COLUMBIA — With No. 18 Missouri’s College Football Playoff hopes hanging in the balance, trailing No. 7 Texas 27-20 with one minute and 54 seconds to go, it went to its bread and butter. 

Starting quarterback Austin Simmons took the snap, dropped back and scanned his options. It didn’t take long for him to lock eyes with receiver Cayden Lee, who followed him from Ole Miss to Missouri in the offseason and had a team-high 44 receptions and 677 yards entering the game. The pair’s connection had been apparent all season; Lee was the top target in what felt like every high pressure situation, including this one.

Simmons darted the ball toward Lee just short of the sticks. He had the ball in his hands but couldn’t keep it there. Texas cornerback Warren Roberson rocked Lee and jarred the ball loose, popping it up in the air, where it floated for what felt like an eternity before eventually landing in the lap of safety Graceson Littleton. 

Littleton raced down the sideline, passing a downed Lee and a sprinting Simmons on his way to Missouri’s 6-yard line, where he slid to put the nail in the coffin. An 8-yard touchdown from Raleek Brown slammed the game shut, putting the Longhorns up 34-20 with just over a minute to go. One Misosuri first down, a failure to convert a second and two Texas kneels made up the final sequence before the buzzer. 

Originally, it seemed like Simmons’ day may have been cut short. After being tackled on a 5-yard run on second-and-16 with 4:39 to go, Simmons stayed on the ground before eventually limping off the field. Sophomore Matt Zollers came in at quarterback, threw an incompletion on third-and-11 and seemed like he’d be the one to take a snap should the Tigers secure another opportunity. 

Senior tackle Cayden Green knew that wasn’t the case. 

“I had no doubt in my mind when he walked off, he was going to come back in,” Green said. “It's just the kind of player he is. It definitely motivates us to do the same for him.” 

“He’s a warrior,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “He’s really disappointed right now. … It’s not his fault."

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Despite his heroics coming up short, Simmons played an impressive game. Lee, too. Lee finished with a game-high nine receptions for 77 yards and showed his apparent, almost innate connection with Simmons. Simmons completed 23 of his 43 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns — some yards and scores were left on the table due to drops or questionable calls, too.

Whether it was Simmons’ rollout dime to Lee on the run for a gain of 22 yards — which was immediately followed by a 41-yard moonshot almost-touchdown to DaMarion Fowlkes — or Lee’s adjustment through a few defenders to make himself open the next drive, the pair were connecting as good as they ever had.

That makes the devastating ending all the more prominent — the impressive performance was for not. 

“I told them absolutely they could be disappointed today, and when you put your whole heart and and work as hard as you did, the results aren't guaranteed, but it surely hurts, and it's OK to be hurt,” Drinkwitz said.

Starting defensive end Langden Kitchen went down in the first quarter and didn’t play the rest of the game. He could be seen spotted using crutches to walk on the sidelines. Lee was helped off the field by team trainers after taking his late-game hit. 

The road ahead for Missouri (6-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) doesn’t get any easier, regardless of pending health statuses. 

The Tigers will play No. 2 Georgia in Athens on Nov. 14, followed by hosting No. 6 Kentucky on Nov. 21 and unranked Oklahoma — who upset Texas earlier this season — on Nov. 28.

“We gotta learn from this loss,” linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez said. … “We got some good games ahead of us, and we're a good team. So just gotta bounce back.”