The Missouri Tigers made some serious noise on Saturday afternoon with a 30-27 upset victory over Kansas State on a record-setting 61-yard field goal, the longest field goal in SEC history.
Tied at 27 with just six seconds left, Missouri was set to line up for a 56-yard field goal, but a delay of game penalty backed up the Tigers five more yards. Regardless of the extra yardage, head coach Eli Drinkwitz decided to trust his kicker and go for the win against No. 15 Kansas State instead of taking a knee or throwing the ball away and playing for overtime.
61 YARD GAME WINNING FIELD GOAL FOR MISSOURI!!!!!
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 16, 2023
That kicker, Harrison Mevis, rewarded his head coach's trust by drilling an SEC record 61-yard field goal to give his team the win. The record-long kick cleared the goalpost with ease. The previous record long field goal in the SEC was 60 yards, which was done three times all during the decade of the 1980s. Those three kicks were all kicked on a flat tee, a practice banned in 1989.
The miracle moment in front of the home crowd resulted in the crowd rushing the field. The win is the most notable of Drinkwitz's tenure at Missouri as the No. 15 Wildcats are the highest-ranked team his Tigers have knocked off. The previous high was No. 17 LSU, who Missouri beat 45-41 in 2020.
This was a wild ending to a back-and-forth affair that saw seven lead changes and two ties throughout the 60 minutes of play. The two teams combined for 57 points and 838 yards of total offense in this track meet.
As for Mevis, he's instantly a legend in Missouri. His nickname is the "Thiccer Kicker" because he weighs in at 243 pounds, a rarity at that position.
Photo by Rick Ulreich/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The win is a significant one for the rebuilding Tigers as they try to build off of a 6-7 record in 2022. Thanks to Mevis' big leg, Drinkwitz and his team improves to 3-0 on the young season.
As for the defending Big 12 champion Wildcats, the loss will hurt their chances to reach the College Football Playoff, but an out-of-conference loss doesn't do anything to ruin Kansas State's defense of its conference title.
