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
Missouri Tigers Oklahoma State Cowboys (8–4) (6–6) SEC Big 12 33 38 Head coach:  Barry Odom Head coach:  Mike Gundy AP Coaches CFP 24 RV 23
1 2 3 4 Total Missouri 3 13 3 14 33 Oklahoma State 7 7 21 3 38
Date	December 31, 2018
Season	2018
Stadium	Liberty Bowl
Location	Memphis, Tennessee
MVP	Taylor Cornelius (QB, Oklahoma State)[1]
Favorite	Missouri by 8[2]
Referee	Jerry McGinn (Big Ten)
Halftime show	The Four Tops
Attendance	51,587[3]
Payout	US$4,295,000 [4]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Announcers	Clay 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

Main article: 2018 Missouri Tigers football team

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

Main article: 2018 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

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

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP MIZ OKST 1 9:27 11 80 4:12 OKST Dillon Stoner 30-yard touchdown reception from Taylor Cornelius, Matt Ammendola kick good 0 7 1 6:46 6 74 2:36 MIZ 24-yard field goal by Tucker McCann 3 7 2 7:49 16 97 5:48 MIZ Dominic Gicinto 5-yard touchdown reception from Drew Lock, Tucker McCann kick good 10 7 2 5:31 9 65 1:56 OKST Tyron Johnson 7-yard touchdown reception from Taylor Cornelius, Matt Ammendola kick good 10 14 2 3:35 5 75 1:56 MIZ Kendall Blanton 16-yard touchdown reception from Drew Lock, Tucker McCann kick failed 16 14 3 11:49 10 75 3:11 OKST Tylan Wallace 9-yard touchdown reception from Taylor Cornelius, Matt Ammendola kick good 16 21 3 10:21 3 26 1:14 OKST Chuba Hubbard 4-yard touchdown run, Matt Ammendola kick good 16 28 3 4:20 12 67 6:01 MIZ 26-yard field goal by Tucker McCann 19 28 3 3:08 4 75 1:12 OKST Tyron Johnson 46-yard touchdown reception from Taylor Cornelius, Matt Ammendola kick good 19 35 4 14:41 1 86 0:10 MIZ Johnathon Johnson 86-yard touchdown reception from Drew Lock, Tucker McCann kick good 26 35 4 11:50 2 80 0:28 MIZ Larry Rountree 55-yard touchdown run, Tucker McCann kick good 33 35 4 5:54 11 66 3:28 OKST 27-yard field goal by Matt Ammendola 33 38 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 33 38

Statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Tigers	3	13	3	14	33
Cowboys	7	7	21	3	38

Statistics	MIZ	OKST
First downs	27	27
Plays–yards	80–637	80–502
Rushes–yards	42–264	35–169
Passing yards	373	333
Passing: comp–att–int	23–38–0	27–45–2
Time of possession	32:25	27:35

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Missouri	Passing	Drew Lock	23/38, 373 yds, 3 TD
	Rushing	Larry Rountree	27 car, 204 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Johnathon Johnson	9 rec, 185 yds, 1 TD
Oklahoma State	Passing	Taylor Cornelius	26/44, 336 yds, 4 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Chuba Hubbard	18 car, 145 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Tyron Johnson	7 rec, 141 yds, 2 TD

References

1. @BrianBrinkleyOK (December 31, 2018). "#OkState QB Taylor Cornelius is the @AZOLibertyBowl MVP to finish his career" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2018 – via Twitter.
2. Fawkes, Ben (December 10, 2018). "Odds for every 2018-19 CFB bowl game". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
3. @DrewHill_CA (December 31, 2018). "51,587 is the announced attendance for the Liberty Bowl" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2018 – via Twitter.
4. "2018 Bowl Schedule". CFP.com. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
5. "2018-19 College Football Playoff and bowl schedule". ESPN. May 2, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
6. "Liberty Bowl 2018, Oklahoma State vs. Missouri: Where, when, and team info". sbnation.com. December 2, 2018.
7. "Missouri Tigers vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys football series games history list". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 30, 2018.

External links

• Official website
• Box score at ESPN