp has coached his final game in Gainesville. “Fire Muschamp” chants broke out in third quarter and could be heard throughout an emptying Florida Field.

Florida has dropped 12 of its last 19 games and trails the division-leading Bulldogs by two games with three remaining.

Athletic director Jeremy Foley said in September that he wouldn’t make any decisions about Muschamp’s future until after the season finale. But he also has said repeatedly over the years that if something must be done eventually, it must be done immediately.

The Gators could be 0-5 in conference play. They eked by Kentucky in triple overtime and edged Tennessee 10-9 two weeks ago. Their latest setback was their worst home loss since falling 37-7 to rival Florida State last season.

So questions surrounding Muschamp have lingered and may have reached an apex Saturday. Missouri led 20-0 at halftime despite gaining just 99 yards, and Florida looked like it had no idea how it wanted to use a two-quarterback system featuring Jeff Driskel and Treon Harris.

With a bye week on tap and Georgia up after that, few would be surprised to see Foley make the move by Sunday. Then again, there doesn’t seem to be a number of strong candidates out there for the choosing.

Missouri, meanwhile, surely will be able to enjoy the next few days. The Tigers were miserable last week after a 34-0 loss to Georgia. Now, they finish league play with a seemingly soft stretch against Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Of course, Mizzou has little chance of getting anyone else to collapse like Florida did.

Murphy returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and added a 5-yard scoring run later in the first — after one of Florida’s six turnovers.

Driskel fumbled on Florida’s first series and threw an interception in the second quarter that led to a field goal. He also had a fumble returned 21 yards for a touchdown by Markus Golden and an interception returned 46 yards for a score by Darvin Ruise — both in Missouri’s 22-point third quarter.

Harris, a freshman who played for the first time since a female student withdrew a sexual assault complaint that kept him off the field last week against LSU, fumbled on his first drive and threw an interception in the fourth.

He finished 8-of-12 passing for 98 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tevin Westbrook late in the third. Harris threw the ball up for grabs to avoid a sack, and Westbrook came down with it in a crowded end zone. He also scored from 3 yards out in the final minute.

Driskel completed 7 of 19 passes for 50 yards, with two fumbles and two interceptions. He also was sacked four times. He now has 12 turnovers in the last four games.

Missouri’s numbers weren’t staggering, but they certainly were better than last week’s five-turnover fiasco.

Maty Mauk was 6-of-18 passing for 20 yards, with an interception, and added 38 yards on the ground.

Russell Hansbrough ran for 35 yards.

Murphy was the star of the night. He finished with 224 all-purpose yards: 101 on punts, 96 on kickoffs and 27 rushing.

— Associated Press —

Mizzou Football junior DE Shane Ray (Kansas City, Mo.) has been added to the watch list for the 20th Chuck Bednarik Award, presented annually to college football’s defensive player of the year. Additions were made by the Maxwell Football Club to bring attention to several noteworthy players from thus far in the 2014 season.

Ray has been one of the standout defensive players across the college football landscape in 2014, ranking second nationally in tackles-for-loss (12.5) and tied for third in sacks (8.0). His 8.0-sack total through six games is already tied for the eighth-best single-season mark in Mizzou history.

In his first season as a full-time starter, Ray has easily surpassed his 2013 totals (14 games). While backing up future NFL Draft picks Kony Ealy and Michael Sam, Ray registered 9.0 tackles-for-loss and 4.5 sacks among 39 total tackles.

Ray joins teammate Markus Golden (St. Louis, Mo.) on the watch list. The senior Tiger has been stout in 2014, totaling 8.0 tackles-for-loss and 4.0 sacks among 35 stops.

Semifinalists for the Bednarik Award will be announced on November 3 and three finalists for the award will be announced November 24. The winner of the 2014 Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show which will be held on December 11. The formal presentation will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 13, 2015.

The watch list candidates have been chosen by the Maxwell Football Club’s Selection Committee and the Maxwell Club reserves the right to make additions and subtractions to these lists as the 2014 season unfolds. All members of the Maxwell Football Club, NCAA Sports Information Directors, Head Coaches and selected national media are eligible to vote for these awards.

— MU Sports Information —

The 2015 schedule for the University of Missouri football program has been released, as announced today by Mizzou Athletics, in conjunction with the Southeastern Conference.

The Tigers have six home games currently finalized for the 2015 campaign at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium, including a Thursday-night prime time game on Nov. 5th against Mississippi State set for an 8 p.m. (central time) kickoff on ESPN.  The Bulldogs, ranked #1 in the nation for the current season, will be making their first trip to Columbia since 1984, when Mizzou claimed a 47-30 win.

Other home games in 2015 include contests against Southeast Missouri State (Sept. 5), UCONN (Sept. 19), South Carolina (Oct. 3), Florida (Oct. 10) and Tennessee (Nov. 21).

Road contests are set against Arkansas State (Sept. 12), Kentucky (Sept. 26), Georgia (Oct. 17), Vanderbilt (Oct. 24) and Arkansas (Nov. 28).

A 12th game, most likely to be played on Nov. 14th, is still being finalized, with opponent and location information to be released at a later date.

The Thursday night game will be a unique mid-week nationally-televised opportunity as the Tigers will take on the Bulldogs.  It will be the third time Mizzou has hosted a Thursday-night game, with prior instances coming in 1992 (vs. Colorado) and 2009 (vs. Nebraska).  It will be one of three Thursday night games played by SEC teams in 2015 (the league has five Thursday night games in 2014).

“We are excited to have this schedule almost completed.  It’s been a long time in the works, but we’re pleased and grateful to everyone who has helped it come together to this point,” said Executive Associate Athletic Director Bryan Maggard, who oversees football scheduling.

“The Thursday night home game is certainly unique, and it’s a great opportunity to showcase Mizzou to a national audience,” said Maggard.  “The SEC asked both schools to consider it, and after we visited with campus and faculty leaders, we decided to go that route.  We will consider future Thursday opportunities if asked by the league, but only occasionally,” he said.

— MU Sports Information —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — No Todd Gurley? No problem for Georgia.

This time, anyway.

Freshman Nick Chubb rushed 38 times for 143 yards and one touchdown as the 13th-ranked Bulldogs shut out No. 23 Missouri 34-0. Georgia (5-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) wore down the Tigers (4-2, 1-1) early, possessing the ball for more than 42 minutes and gaining 379 total yards on 87 plays.

“Everybody said that Georgia was dead without Todd,” Chubb said. “But we proved that we’re still in it.”

Gurley was suspended indefinitely on Thursday while the school investigates an alleged violation of NCAA rules. It was a stunning blow for Gurley, who had been making a strong case for Heisman contention. The reason for the investigation hasn’t been disclosed, but SI.com reported that Gurley allegedly received $400 to sign 80 pieces of memorabilia on the Georgia campus.

Georgia looked undaunted by his absence — even as fans held up “Free Gurley” signs from the stands.

“We need to show everybody and show ourselves that there’s 10 other guys on offense that are making this thing go,” quarterback Hutson Mason said.

After two first-quarter field goals by Marshall Morgan, Mason faked a handoff to Chubb before running 11 yards into the end zone with 10:57 remaining in the opening half. The fifth-year senior skipped out of the end zone punching the air, jubilant after entering the game averaging 137.4 passing yards.

Mason found Michael Bennett streaking toward the corner of the end zone for a touchdown five minutes later as Missouri’s first sellout crowd of the season — an attendance of 71,168 — started voicing its displeasure.

Mason backed up Aaron Murray last year. Without Gurley, he’ll be counted on to help lead the team moving forward. He said he’s adopted a new mindset to try and not put too much pressure on himself.

“Not try to get everything right,” he said. “Just playing off instincts and reacting. That’s what got me here and I think that’s what allows me to play at my highest level.”

Mason finished with 156 yards and one touchdown on 22-of-28 passing.

The Tigers appeared to get something going with three minutes left in the second quarter on offense as they reached Georgia territory for the first time, but linebacker Leonard Floyd hit Maty Mauk’s arm as he was about to throw, forcing Missouri’s first lost fumble of the season.

Down 20-0 entering the break, Missouri showed little improvement in the second half. Mauk threw interceptions to end his team’s first two drives out of the locker room. Georgia’s Brendan Douglas then ran 15 yards for a touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter for a 27-point advantage.

Mauk completed nine of 21 passes for 97 yards and accounted for five turnovers, throwing four interceptions and losing a fumble. The sophomore quarterback said it was the worst game he’s played.

“And I don’t plan on doing it again, either,” he said.

Missouri gained just 147 total yards on 43 plays, and was held scoreless for the first time since 2002. The Tigers finished 0-for-7 on third-down conversions and failed to reach Georgia’s 20-yard line.

Two weeks after erasing a 13-point deficit at South Carolina in the final seven minutes, there would be no comeback this time for Missouri. Chubb punched in the final score with a 9-yard run with 7:46 remaining, as cheers of “U-G-A” filled an emptying Memorial Stadium.

“We’ve got to get it together, man,” defensive end Markus Golden said. “It’s one game. You’ve got to move on.”

— Associated Press —