AUBURN, Ala. — It wasn’t pretty. The offensive line was pried apart. The quarterback was frequently pressured. The defense was still prone to breakdowns. It took overtime to get it done. But in the Southeastern Conference, road wins go to the gritty — not the pretty. Award one away victory to the Missouri Tigers, resilient enough to rally late and put away a flailing Auburn team Saturday ...

Missouri's Marquis Johnson carries the ball during the first half against Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Auburn, Alabama.

Justin Ford/Getty Images North America/TNS

AUBURN, Ala. — It wasn’t pretty.

The offensive line was pried apart. The quarterback was frequently pressured. The defense was still prone to breakdowns. It took overtime to get it done.

But in the Southeastern Conference, road wins go to the gritty — not the pretty. Award one away victory to the Missouri Tigers, resilient enough to rally late and put away a flailing Auburn team Saturday night.

After double overtime: No. 6 Mizzou 23, Auburn 17. Winners for their strength, not their style.

The two sets of Tigers needed overtime to separate them, but a 38-yard field goal from MU's true freshman kicker was margin enough.

Missouri moved to 6-1 (2-1 SEC) on the season, securing bowl eligibility while keeping its hopes for an even more meaningful postseason alive. Auburn fell to 3-4 overall and 0-4 against SEC opponents, which may soon spell doom for coach Hugh Freeze.

Here are five takeaways from Missouri's first away game of the season:

Behind again after first quarter

It was tradition, really.

At the end of the first quarter of its road opener, Missouri trailed — just like it had in the previous five away debuts of the Eli Drinkwitz era.

Auburn's first drive went for seven points, helped by a third-down pass interference penalty, a couple of missed tackles and quarterback Jackson Arnold's rushing ability.

That lead arguably should've been bigger when Arnold threw deep to star receiver Cam Coleman, who had torched MU cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. on a fade, but Coleman dropped the ball. On the next play, Pride made an acrobatic catch to intercept an errant Arnold throw.

Prime field position on the Auburn 30-yard line only netted a 24-yard field goal from Robert Meyer, though, which meant MU trailed 7-3 with the ball in its hands after the opening quarter.

Quarter change, lead change

Maybe all Mizzou needed was the quarter to change.

On the last play of the first quarter, Hardy finally broke free for a 17-yard gain, his longest to that point. Then, after switching sides of the field and a couple of nicely executed wide receiver screens, MU got down to the goal line.

Hardy ran off the outside shoulder of left tackle Cayden Green through a sizable hole for a rushing touchdown — his ninth of the season — that put the visitors in front.

Familiar errors slow momentum

Two costly trends — or are they bad habits? — reared their heads for Mizzou near the end of the first half.

Inside the red zone, Pribula placed a throw on the wrong side of Josh Manning, allowing Auburn defensive back Kayin Lee a chance to come away with an interception on his own 7-yard line that wiped a clear scoring opportunity off the board for MU.

That made it five games in a row with an interception thrown by Pribula.

Then on Auburn's ensuing drive, Missouri's secondary parted like the sea — Pride blown past, safety Santana Banner arriving late to help — to allow a 46-yard completion to Coleman.

Slowgoing stretch

After MU gifted those yards to Auburn with a coverage breakdown, the hosts returned the favor by missing a 40-yard field goal try to keep Mizzou ahead 10-7 at the half.

The gesture was so nice, Auburn did it twice. Despite another explosive play getting the blue and orange Tigers solidly into MU territory during the third quarter, Auburn had to settle for another field goal try — and miss. The second was a 38-yarder doinked off the right upright.

But Mizzou could only stay alive off of Auburn miscues for so long. After a needless defensive penalty committed by MU linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez — he hit Arnold out of bounds to turn a would-be third down into free yards — Auburn scored with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to go up 14-10.

Double-OT winner

As the slugfest ticked into the fourth quarter, a sold-out Jordan-Hare Stadium awoke.

Faced with significant pressure — environmentally and in the form of a blitzer in his face — Pribula lofted a third-down pass that should have been an interception but fell incomplete. Needing its defense to allow no more than a field goal, Mizzou punted.

The defense almost caved. Almost.

Auburn tailback Jeremiah Cobb took the first play of the critical drive for 23 yards. Arnold connected deep with Coleman for 40 yards down the left sideline. Then Auburn stalled, settling for a chip-shot field goal to go up 17-10 with 10:31 remaining.

Looking for a game-winning drive, Mizzou got a nice break when two Auburn penalties on one play — pass interference down one sideline, unnecessary roughness for a backfield skirmish — procured 30 yards via flags.

Freshman wideout Donovan Olugbode picked up 27 yards on a clutch catch-and-run, setting up a second rushing touchdown from Hardy.

Tie ball game. Seventeen apiece.

Looking for a late win, Missouri crossed midfield with the ball inside the final minute of regulation. Made it to the Auburn 30 with 46 seconds left.

Pribula took a costly sack. Then airmailed a backwards pass out of bounds to lose more yards. An MU player false started. On third-and-23, Pribula lobbed a ball down the right sideline. Intercepted, again. Auburn kneeled. Overtime.

Mizzou chose to defend first. Zion Young sacked Arnold on second down; the quarterback threw it away on third. Auburn's kicker wasn't even close to making it.

Any points would do for Missouri. Meyer, attempting the first game-winning kick of his career from 38 yards away, missed too.

In second overtime, Kevin Coleman Jr. moved the chains on 3rd and 10 with a smooth crossing route. Pribula scored a touchdown on a keeper. Required to go for two, his pass to Coleman was broken up.

Negative plays hampered Auburn's drive. A fourth-down illegal completion to an offensive lineman formalized the result: Missouri won.

Up next

Missouri stays on the road for its next game, and its against an undeniably difficult foe: Vanderbilt, which is 6-1 after dispatching top-10 Louisiana State earlier Saturday.

The Tigers and Commodores will kick off in an afternoon time slot, with the specific broadcast window set to be announced later Saturday.

____