Must-see TV: Taking a deeper look at MSSU's improbable comeback victory over MWSU

Dec. 22—Missouri Southern ended its football season with a double-overtime victory over nationally ranked Missouri Western.

That win gave the Lions their fifth win of the year and a final record of 5-6. That win had much more going on than just a tightly contested game that went into extra play.

I wanted to dive into the craziness of this one immediately after the game Nov. 11, but because of the business of the end of the prep football season, I pushed this back.

It was a fun game to watch. My takeaway is that it was a good win. It was sloppy. It wasn't pretty, but it doesn't always have to be pretty. What has to come from a win like this is that the Lions must build off this for next year and find ways to win more games like this.

MSSU head coach Atiba Bradley believes a win like this can catapult his team next year. Since his first year as a head coach, MSSU has improved its record each year. In 2021, the Lions finished 3-8, last year was 4-7 and this year 5-6.

OFFENSE WAKES UP

The Lions were trailing 24-7 with about three minutes left before halftime.

Not only is MSSU in a tough spot, it has not shown a bit of offensive success in this game. Three of the first five drives were three-and-out's resulting in punts. One of those punts was fumbled on the snap and resulted in Missouri Western taking over on MSSU's 23 for an easy first touchdown of the game.

The only scoring drive for Southern was also just three plays long. It benefited from a Carmelo Hollingsworth interception that was returned all the way to MWSU's 4-yard line. The Lions scored three plays later on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Luke Sampson to Nick Panella.

That was late in the first quarter, and it made the score 7-7.

But the rest of the first half was all Griffons. That is until MSSU started its last drive of the half with 3:02 on the clock and looking at a 24-7 hole. Out of nowhere, the offense came alive for a 10-play, 57-yard touchdown drive.

"Offense is such that, the more possessions you get, the more you get to clicking and I thought our guys did a really good job of handling adjustments and being able to apply adjustments," Bradley said.

The Lions took advantage of the Griffons' safeties playing low trying to stop the run first. That gave them the ability to take shots downfield and pick up big gains.

Something before that long scoring drive that needs to be recognized is the work of the defense. Trailing 21-7, Western moved the ball deep into MSSU territory in the second quarter. After getting the ball to the 17, the Griffons had two plays that resulted in no gain. On third and 10, they only picked up 5 yards and were forced to kick a field goal.

Keeping its opponent out of the end zone was huge for the MSSU defense. Bradley talked about that and the effort to not allow another touchdown despite seeing the Griffons march down the field.

"That's a big credit to coach (Joe) Bettasso and our defensive staff," Bradley said. "I don't think we've ever, ever had an issue with effort. Our guys just play hard."

Overall, the defense only surrendered 10 second-half points to MWSU and 7 in overtime.

SPECIAL TEAMS MISCUES

The Lions had the fumbled snap on special teams by Mitchell Cory and then Drake Reese dealt with his own struggles kicking the ball. The redshirt sophomore kicker missed two PATs and a 26-yard field goal in the game.

But when the Lions had to have it, Bradley sent his guy out there and trusted in him during the first overtime period. The Lions started OT with the ball and scored a touchdown. They needed the PAT to force the Griffons to have to match them with a touchdown and point after kick. Or Bradley could have chosen to go for a 2-point conversion instead.

"You got to believe in your kids. And sometimes you got to believe in your kids when they don't believe in themselves," Bradley said.

He did exactly that and Reese made it pay off by drilling the PAT to put his team ahead 41-34.

Bradley talked about the stress his kicker could have been dealing with as he went out for that kick after three misses earlier in the game. He compared it to a quarterback always getting blame for interceptions. Bradley says a kicker is the same way. Missed kicks are blamed on the kicker and sometimes fans forget what all may go into that play.

There was never a thought to go for 2 points in the first overtime for Bradley. He knew Western wouldn't go for it because of being a playoff hopeful hanging in the balance.

FINAL MINUTES OF REGULATION

Back to regulation, there was an unlikely scenario that had to unfold just to make overtime happen. The Lions were trailing 34-20 and moving into MWSU territory. But an interception thrown by Sampson ended the drive and made any comeback look bleak with just 8:25 left to play.

I really wish there was a way to calculate the percentage of MSSU's chance to complete the comeback after that interception, like ESPN's calculations you can follow live on the app of professional games or Division I college football games. It had to have been very, very low.

Insert Ian McSwain heroics.

McSwain jumped a short pass and ran it 50 yards to the end zone to make it 34-26. Reese missed that PAT. That happened with 6:49 left in the game. And the next six-plus minutes were quiet from both offenses.

But with 32 seconds left, the Lions got the ball back after forcing the Griffons to punt. They had 81 yards to drive in a half-minute with no timeouts. What were the odds they'd be able to score a touchdown and get the 2-point conversion?

"We got a chance. We got a chance, that's all," Bradley was thinking before the drive started.

The drive began with a 12-yard pass to Ezekiel Lang to move the ball up to the 31. A 17-yard gainer to Akeem Gilmore moved the ball near midfield but Gilmore wasn't able to get out of bounds forcing a spike on the next play.

The Lions had lost about half of the remaining time after those three plays. Bradley said the focus was still to hit the first read or two or throw the ball out of bounds and avoid a sack.

The next play was a 21-yard completion to Jaedon Stoshak between levels of the defense as the safeties continued to play back and prevent the deep pass. One more completion to Stoshak moved the ball into the red zone at the 16-yard line with just seven seconds left. Western then took a timeout to talk the next play over.

It was obvious who would be at the top of Sampson's mind in the red zone. His 6-foot-5, 244-pound redshirt junior tight end, Deontay Campbell, seemed to be his favorite target in scoring position all year.

Campbell ran a seam rout straight up the middle of the field and Sampson fired a pass over the linebacker's head and into the hands of Campbell for 6 points. But it may not have necessarily been the first read on that play, it could have been more of Sampson creating with his vision and abilities.

"That's Luke. If you line up in a stationary defense and your safeties are showing 2-high, Luke will absolutely shred you," Bradley said.

On the 2-point conversion, Lang was on the receiving end of a bullet pass from Sampson as well to tie the game with three seconds left. Bradley held his breath when Sampson rolled out to find Lang, noting that "he's not a scrambler."

But coach also noted that Sampson is "really good" about moving and keeping his eyes downfield.

SECOND OVERTIME

Missouri Western started the second overtime period with the ball. The Griffons quickly got the ball down to the 9-yard line and picked up a short 2-yard carry on first and goal. But then Nick Kruse earned a tackle for loss on Armani Edden for a loss of 4 yards.

Edden was pressured on the next play and Kruse intercepted his pass to end Western's possession.

Kruse was thinking the game was over after the interception, not realizing the Lions still had to go score and he slammed the ball on the ground in celebration, giving MSSU a 15-yard penalty.

The Lions started that next possession from the 40 instead of the 25. On the first play, Sampson delivered a long pass inside the 5 to set up first and goal and Anthodius Ashley iced the game with a touchdown run.

That brings up the impact of the seniors on Senior Day.

SENIOR(S) DAY

A lot of the big plays in this game were made by seniors. Stoshak and his key receptions. Kruse and his key plays in the second overtime. McSwain and his pick-6 to keep the team in the game. Lang and his 2-point conversion and other catches.

"There's something about 'Hey, this is the last time you'll ever get to do this,'" Bradley said of his seniors' impact. "Those guys played with their hair on fire and led the way."

MOVING FORWARD

But how does the team turn the corner next year? In Year 4, can they get a winning record? Are fans ready for more than just a winning record? How can the Lions grab eight wins and compete for a playoff spot?

Bradley noted that experience for his guys in games like this helps with overall growth moving forward.

Now that growth has to be turned into results. The Lions are 6-8 in one-score games during the last three seasons. They were 3-2 in such games this year. So there's been obvious improvement.

Obviously, personnel is a factor, and keeping those guys around in the era of NIL and other opportunities to get more, that isn't easy. But if the Lions can keep a core, I don't see why seven — maybe even eight — wins aren't possible.

Improvement is visible. But it can't stop here.