Missouri wastes Luther Burden’s heroic late TD grab just like the rest of his season

The No. 23 Missouri Tigers looked like they were about to pull off least consequential ranked upset in college football on Saturday.

With just over a minute remaining, quarterback Brady Cook tossed a 37-yard go-ahead touchdown to wide receiver Luther Burden III on fourth down and the game on the line.

Burden made the impressive one-handed grab with a defender covering his right side and made it look easy. The score put Missouri up 30-27 over No. 21 South Carolina and appeared to be the closest thing the team would get to a walk-off win.

Missouri defense squandered Luther Burden's heroic moment

But on the following drive, the Gamecocks picked apart the Missouri defense for a one-minute drill to score their own touchdown, putting them up 34-30 with just seconds remaining.

That touchdown would be the actual game-winner, making things very awkward and demoralising on the Missouri sideline.

The loss comes a week after head coach Eli Drinkwitz declared his team was still in the College Football Playoff hunt in a post-game interview after defeating Oklahoma the week prior. Well, after Saturday's loss to South Carolina, Drinkwitz won't have to worry about the playoff any more because Missouri will likely drop out of the committee's rankings altogether.

After starting the season 4-0, Missouri's highly touted offense was exposed in a 41-10 embarrassment by Texas A&M and since then has failed to regain its confidence and consistency.

Now at 7-3, Drinkwitz will have to regroup his team to win its final two games and secure an invitation to a major non-CFP bowl game. But given Burden's talents, he may have to do so without his top wide receiver if he chooses to enter the 2025 NFL Draft.

Burden is currently ranked the No. 4 best wideout in the draft, per ESPN, and was mocked to the Denver Broncos at 16th overall.