COLUMBIA, Mo. — With bowl eligibility on the line for both teams on Saturday night, the Syracuse Orange delivered, notching a huge 31-27 win over the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field.
With :20 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Syracuse senior quarterback Ryan Nassib found senior wide receiver Alec Lemon for a 17-yard touchdown pass to win the game. Lemon finished the game with 12 catches for 244 yards and two TD’s.
Missouri (5-6, 2-5 SEC) opened up the game with a 70-yard bomb from junior QB James Franklin to freshman WR Dorial Green-Beckham. Syracuse (6-5, 4-2 Big East) answered with a 44-yd field goal to narrow the gap to 7-3.
Franklin and the Tigers fired right back, this time on a 30-yd TD strike to sophomore WR Jimmie Hunt. Mizzou took a 14-3 lead with 4:48 to play in the first quarter.
Syracuse junior running back Prince-Tyson Gulley cut the deficit to 17-10 with a one-yard rushing TD before the half.
After a scoreless third quarter, Orange senior QB Ryan Nassib threw a 13-yd TD pass to Alec Lemon to tie it up at 17-17. Mizzou senior RB Kendial Lawrence put the Tigers up 24-17 on a three-yard TD run with 7:07 in the fourth.
Syracuse junior RB Jerome Smith answered with an eight-yard rushing TD to make it 24-24 with 5:33 to play. After a 46-yd FG put the Tigers up 27-24, the Orange embarked a game-winning two-minute drill to take the lead for good.
Mizzou travels to College Station next Saturday night to take on the ninth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies.
