With 2:03 left in the third quarter, everything was trending Auburn's way.
After a rock fight of a first half that had the score deadlocked at three apiece, Auburn opened the half with a touchdown drive, and on its next drive up 17-6, the orange and blue Tigers had a first down at Missouri's 10-yard line.
A touchdown there puts Auburn up three possessions and in all likelihood seals the game for the visiting Tigers.
Auburn had a perfect first down play to get Robert Lewis open for a touchdown, and Payton Thorne delivered a beautiful ball, but it ended up going through Lewis' hands and onto the turf.
The very next play, Thorne took a sack and Auburn had to settle for a field goal that it'd miss, and the rest is history.
That sequence perfectly encapsulated Auburn's season up to this point.
"Those are all feelings that are real and legitimate and probably have an affect on us not finishing games really well," said Hugh Freeze. "We had a really good drive in the third quarter and truthfully it's a touchdown and the game's over. And we have to make that play."
The drop certainly hurt Auburn quite a bit, and nobody felt worse about it than Lewis, but Freeze made sure to mention that one play isn't going to win or lose a game.
"He's one of our greatest kids on our team," Freeze said about Lewis. "And nobody hurt ... He sent a text out to us on the bus, to the team, that would break your heart. Just like, 'That's on me.' And obviously there's a lot of other plays but you make that play or you make that field goal or you make a different call as a coach at a different time, the game could have easily been over."
On the ensuing drive, Brady Cook came back in for Missouri and immediately took the home team 80 yards to cut the Auburn lead to three with the whole fourth quarter remaining.
Auburn proceeded to gain just 22 yards and pick up one first down throughout the remainder of the game.
Missouri ended the game going 95 yards to give it a four-point lead with 46 seconds remaining, and it was a lead the home Tigers never relinquished.
And right before that drive, the visiting Tigers had a first down at the Missouri 37-yard line and proceeded to lose three yards before punting it away.
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, it's been a theme all season for Auburn.
"It feels like our kids are playing really hard," Freeze said. "And pleased to see that and proud of them for that. And they played well for the majority of the game Saturday. But we’ve got to figure out how to finish."
