Fox Sports’s Bruce Feldman reported on Saturday that there was a belief that Auburn coach Bryan Harsin could have been fired if his team fell to Missouri on Saturday afternoon.
“If they get beat today by Missouri, I’m told there’s a really good chance they could pull the plug on Harsin as early as tomorrow,” Feldman said. “It’s felt like a real inevitability that he will get let go at some point this year.”
The reasoning made sense. Auburn got embarrassed at home against Penn State last Saturday, and losing to a mediocre Missouri team would likely signal the end of a tenure that never garnered full support of Auburn brass.
Missouri was on the doorstep on Saturday afternoon, as the Tigers offense had the ball 1st and goal inside the 10 with less than a minute to play. Missouri proceeded with three consecutive conservative play calls to milk the clock down to three seconds and set up a bonafide extra point attempt (a 26-yard field goal) to win the game and likely end the tenure of Harsin at Auburn.
Instead, Missouri kicker Harrison Mevis pushed the field goal attempt wide right, which sent the game to overtime.
Auburn started with the ball in overtime, and kicker Anders Carlson missed a 44-yard field goal. However, Missouri jumped offsides on the attempt, allowing him to try again from 39. He made that attempt, giving Auburn the 17–14 advantage.
On the ensuing possession, Missouri running back Nathaniel Peat went scampering for the end zone on what appeared to be the game-winning score, but instead, he dropped the ball before crossing the goal line, and Auburn defensive back Cayden Bridges recovered the fumble in the end zone to seal the game for Tigers.
Missouri inexplicably lost the game twice: Once at the end of regulation and once on the final play in overtime. As such, Harsin is likely to keep his job…for now. Here are some of the best reactions from the Auburn-Missouri ending on Saturday afternoon.
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