There truly was no reason for Missouri to kick the field goal. We can start with that.
The No. 9 Tigers were thoroughly dominated by the No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies from the opening kickoff. It was 24-0 at half and 41-7 with less than five minutes to play.
Missouri, for the most part, kept its starters in until the very end, engineering a six-minute, 17 play drive that went 74 yards down field. But it just couldn’t reach the end zone no matter how hard Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz tried.
On the two previous drives, Mizzou turned the ball over on downs, so no one was expecting Drinkwitz to turn to his kicker after getting the ball to fourth-and-goal on the six-yard line with eight seconds remaining. It made absolutely no sense.
Unless, of course, you knew what the spread was on the point total for the game. The line settled at 48.5 points at BetMGM. With Texas A&M leading 41-7, that meant everyone who bet the under was going to win as long as Mizzou didn’t to exactly what it was about to do: kick a field goal.
But after going for it on fourth down four times previously in the game, Drinkwitz decided he wanted the points.
It was stunning. Even the broadcast took notice.
On 4th-and-goal with 12 seconds remaining, Mizzou opted to kick a field goal at Texas A&M… to lose 41-10.
"To some people, this is a very important field goal! If you do the math, it's over and out." – Joe Tessitore 🏈🎙️💸 pic.twitter.com/Oz149aMQgt
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 5, 2024
Final score: 41-10, Aggies. The over cashes. And the under bettors are in shambles. Even those who didn’t bet on the game could see what happened.
Missouri, that is an incredibly sad field goal. The saddest of field goals. Rejoice, over bettors.
— Adam Kramer (@KegsnEggs) October 5, 2024
Eli Drinkwitz had the over. Only explanation for kicking that FG.
— Alex Gold (@AlexGold) October 5, 2024
Eli Drinkwitz and Missouri kick the field goal with eight seconds left, to push the Mizzou-Texas A&M game over 48.5 (41-10 final score).
Zero percent chance you can tell me Drinkwitz didn't know the number there.
Zero percent.
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) October 5, 2024
Sure, Mizzou lost by 31, but at least Eli Drinkwitz made sure that over hit 😂
— Harrison Reno (@HarrisonReno) October 5, 2024
Missouri kicking this meaningless FG to crush the dreams of under bettors 🫢 pic.twitter.com/a5HZI3Ga6Q
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) October 5, 2024
Bettors won’t forget what Eli Drinkwitz did on Saturday. But more importantly, Missouri fans won’t forget how Drinkwitz had his team unprepared for a ranked matchup coming off a bye week.
