The 2023 Missouri Tigers football team represented the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in the Eastern Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers were led by

Eliah Drinkwitz Eliah Drinkwitz (born April 12, 1983) is an American football coach who is the head coach at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He previously served as the head coach at Appalachian State University in 2019 and as an assistant co ...

in his fourth season as their head coach. The Missouri football team played its home games at

Faurot Field Faurot Field ( , ) at Memorial Stadium is an outdoor sports stadium in Columbia, Missouri, United States, on the campus of the University of Missouri. It is primarily used for football and serves as the home field for the Missouri Tigers' progra ...

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

. This was also expected to be the final year for the East division as Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC in 2024. Going into the season, Missouri was predicted to finish second to last in the SEC East by media covering SEC Football Media Days. Missouri began the season 3–0 after defeating No. 15

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

on a

record 61-yard field goal as time expired by Harrison Mevis. After two additional wins over

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

and Vanderbilt and rising to No. 21 in the AP Poll, Missouri lost at home vs. No. 23

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

to fall to 5–1. Back-to-back wins at No. 24

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and at home over

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

allowed Missouri to debut in the CFP Rankings at No. 12, leading up to a Week 10 showdown against No. 2

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in Athens. Missouri played Georgia close, but ultimately lost 30–21 to fall to 7–2. A convincing win over No. 13

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

at home the following week catapulted the Tigers into the No. 9 position in the College Football Playoff rankings. Missouri finished the regular season with 10 wins for the first time since 2014 after victories over

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, and ranked No. 9 in all three ranking systems. The 2023 Tigers were led offensively by the St. Louis area trio of quarterback

Brady Cook Brady Cook (born October 12, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the Missouri Tigers. High school career Cook attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur, Missouri. As a senior, Cook threw for 33 touchdowns and 3,194 ...

, running back

Cody Schrader Cody Schrader is an American football running back for the Missouri Tigers. Early life and high school Schrader was born in St. Louis, Missouri where he would attend high school at Lutheran South. In his high school career, Schrader would ru ...

, and wide receiver

Luther Burden III Luther Burden III (born December 12, 2003) is an American football wide receiver for the Missouri Tigers. Burden attended East St. Louis Senior High School. He was a star in both basketball and football. He was selected by ESPN as the top off ...

. Missouri defeated No. 7

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

14-3 in the

2023 Cotton Bowl Classic 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic may refer to: * 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic (January) The 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 2023, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The 87th annual Cotton Bowl Classic, the ga ...

, their first

New Year's Six The New Year's Six, sometimes abbreviated as NY6, is an unofficial but commonly used term used to describe the following NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl ...

Bowl victory in program history. Brady Cook finished the season with 3,317 passing yards, Cody Schrader finished the season with 1,627 rushing yards (a single-season school record), and Luther Burden III finished the season with 1,212 receiving yards. This was only the second time in SEC history that a team had a 3,000 yard passer, a 1,500 yard rusher, and a 1,000 yard receiver (2015

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

being the other). The Tigers finished the season ranked No. 8 in both the AP poll and Coaches poll, their first top 10 finish since the 2013 season and third top 10 finish since the 2007 season.

Offseason

Team departures

Incoming Transfers

2023 recruiting class

Schedule

Rankings

Game summaries

vs South Dakota (FCS)

vs Middle Tennessee

vs No. 15 Kansas State

vs Memphis

at Vanderbilt

vs No. 23 LSU

at No. 24 Kentucky

vs South Carolina

at No. 2 Georgia

vs No. 13 Tennessee

vs Florida

at. Arkansas
Battle Line Rivalry The Battle Line Rivalry is the name given to the Arkansas–Missouri football rivalry due to the state line between the two states dividing the North and South during the Civil War. It is an American college football rivalry game between the Ark ...

vs. No. 7 Ohio State (Cotton Bowl Classic)

Coaching staff

References

{{Missouri Tigers football navbox

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Missouri Tigers football seasons Cotton Bowl Classic champion seasons

Missouri Tigers football The Missouri Tigers football program represents the University of Missouri (often referred to as Mizzou) in college football and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Missouri's ...