COLUMBIA, Mo. — After losing at Bowling Green last week, Indiana coach Kevin Wilson wanted his team to “play with our hair on fire” against Missouri on Saturday.
Whatever message Wilson was trying to send, the Hoosiers got it.
D’Angelo Roberts scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds remaining and Nate Sudfeld passed for 252 yards and a touchdown to help the Hoosiers upset the 18th-ranked Tigers 31-27.
“We’ve been talking about how we’ve been knocking on the door and now you have to knock it down,” Wilson said. “We kept tapping on it and hadn’t knocked it down.”
After giving up 10 consecutive points to Missouri in the fourth quarter, the Hoosiers (2-1) traveled 75 yards on six plays to reclaim the lead for good. Tevin Coleman ran 44 yards to the Missouri 15-yard line to setup the game-winning score.
Indiana extended its final drive thanks to a pass interference penalty on Missouri’s John Gibson on fourth-and-6 at the Hoosiers’ 29. Sudfeld attempted to find Dominique Booth across the middle of the field, but Gibson wrapped his arms around the receiver before he could make the catch.
“You have a bad taste in your mouth,” Missouri linebacker Michael Scherer said. “This should have never happened, but it did, so we’ve got to rebound and we’ve got to work. That’s all there is to it.”
Indiana entered the game as a double-digit underdog, having lost 45-42 to Bowling Green, but recorded 11 tackles for loss, hamstringing Missouri for most of the first three quarters. The Tigers finished with 498 total yards, including 145 in the final 15 minutes.
Missouri looked to be in prime position, too, after Andrew Baggett kicked a 40-yard field goal with 2:20 remaining to cap an 11-play, 70-yard drive for a 27-24 lead. The score followed a 1-yard touchdown pass from Maty Mauk to Sean Culkin 11 minutes earlier to tie the game.
“When was the last time we faced adversity?” Mauk asked. “Obviously, you don’t want that, but we’re going to bounce back and I have no doubt everybody’s going to get healthy and we’re going to come out ready to play Saturday.”
Mauk completed 28 of 47 passes for 326 yards, two touchdowns and an interception and Russell Hansbrough added 119 yards on the ground on 10 carries. The Tigers (3-1) play at South Carolina next week to start a stretch of eight consecutive games against Southeastern Conference opponents.
Hansbrough provided sparks for the Tigers in the opening half after walking off the field gingerly on Missouri’s second possession after Indiana’s Antonio Allen committed a horse-collar tackle. He then gained 111 yards on his first three carries, including 68 yards on a touchdown run to tie the score at 14 midway through the second quarter.
The Tigers struggled to contain Coleman, though, without defensive end Markus Golden, who injured his left hamstring midweek in practice but is expected to return next week, coach Gary Pinkel said. The senior defensive end has 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks this season.
Coleman opened the game’s scoring with a 1-yard run 10 minutes into the game, extending his streak of reaching the end zone to 12 games and tying the school record set by Anthony Thompson in 1988-89.
The junior finished with 132 yards on 19 carries despite sitting the final 20 minutes of the first half with cramps, Wilson said. He returned during the Hoosiers’ first drive after the break.
“It was a really big win,” Coleman said. “We came out here with fire. We played until the end.”
Indiana gained 493 total yards, 77 short of their season average, and finished just 1 of 14 on third-down conversions. While there are things to fix, a win against an SEC opponent nonetheless provided some enthusiasm heading into Big Ten play against Maryland.
“We ain’t got nothing figured out,” Wilson said. “We’re the same group of bums that played last week. That’s the same bunch of bums this week. We’ll see how we show up next week.”
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