Music City Bowl Game Notes: Iowa

COLUMBIA, Missouri – The No. 23 Missouri Tigers will put the finishing touches on the 2024 season with their 38th bowl appearance, facing the Iowa Hawkeyes in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Monday, December 30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN and Tiger Radio Network.

The Tigers and Hawkeyes will meet for the 14th time, with Missouri holding a 7-6 lead in the series. Iowa won the last meeting between the two programs – and the only bowl game of the series – with a 27-24 victory over MU in the 2010 Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona.

Mizzou will participate in the Music City Bowl for the first time. The Tigers secured a spot in the 2020 Music City Bowl, but MU’s matchup against Iowa was canceled due to COVID-19.

ESPN’s Music City Bowl broadcast will feature Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb and Alyssa Lang. The game can also be heard on LEARFIELD’s Tiger Radio Network via the Varsity Network mobile app and Sirius XM channel 119 or 191.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Iowa (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) vs. (23) Missouri (9-3, 5-3 SEC)

Monday, December 30, 2024 • 1:30 p.m. CT

Nashville, Tennessee • Nissan Stadium (69,143)

TV • ESPN

RADIO • LEARFIELD’s Tiger Radio Network

GAME NOTES • Missouri Notes • Iowa Notes

LIVE STATISTICS • MusicCityBowl.com

TWITTER • @MizzouFootball

FINANCIAL SUPPORT • Fans are encouraged to wear black

INTERVIEWS • Weekly press conference from Coach Drinkwitz | Theo Wease Jr. Pre-Training Interview | Kristian Williams interview before training

GAME NOTES

Eliah Drinkwitz celebrated his 37th victory as Mizzou head coach with the Tigers’ victory over Arkansas (November 30). Dan Devines program record for wins in the first five seasons of his tenure as Mizzou head coach.

With a win over Iowa, the Tigers would not only celebrate their eighth 10-win season, but would also finish the year with three straight wins in back-to-back seasons, which would be the first time they had achieved that feat since 1913-14.

Ranked 23rd in the latest edition Associated Press poll, the Tigers – who came in at No. 8 Associated Press‘ 2023 rankings – are also aiming for their first consecutive top 25 finishes since 2013/14, when they finished the year at No. 5 and No. 14 Associated Press‘ Final polls or

The Tigers finished their 2024 Southeastern Conference campaign with a 5-3 record, recording five conference wins for the second straight year – and the third time in five years under Drinkwitz.

Of Missouri’s 20 wins over the past two years, 13 have come from behind, including eight in which the Tigers overcame second-half deficits.

Mizzou’s defense ranks among the best in the country in several statistical categories, including first downs allowed (3rd), 3rd down conversion percentage defense (4th), scoring defense (20th) and total defense (22nd).

EN Johnny Walker Jr. brings the nation’s longest active sack streak into the Music City Bowl, with at least 0.5 sacks in six straight contests (dating back to Oct. 19 against Auburn).

The Tigers lead the SEC and rank seventh nationally in average time of possession (33:08) and second in the league in fewest turnovers (9); Mizzou is tied with Oregon for the fewest giveaways (18) among all FBS teams over the past two seasons.

QB Brady Cook (8,726) ranks fourth on the Tigers’ all-time passing yards list, entering the Music City Bowl just 73 yards behind Brad Smith for third place on MU’s career list; Cook also ranks fourth in professional qualifications (728).

Cook is expected to become the first MU quarterback to start in four consecutive bowl games for the Tigers and brings a total of 26 career wins (26-13) into the contest as MU’s starting QB, which is No. 2 overall in the program History (just behind it ChaseDaniel30 wins).

TIGER AND HAWKEYES AT A GLANCE
Mizzou and Iowa will meet for the 14th time and the first in the series since their 2010 Insight Bowl duel in Tempe, Arizona.

MU leads the all-time series 7-6, with 12 of those meetings occurring between 1892 and 1910. Mizzou has a 5-2 lead at home against the Hawkeyes, but has gone just 2-3 in the series in Iowa City (0-1 on a neutral site (Tempe in 2010).

Mizzou compiles an 87-133-8 cumulative all-time record against current members of the Big Ten Conference.

The Tigers are 3-5 in bowl games against Big Ten teams.

The Tigers averaged just 4.7 points per game in their seven wins over the Hawkeyes, including four shutouts: 24-0 in 1892, 34-0 in 1895, 6-0 in 1902 and 5-0 that year 1910 (MU’s most recent victory over Iowa).

The 2010 Insight Bowl was a back-and-forth affair in the second half, as Mizzou rallied from a 17-3 first-half deficit to take a 24-20 lead on a three-yard play Blaine Gabbert-To-Michael Egnew A touchdown throw late in the third period. But a 72-yard pick-six by Iowa’s Micah Hyde in the fourth quarter sealed the Hawkeyes’ victory over the 14th-ranked Tigers.

In the same competition, WR TJ Moe broke Mizzou’s bowl record for receptions with his 15 catches, surpassing the Tigers’ record of eight receptions previously shared by WR Thomson Omboga (2003 Independence Bowl vs. Arkansas) and TE Chase Coffman (2005 Independence Bowl vs. South Carolina).

Moe also surpassed the Tigers’ bowl mark for receiving yards (152) in the contest and helped the Mizzou offense set team bowl records for total plays (86) and first downs (32).

Go bowling
Missouri will play in its 38th bowl game and it will be the fifth in as many seasons under a head coach Eliah Drinkwitz (including the 2020 Music City Bowl berth, which was canceled due to COVID-19).

The Tigers are 16-20 overall in bowl games, including a 3-5 record against current members of the Big Ten Conference.

Mizzou has faced Iowa once in the postseason – a 27-24 Hawkeyes victory in the 2010 Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona.

MU brings a 4-2 record in Nashville – all against Vanderbilt – into this year’s Music City Bowl

The Tigers have a 9-7 all-time record at Tennessee, including 1-2 in three previous bowl trips to the state (all at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis).

PERFECT 10
With a victory over Arkansas on November 30 in the regular season finale, Missouri secured its tenth nine-win season.

With a victory over Iowa in the Music City Bowl, the Tigers would record back-to-back 10-win campaigns for the third time in program history (joining the 2007–08 and 2013–14 Mizzou teams).

Head coach Eliah Drinkwitz With his arrival, he becomes just the third Mizzou bench boss to lead the Tigers to a 10-win season Dan Devine (1960) and Gary Pinkel (five times) and would be only the second in several seasons to achieve this.

DRINK IT UP
Fifth year head coach Eliah Drinkwitz has led Missouri to 37 wins in his first five seasons Dan Devines program record for coaching wins in five seasons.

Under Drinkwitz, Mizzou has gone 27-7 (.794) in five seasons at Faurot Field, giving the Tigers’ assistant coach the best home winning percentage in program history.

With Mizzou’s win over Arkansas to close out the regular season, Drinkwitz came within one win away of that Al Onofrio Ranked No. 6 on the Tigers’ all-time wins list.

Drinkwitz has led Mizzou to an overall record of 20-5 over the past two seasons, which is already among the best 25 games in program history, and a win over Iowa would move the Tigers to sixth in Mizzou’s two-year winning percentage in history.

Additionally, the 2023 SEC Coach of the Year became the first MU coach to lead the program to bowl spots in each of his first five seasons at the helm.

IT’S THAT SEASON
Mizzou will benefit from the combined postseason experience of several standout veterans who have already left their mark on the Tigers with memorable bowl performances.

With a start against Iowa, QB Brady Cook will be the first Tiger quarterback to start in four bowl games.

Cook, the 2023 Cotton Bowl Offensive MVP, enters the Music City Bowl already owning the Tigers’ all-time record for career completions in bowl games with 68 in his three previous postseason starts against Army West Point (Armed Forces 2021). Wake Forest (2022 Gasparilla) and Ohio State (2023 Cotton).

Cook also ranks fourth among all MU quarterbacks in the postseason requiring 46 additional yards to catch Drew Lock (642) in 3rd place, 76 yards ahead ChaseDaniel (672) in the No. 2 position and 129 the same Blaine Gabbertis the previous Mizzou Bowl mark with 725 combined passing yards.

In last year’s Cotton Bowl against Ohio State, Cook completed six of seven passes for 100 yards and a game-winning WR touchdown throw in the second half Luther burden IIIwhile adding 19 carries for 66 yards.

Furthermore, WR Theo Wease Jr. will make his fourth postseason appearance and made four receptions for the Tigers in last year’s Cotton Bowl; Wease Jr. has six catches for 80 yards in three previous postseason games (2019 Peach Bowl vs. LSU in the CFP semifinals, 2020 Cotton Bowl vs. Florida and 2023 Cotton Bowl vs. Ohio State).

On the defensive side of the ball is DE Johnny Walker Jr. will also make his fourth bowl appearance after a 2023 Cotton Bowl Defensive MVP performance against Ohio State last year; Walker Jr. recorded 1.5 tackles for a loss, including a key sack and a forced fumble, in the 14-3 win over the Buckeyes.

25 TO REMEMBER
Missouri enters the Music City Bowl at 20-5 in its last 25 games (August 31, 2023 to November 30, 2024), marking one of the most successful periods in program history.

The Tigers’ 20 wins during that span are tied for the fourth-best 25-game total in program history; The 1907-09 Mizzou teams went 20-4-1 from October 5, 1907 to November 25, 1909.

The 2007-08 and 2013-14 Tigers each posted 21-4 stretches, representing the highest 25 wins and winning percentages in program history.

Previously, the Tigers posted the second-best 20-game stretch in program history this fall, going 17-3 over a 20-game stretch that spanned from their 2023 season opener against South Dakota to their Oct. 19 win against Auburn.

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