Blake Craig kicked two field goals in the fourth quarter, his second a 56-yarder with 4:36 left as No. 23 Missouri rallied to beat Iowa 27-24 on Monday in the Music City Bowl at Nashville, Tenn.

Missouri trailed 24-14 when the Tigers started the comeback, scoring the final 13 points for the win. Brady Cook threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Joshua Manning also ran for a TD to key the comeback. Marquis Johnson added 122 yards receiving and a TD catch.

Missouri (10-3) posted the program’s eighth 10-win season.

Iowa (8-5) lost its second straight bowl, denying coach Kirk Ferentz a chance to move up the Big Ten ranks. He remains one behind Woody Hayes’ 205 wins at Ohio State for the most overall wins in league history and his 10 bowl wins keeps him tied with Joe Paterno for the most.

The Hawkeyes went three-and-out on their final two possessions. The last came near midfield with 1:54 left.

Missouri defensive end Johnny Walker got his second sack of the game. Then Missouri made a stop just short of the first on third down, then again on fourth-and-1 to start the celebration and chants of “S-E-C” from fans.

The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 14-7 lead with Terrell Washington Jr. catching a 6-yard pass from Brendan Sullivan, and then Kaden Wetjen returned a kickoff 100 yards just inside the left sideline.

Cook completed 8 of his first 9 passes for 111 yards. He found Theo Wease for his first TD on an 8-yarder, then he connected with Johnson on a 7-yarder early in the second quarter.

Kamari Moulton’s 1-yard run gave Iowa a 21-14 halftime lead. Drew Stevens padded the lead with a 38-yard field goal in the third.

Then Missouri started the comeback. After Manning’s TD late in the third quarter. Toriano Pride Jr. picked off a pass by Sullivan. The Tigers tied it up with a 51-yard field goal by Craig with 10:10 left before he kicked the game-winner.

Alabama and Michigan meet in a rematch

The stakes aren’t as high as they were when No. 11 Alabama and Michigan last met in the postseason, however the Crimson Tide and Wolverines say they’re excited about their New Year’s Eve matchup in the ReliaQuest Bowl at Tampa, Fla.

Today’s game at Raymond James Stadium is a rematch of last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal won by eventual national champion Michigan at the Rose Bowl.

And while some of the big names have changed, highlighted by the departures of Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh, there’s still plenty of star power on the marquee.

Former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, who lost to Michigan in last season’s CFP final, moved to Alabama after Saban retired and is completing his first season with the Crimson Tide.

Sherrone Moore, meanwhile, replaced Harbaugh when the former Wolverines coach left Michigan for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and has experienced some ups and downs in 2024, too.

Despite losing three times and failing to get to the Southeastern Conference championship game, Alabama (9-3) was disappointed to be left out of the expanded 12-team CFP field.

Michigan (7-5) finished seventh in the Big Ten, but enters the ReliaQuest Bowl on a high note after defeating archrival and CFP participant Ohio State.

“Our players are excited. It’s going to be a great challenge with a great team, great opponent,” Moore said Monday. “Ready to kick this thing off.”

It’s not an easy task to follow Saban or Harbaugh, and the ReliaQuest Bowl is not where the Crimson Tide and Wolverines hoped to wind up when the season began.

Still, DeBoer and Moore say it’s good to be in warm weather Florida with an opportunity to finish a year filled with challenges.

“You want to win them all, right? That’s a given. But I think just finishing this year off with a positive would be big for just the direction, for this team to kind of put an end to it, but also to help us just moving forward and the trajectory,” DeBoer said.

“It’s been a whirlwind of 11 months,” DeBoer added. “But I like where we’re at with the mindset, like where we’re at with how things are coming together, and looking forward to taking those next steps.”

Shorthanded Louisville set to face Washington

Harrison Bailey is expected to start at quarterback for Louisville in the Sun Bowl against Washington, which means there won’t be a final trip to Texas for Tyler Shough before he pursues an NFL career.

Before his final college season with the Cardinals (8-4), Shough spent three injury-plagued years at Texas Tech following his transfer from Oregon.

Shough’s opt-out of today’s game in El Paso against the Huskies (6-6) opened the door for Bailey, who played sparingly in coach Jeff Brohm’s first two seasons in a career that started at Tennessee and continued at UNLV.

While Louisville landed former USC QB Miller Moss in the transfer portal, Brohm still sees the Sun Bowl as a 2025 audition for plenty of his players.

“It’s important that they do play well if they want to get a position for next year,” Brohm said. “They need to prove themselves in this football game, and we have to make decisions after that, according to how the game goes.”

The other key opt-outs for Louisville are 1,000-yard receiver Ja’Corey Brooks, defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte and Quincy Riley, who led the secondary with nine pass breakups and had two interceptions. They are joining Shough in preparing for the NFL draft.