Auburn and the University of Missouri don’t play often, but when they do, it typically involves some drama.
Missouri joined the Southeastern Conference in 2012 after departing the Big 12 Conference with Texas A&M. Despite sharing the same conference for five years, Auburn and Missouri have never played each other in regular season play.
Most notably, the two met in Atlanta, Georgia for the 2013 SEC Championship. Missouri won seven straight games to start the season, upsetting No. 7 Georgia in week six. Their lone loss leading up to the championship game was a double-overtime loss to No. 20 South Carolina.
Prior to playing Auburn, Missouri was ranked as high as No. 5.
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn was riding his team through destiny while the world watched, defeating No. 25 Georgia and top-ranked Alabama in memorable fashion. The offensive and coaching overhaul, which totaled 11 first-year additions including Malzahn, drove a record-breaking season on the road to Atlanta.
Running back Tre Mason campaigned for the Heisman Trophy with a 304-yard performance on 46 carries while adding four touchdowns in Auburn’s 59-42 win. Mason broke Bo Jackson’s single-season rushing yard record with 1,816 yards and Cam Newton’s single-season rushing touchdown record with 23.
Mason would finish sixth in Heisman Trophy voting with 404 total points.
Quarterback Nick Marshall, who aided in engineering his program’s memorable miracles, went 9-of-11 for 132 yards and rushed 16 times for 101 yards.
Following the championship game, Auburn earned a berth to the 2013 BCS National Championship game where they would lose to Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and Florida State.
Missouri, like Auburn, finished the season 12-2 after a 41-31 Cotton Bowl victory over No. 13 Oklahoma State. Defensive end Michael Sam was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press after leading the conference with 10.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss.
Before they met to contend for a national championship, the two teams last met in the 1973 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
Auburn began the season ranked as the No. 12 team in the nation. The Thursday before their home-opener against Oregon State, Auburn renamed their home stadium in honor of their active head coach, Ralph “Shug” Jordan, to Jordan-Hare Stadium. It was the first time that a stadium had been named in honor of an active head coach.
Missouri’s season origins were relatively lackluster, but their success outshined Auburn’s. They entered the Sun Bowl with a 7-4 record, Auburn stumbling their way to the postseason with a 6-5 record after back-to-back losses to No. 20 Georgia and another top-ranked Alabama.
Much like their season, Auburn fumbled four times en route to five turnovers in a 17-34 loss to Missouri. The two teams combined for a 38-point second quarter, capitalized by a 84-yard kickoff return by Missouri defensive back John Mosely with eight seconds remaining.
Mosely, who was described as “no more than knee-high to a powder keg but goes off just like one” in an El Paso Times article, weighed only 160 pounds and stood under six feet. His return silenced an Auburn comeback, where the Tigers had cut the deficit to 10 points after trailing 21-3.
Missouri fullback Ray Bybee was named the game’s MVP with 127 of the Tigers’ 295 total rushing yards.
Auburn’s first road game in Columbus, Missouri will be the first time the two meet at either team’s home field. While one hopes to return to national championship conversation, the other hopes to regain national recognition.
Evidently, Auburn and Missouri will once again be playing to define their seasons
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