Running back Tyler Badie rushed for 217 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Missouri Tigers outlasted the North Texas Mean Green 48-35 in a nonconference game in Columbia, Mo.
Connor Bazelak completed 21 of 32 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns for Missouri (3-3).
Austin Aune completed 16 of 26 passes for 305 yards and four touchdowns in his first start of the season for North Texas (1-4) of Conference USA.
Running back DeAndre Torrey added 126 yards rushing and receiving for the Mean Green.
Missouri forced three turnovers and converted two of them into touchdowns to win their Homecoming Game.
Kris Abrams-Draine intercepted Aune at the North Texas 26, setting up Badie’s 12-yard touchdown run just 4:23 into the game.
Badie’s 50-yard run propelled the Tigers to their second touchdown, a 3-yard pass to Badie with 4:14 remaining in the first.
North Texas marched 75 yards to cut their deficit to 14-7 with 13:04 left in the first half. Isaiah Johnson finished the drive with a 4-yard TD run.
Bazelak lofted a 41-yard touchdown pass to JJ Hester to push the Tigers’ lead to 21-7. Missouri made it 28-7 with Badie’s 52-yard burst through the left side of the line.
Harrison Mevis hit a 48-yard field goal to give Missouri a 31-7 halftime lead.
On their second possession of the second half, the Mean Green mounted a 70-yard TD drive capped by Aune’s 35-yard pass to Torrey coming out of the backfield.
Badie’s 42-yard run set up a 40-yard field goal by Mevis — his 16th consecutive make — as Missouri took a 34-14 lead with 13:29 left to play.
Mekhi Wingo intercepted a tipped Aune pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown as Missouri boosted its lead to 41-14.
But Aune responded with a 22-yard TD pass to Jason Pirtle and a 52-yard touchdown pass to Roderic Burns as North Texas cut its deficit to 41-28.
Dawson Downing raced 60 yards for a Missouri touchdown, but Aune’s 77-yard pass to Damon Ward got the Mean Green within 13.
–Field Level Media
