2018 Liberty Bowl

The 2018 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game between the #24 Missouri Tigers of the Southeastern Conference and the unranked Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12 Conference. The 60th edition of the Liberty Bowl took place on December 31, 2018 at 2:45 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN.[5] It was one of the 2018–19 bowl games that concluded the 2018 FBS football season. Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, hosted the game for the 54th straight year. The game was sponsored by automobile parts and accessories store AutoZone and was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl
60th Liberty Bowl
1234Total
Missouri31331433
Oklahoma State7721338
DateDecember 31, 2018
Season2018
StadiumLiberty Bowl
LocationMemphis, Tennessee
MVPTaylor Cornelius (QB, Oklahoma State)[1]
FavoriteMissouri by 8[2]
RefereeJerry McGinn (Big Ten)
Halftime showThe Four Tops
Attendance51,587[3]
PayoutUS$4,295,000 [4]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN & ESPN Radio
AnnouncersClay Matvick, Dan Orlovsky and Paul Carcaterra (ESPN)
Dave LaMont, Ray Bentley and Alyssa Lang (ESPN Radio)
Liberty Bowl
 < 2017  2019

The Cowboys beat the Tigers by a score of 38–33 to claim the school's first Liberty Bowl championship and their 19th bowl game overall.

Teams

The game was played between Missouri from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Oklahoma State from the Big 12 Conference.[6] The two programs had previously met 52 times, with Missouri holding a 29–23 series lead.[7] Both programs were members of the Big Eight Conference for many years, and met annually from 1960 through 1997; their most recent prior meeting had been the 2014 Cotton Bowl Classic, won by Missouri.[7]

Missouri Tigers

Missouri received and accepted a bid to the Liberty Bowl on December 2.[6] The Tigers entered their third Liberty Bowl with an 8–4 record (4–4 in conference).

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Oklahoma State received and accepted a bid to the Liberty Bowl on December 2.[6] The Cowboys entered the bowl with a 6–6 record (3–6 in conference).

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
QuarterTimeDriveTeamScoring informationScore
PlaysYardsTOPMIZOKST
19:2711804:12OKSTDillon Stoner 30-yard touchdown reception from Taylor Cornelius, Matt Ammendola kick good07
16:466742:36MIZ24-yard field goal by Tucker McCann37
27:4916975:48MIZDominic Gicinto 5-yard touchdown reception from Drew Lock, Tucker McCann kick good107
25:319651:56OKSTTyron Johnson 7-yard touchdown reception from Taylor Cornelius, Matt Ammendola kick good1014
23:355751:56MIZKendall Blanton 16-yard touchdown reception from Drew Lock, Tucker McCann kick failed1614
311:4910753:11OKSTTylan Wallace 9-yard touchdown reception from Taylor Cornelius, Matt Ammendola kick good1621
310:213261:14OKSTChuba Hubbard 4-yard touchdown run, Matt Ammendola kick good1628
34:2012676:01MIZ26-yard field goal by Tucker McCann1928
33:084751:12OKSTTyron Johnson 46-yard touchdown reception from Taylor Cornelius, Matt Ammendola kick good1935
414:411860:10MIZJohnathon Johnson 86-yard touchdown reception from Drew Lock, Tucker McCann kick good2635
411:502800:28MIZLarry Rountree 55-yard touchdown run, Tucker McCann kick good3335
45:5411663:28OKST27-yard field goal by Matt Ammendola3338
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.3338

Statistics

1234Total
No. 23 Tigers31331433
Cowboys7721338
StatisticsMIZOKST
First downs2727
Plays–yards80–63780–502
Rushes–yards42–26435–169
Passing yards373333
Passing: comp–att–int23–38–027–45–2
Time of possession32:2527:35
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
MissouriPassingDrew Lock23/38, 373 yds, 3 TD
RushingLarry Rountree27 car, 204 yds, 1 TD
ReceivingJohnathon Johnson9 rec, 185 yds, 1 TD
Oklahoma StatePassingTaylor Cornelius26/44, 336 yds, 4 TD, 2 INT
RushingChuba Hubbard18 car, 145 yds, 1 TD
ReceivingTyron Johnson7 rec, 141 yds, 2 TD

References