Missouri quarterback James Franklin couldn’t do much of anything for much of Saturday’s game with Tennessee. By the end of the day, he couldn’t be stopped.

Andrew Baggett kicked a 35-yard field goal in the fourth overtime period as Missouri rallied from a two-touchdown halftime deficit to beat Tennessee 51-48. But it was Franklin who sparked the comeback, throwing four touchdown passes – all in the final minute of regulation or overtime.

Franklin’s biggest play came in the final minute of regulation.

Missouri (5-5, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) faced fourth-and-12 when Franklin scrambled around before finding Dorial Green-Beckham all alone in the left corner of the end zone for a game-tying 25-yard touchdown pass with 47 seconds remaining.

“It was pretty funny because right before that, he told me – the defense probably could have seen what he was doing – he put his hand up and he was doing this, this and that,” Franklin said as he motioned how Green-Beckham drew up the route on his hand. “It was funny because that’s what he did, and it worked.”

Tennessee has now lost 13 of its last 14 SEC games over the last two seasons, casting further doubt on the future of Volunteers coach Derek Dooley. With the game tied in the final minute of regulation, Dooley and the Vols (4-6, 0-6) received a chorus of boos when they allowed the clock to run out after failing to gain any yardage on two straight plays.

“I’m hurting because of the game and the kids,” Dooley said. “They played their tail off, man. There’s a lot of negativity, and that comes with the territory. I’m just proud of how they keep going out there and they lay it on the line.”

Each team scored touchdowns on its first two overtime possessions, including a 5-yard run by Tennessee holder Tyler Drummer on a fake field-goal attempt. Both teams reached the end zone again in the third overtime but failed to make their ensuing two-point conversion attempts.

Missouri’s defense finally came through in the fourth overtime when safety Ian Simon broke up Tyler Bray’s fourth-and-3 pass to Zach Rogers from the Missouri 18. Baggett then kicked the field goal that ended this marathon game.

“They were making plays all game,” Missouri defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson said. “We just happened to shut them down when we needed to.”

Franklin threw for 2,865 yards and 21 touchdowns and rushed for 981 yards and 15 more scores last year, but he had struggled with injuries and inconsistency this year while Missouri makes the transition from the Big 12 to the SEC. Franklin was coming off a four-interception performance in a 14-7 loss at Florida last week, and he wasn’t much better in the early part of this game.

After going 2-of-8 for 18 yards and an interception in the first half, Franklin ended up throwing for 226 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 43 yards.

“It feels better, especially as a team because on both sides of the ball guys made plays,” Franklin said. “I think it feels more like a team win today.”

Kendial Lawrence added two touchdown runs and 153 rushing yards for Missouri (5-5, 2-5 SEC). Bray threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns for Tennessee (4-6, 0-6), while Mychal Rivera compiled a career-high 10 receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown. Missouri and Tennessee had entered the day tied for the NCAA lead with 10 all-time overtime victories each.

“It stings a lot,” Rivera said. “We really worked hard this week. We really wanted to win this game. Things just didn’t go our way.”

Tennessee entered the day having allowed the most points (35.4) and yards (483.1) per game of any team in the SEC. They were coming off a 55-48 victory over Troy in which they allowed 721 yards, the highest single-game total ever by a Tennessee opponent.

Dooley responded by taking a more active role in the defense. He promised major changes, which included having defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri work from the press box for the first time all season.

For one half anyway, the moves paid off better than anyone could have reasonably anticipated.

The Vols outgained Missouri 383-64 in the first half and took a 21-7 lead into the intermission. Missouri’s offense didn’t cross midfield until about 2 ½ minutes remained in the second quarter. The Tigers’ lone first-half score came on Jimmie Hunt’s 87-yard kickoff return.

Then came the second half.

On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Lawrence delivered a 77-yard touchdown run that cut Tennessee’s lead to 21-14. After Tennessee extended its lead to 28-14, Lawrence added a 1-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter on a drive kept alive by a fourth-and-1 conversion.

“When Kendial made that run, it kind of sparked everyone,” Franklin said. “We realized we still had a chance.”

Missouri finally tied the game in the final minute when Franklin found Green-Beckham all alone in the left corner of the end zone. Earlier in the drive, Franklin had thrown a 17-yard completion to Marcus Lucas on fourth-and-9 from the Tennessee 40.

“Once we got out there and lined up, I saw how far the safety was playing up so I was (thinking) I can beat this guy and get behind him on a fade route,” Green-Beckham said.

Franklin would pretty much get his way the rest of the day.

— Associated Press —

While rehabbing all last season from a knee injury, Laurence Bowers was able to do a lot of shooting.

The 6-foot-8 forward showed off his increased range in No. 15 Missouri’s 83-69 season-opening victory over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Saturday, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and finishing with 20 points and seven rebounds.

The season before he was hurt, Bowers attempted just eight 3-pointers – and missed them all.

”I was shooting a ton when I was hurt, so it’s paying off,” Bowers said. ”I’ve just got to continue to stay after practice and work out.”

Coach Frank Haith pointed out that Bowers was on the line or just inside it on two other jumpers while going 9 for 14 overall.

”That’s what we challenged him to do, make his game more well-rounded,” Haith said. ”Laurence, he was excited for Midnight Madness. I think he’s just glad to be back, and guys, he’s going to get better and better.”

Bowers outscored the Cougars 10-2 by himself during a two-minute stretch early in the second half for the Tigers, who are ranked to start the season for a third straight year. Not much later, he dazzled with a tomahawk dunk.

”It felt good,” Bowers said. ”That’s the first time I’ve dunked in a game in a long time.”

Phil Pressey scored 13 of his 19 points in the first half and had nine assists with just two turnovers. Alex Oriakhi, part of a strong transfer class, had 15 rebounds, eight points and three blocked shots.

”Those guys, they’re good,” SIU Edwardsville coach Lennox Forrester said. ”Pressey, he’s an incredible guard. I thought that at times when they struggled for points, he just took over.”

Jerome Jones hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for SIU Edwardsville, which was held to 33 percent shooting. Reserve Michael Messer added 13 points but Mark Yelovich, the Cougars’ top returning scorer, was held scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting with four fouls.

”There were segments in there where we kind of got rattled a little bit and lost our composure,” Forrester said. ”It’s one of those games where you never know what to expect from your players.”

Missouri won its 66th in a row at home against non-conference opponents since the end of the 2005-06 season without guard Michael Dixon, who is suspended for violating team rules. Dixon, perhaps the best sixth man in the nation for last season’s 30-win team, also did not dress in both exhibitions.

Haith gave no timetable for Dixon’s return, saying tersely, ”We’re not talking about that.”

The Tigers won their home opener for the 38th time in 39 seasons in front of a late-arriving crowd of 10,054, many likely watching the Missouri football team’s overtime victory at Tennessee that ended about 45 minutes before tip-off.

Haith was happy to divert his postgame remarks to another sport, adding that he watched the entire game on TV. But not the players.

”I don’t let them watch, they’re focused on the game,” Haith said. ”But I was watching.”

Freshman Negus Webster-Chan hit all three of Missouri’s 3-pointers in the first half, the last two coming over the final 2 1/2 minutes to help build a 40-34 lead. The Tigers trailed most of the half, getting their first lead at 27-26 on Webster-Chan’s 3-pointer from the corner off a feed from Pressey with about 6 1/2 minutes to go.

Missouri took its largest lead of the game after outscoring SIU Edwardsville 7-0 over the final 2:55, and carried that momentum into the second half. The visitors couldn’t keep up.

”We started getting careless, a couple turnovers and a couple quick shots that instantly turn into transition points,” said Messer.

SIU Edwardsville came out firing from long range, hitting six of its first 14 3-point attempts. Jones tied his career high with four 3-pointers in the half and had 14 points, bettering last year’s 12.7-point average.

The Cougars led by as many as six in the first half without any contribution from Kris Davis, who led the nation with a 60-percent 3-point percentage last season but sat out the final 18:47 of the half after picking up two quick fouls. He finished with 11 points.

”We want to be an up-tempo team, we want to be an aggressive team,” Forrester said. ”But at the same time we want to make sure we are disciplined at doing both.”

SIU Edwardsville was 10-17 last season, its first in the Ohio Valley Conference, and is among just six Division-I schools with no freshmen. The school is 0-4 against current members of the SEC and 0-5 against Top 25 teams.

— Associated Press —