Liberty Bowl: What To Know

Liberty Bowl

Missouri (8-4) vs Oklahoma State (6-6)

Date/Time: Monday, December 31st at 2:45 pm CT

Location: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, TN

Bowl history

Originated: 1959

Conference tie-ins: Big 12, SEC

Last year’s result: Iowa State defeated Memphis 21-20

Missouri bowl history

The Tigers are 15-17 overall in their bowl history, including a 33-16 loss to Texas in last year’s Texas Bowl.

Missouri is appearing in their third Liberty Bowl. They beat LSU in 1978 while losing to Purdue in 1980. 

This will be the second bowl matchup against Oklahoma State in the last five years. Missouri beat the Cowboys in the 2013 Cotton Bowl Classic. 

Oklahoma State bowl history

Oklahoma State is 18-10 all-time in bowl games including a 30-21 win over Virginia Tech in last season’s Camping World Bowl.

This is the first Liberty Bowl appearance for the Cowboys. In fact, this is the first trip to the state of Tennessee since visiting Neyland Stadium in 1995. They lost to the Volunteers 31-0 in that game. 

Out of the 28 bowl appearances in school history, 16 have come since the 2002 season. They are 9-7 in those games.

Series history

These teams have an extensive history with each other. Missouri leads the all-time series 29-23, including a victory in 2014. 

Key player to watch for each team

Missouri: Quarterback – Drew Lock

Oklahoma State: Wide Receiver – Tylan Wallace 

Game Notes:

Missouri

The highlight of Missouri’s season was a whipping they applied to Florida. Otherwise, they feasted on a lot of mediocre teams again this year. Drew Lock is certainly a good quarterback, however, can he perform against top-level defenses? That will not be an issue against Oklahoma State, however. The Tigers possess a mid-level defense that struggles specifically against the pass. In fact, they rank 104th in the nation versus the pass which is an issue in this matchup. 

Oklahoma State

The Cowboys are in for a long day defensively as they rank 100th in the country going against the 17th ranked offense. Oklahoma State went just 6-6 this season, however, they did manage to beat Texas along with West Virginia. Star running back Justice Hill is sitting out this game, which significantly impacts the Pokes offense in some ways. Although, when you consider their offense is ranked 10th overall, led by quarterback Taylor Cornelius and a plethora of good wide receiving options, they should be fine. 

Final analysis

Expect the Liberty Bowl to be an absolute shootout. Both defenses struggle against the pass, which means Lock and Cornelius should both be in for big days. Whoever can get a couple of defensive stops or force a key turnover may be the one to pull out a victory. 

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– David Creekmur covers College Football/Basketball, WNBA and College Women’s Sports for Full Press Coverage. Like and follow on Twitter Follow @dmcreek Follow @FPC_College