Mizzou Football at Memorial Stadium: 10 games, 100 years of history

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As Mizzou prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the venerable Memorial Stadium against Troy this week, I thought it would be appropriate to take a look back into the past at 10 of the best and/or most important games played at the corner of Providence Road and Stadium Boulevard since 1926.

One hundred years is a long time. That’s around 500 games to choose from, and while there are many dark years in Mizzou football history with few if any important games, there are still dozens of great candidates for consideration. Ultimately, the criteria I used to assemble this list came down to two questions:

1. Was this game important to Mizzou, the Big 6/8/12/SEC, or college football as a whole?
2. Was this a great game?
3. Did something bat**** crazy happen?

Notice that “Mizzou wins” is not on that list, because (spoilers) there have been some pretty important games that Mizzou has lost at Memorial Stadium. All 10 games on this list meet at least two of these criteria, and a couple meet all three. I’ll start by introducing them chronologically then rank them at the end.

1926: Mizzou 15 — kansas 0

There isn’t a whole lot of information about this game, as it is probably the least known of the games on this list, but I felt it important to include for a few reasons. First, this game helped cap off a 5-1-2 season for Mizzou, where they went undefeated in the brand new stadium. Second, it’s the first time Mizzou played kansas in the nascent Memorial Stadium. Third, it’s the first time (of many) that Mizzou beat kansas at Memorial Stadium. And fourth, did I mention it’s the first time Mizzou played and beat kansas at Memorial Stadium? That should be enough. It’s on the list.

1939: #12 Mizzou 7 — #5 Oklahoma 6

This is an old-school heavyweight upset. Mizzou entered the game ranked No. 12 and knocked off No. 5 Oklahoma, 7-6, at Memorial Stadium thanks to a blocked punt for a touchdown. It came just two weeks after Mizzou’s first-ever victory over a ranked opponent, a 27-13 victory over No. 10 Nebraska. The Oklahoma victory helped propel Don Faurot’s Tigers to the Big Six championship and established the 1939 team as one of the foundational great teams in program history.

1956: Mizzou 15 — kansas 13

This one gets extra credit for the circumstances, as it was Don Faurot’s final game as Mizzou’s head coach. The Tigers rallied for a 15-13 victory thanks to a safety in the final seconds (sound familiar?) to defeat the jayhawks, and Faurot was carried off the field on his players’ shoulders. That’s about as perfect an ending to a coaching career as a stadium can provide.

1960: kansas 23* — Mizzou 7

This one gets a big ole asterisk because it doesn’t count in the record books, thanks to the cheating jayhawks using an ineligible player to beat the undefeated Tigers. While it was not a competitive game, it is worth including on the list because of it’s impact on Mizzou and college football nationally. At the time, Mizzou was marked with a loss and, even though they went on to defeat powerhouse #4 Navy in the Orange Bowl, the Tigers did not win the AP national championship. Fast forward 66 years and ancient evils have been corrected as the Mizzou has officially claimed the 1960 national championship and will honor that excellent team on the field Saturday.

1973: #12 Mizzou 13 — #2 Nebraska 12

This game deserves to be remembered by more Mizzou fans than it currently is, most likely because it wasn’t the LAST time the Tigers beat Nebraska before their long losing streak. Nebraska came into Columbia ranked No. 2 nationally and had beaten really bad Mizzou teams by a combined 98-0 score the previous two seasons. The Tigers flipped the script in one of the most famous defensive stands in stadium history: With Nebraska attempting a two-point conversion late to take the lead, Tiger Tony Gillick intercepted the pass to preserve the 13-12 victory.

1990: #12 Colorado 33 — Missouri 31

Any Mizzou fan (or college football fan) worth their salt knows this game better as the “Fifth Down Game.” I don’t need to rehash this travesty or bring back any generational trauma wrought by this game, but it certainly deserves inclusion in this list. Besides further burying Mizzou’s program in the middle of it’s thirteen-year bowl drought in the 80s and 90s, it played a huge role in the national landscape of college football in 1990. Colorado went on to win a share of the national championship thanks in part to a win in this game. Had justice been served, they would have had a loss to a bad Missouri team on their resume and Georgia Tech would assuredly have had the entire title to themselves.

1997: #1 Nebraska 45 — Missouri 38 (OT)

Sorry to continue to harsh your vibe, but we’ve got another travesty on the books. Once again, no need to rehash the details of the “Flea Kicker” other than to say it was bull**** and yet again allowed a team to win the share of a national championship that they did not deserve. Don’t fret though, Tiger fans, brighter days are coming soon.

2003: Mizzou 41 — #10 Nebraska 24

This is probably the most emotionally important Mizzou home victory of the modern era and the first real sign that Gary Pinkel was the real deal. The Tigers broke the 24-year losing streak to Nebraska. They trailed 24-14 in the third quarter, then scored 27 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win 41-24. Brad Smith accounted for 303 yards and four touchdowns, including three rushing scores in the fourth quarter and a 47-yard receiving touchdown. Mizzou fans tore down both goalposts and took them to Harpos. The evil curse had been vanquished.

2010: #11 Mizzou 36 — #1 Oklahoma 27

While the previously mentioned game was perhaps the most emotionally important game at Memorial Stadium modern era, this one was perhaps the most strategically important. Entering the week at #1 in the BCS, Oklahoma, along with ESPN Gameday, came to Columbia and left beaten and battered. The game started off with a bang as Gahn McGaffie returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, resulting in, for my money, the loudest pop in Memorial Stadium history. The Tigers went on to control the game and win decisively in what I believe was one of the most important results leading to the SEC extending an invitation to the Tigers the very next year.

2013: #5 Mizzou 28 — #19 Texas A&M 21

This is the one game that bucks the Big 8 trend, as the previous nine games all involved kansas, Oklahoma or Nebraska. While the SEC insists Texas A&M is a rival, they really aren’t, but that doesn’t keep this game out of the top 10 in Memorial Stadium history. In just their second year in the SEC, the Tigers were poised to win the SEC East for the first time. All that stood in their way former Heisman winner Johnny Manziel and the Aggies. A defensive battle broke out and kept scoring low and tied at 21 until Henry Josey broke through the line on 3rd and 1 to speed for a 57-yard touchdown with less than four minutes to go in the game. The defense held on and the Tigers were on their way to Atlanta and their first SEC Championship Game.

Before I get to my official rankings, there are a few honorable mentions:

• 1948: Mizzou 20 — #4 SMU (A huge upset in the middle of the Don Faurot era.)
• 1969: #14 Mizzou 14 — #12 Kansas State 38 (A crazy high-scoring game for the era which launched Mizzou’s last conference championship team.)
• 2007: #17 Mizzou 41 — #25 Nebraska 6 (Catharsis, pure and unadulterated. This blowout launched the 2007 Big 12 North championship campaign for Chase Daniel and company.)
• 2023: Mizzou 30 — #15 Kansas State 27 (Two words. Thiccer Kicker.)
• 2024: #24 Mizzou 30 — Oklahoma 23 (A combo of beating a renewed rival and the absolute chaos of the last two minutes of this game gets this one on the list.)

So here we are, my final ranking of the top 10 games in the first 100 years of Memorial Stadium. If you disagree, sound off in the comments, but here’s where I landed:

1. 2010 Mizzou win over #1 Oklahoma on ESPN Gameday
2. 1997 Flea Kicker loss to Nebraska
3. 1990 Fifth Down game loss against Colorado
4. 2003 First win over Nebraska in 24 years.
5. 2013 Henry Josey running to the SEC East Championship against Texas A&M
6. 1973 Mizzou win over #2 Nebraska
7. 1960 kansas cheat-to-win scheme makes another entry in their long logbook
8. 1939 Mizzou defeats #5 Oklahoma on a blocked punt
9. 1956 Mizzou defeats kansas on a safety to win Don Faurot’s last game
10. 1926 Mizzou beats kansas 15-0 in the first ever win over the beakers at Memorial Stadium

Here’s to another 100 years of Tiger wins (and a few crazy memories), Memorial Stadium. You don’t look a day over 99.

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