JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Missouri and Virginia have a chance to make history in the Gator Bowl.
The 25th-ranked Tigers (8-4) are trying to win nine games for the third straight season for the first time. The 20th-ranked Cavaliers (10-3) are looking for their 11th win.
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One of those players will score on Saturday night at EverBank Stadium.
“We’ll always be remembered here, which is awesome,” Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris said. “We’re pursuing that every day.”
According to BetMGM Sportsbook, Missouri State is favored by 4 1/2 points, even though Missouri is without starting quarterback Beau Pribula.
Pribula announced plans to enter the transfer portal last week, letting freshman Matt Zollers take over for the Jacksonville Tigers.
This is Pribula’s second search for a new school in as many years. He left Penn State after the 2024 season and arrived at Missouri State, leading the Tigers to a 6-1 start before dislocating his ankle against Vanderbilt in late October.
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Zollers started the two games Pubula missed and threw for 189 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
If things go as planned, the Tigers won’t need Zollers to do much. They plan to rely on All-American running back Ahmad Hardy, who needs 68 rushing yards to break Cody Schrader’s single-season school record (1,627 yards) set in 2023.
“I wish I could understand,” Hardy said.
Hardy will lead most of his teammates in the bowl game. Linebacker and offensive tackle Josiah Trotter (knee) and tight end Brett Norfleet (shoulder) will not play after surgery, and receiver Josh Manning and backup running backs Marquis Davis and Brenden Haygood joined Pribula in announcing their transfer plans.
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“To me, finish what you start,” University of Missouri safety and graduate student Daylan Carnell said. “This is my team. We come into this season and we’re all in this together, right or wrong, good or bad.”
Cavaliers try to erase ACC disappointment
Virginia is very close to making the College Football Playoff. Earlier this month in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, the Cavaliers scored the final 10 points of the fourth quarter against Duke and seemed to have all the momentum heading into overtime. But Duke scored a touchdown on its first possession in overtime and then intercepted a pass to end the game.
“You’ve got to flush it down the drain and move on,” senior safety Antonio Clary said. “It’s heartbreaking to lose like we did. Any athlete will say you’d rather get your ass kicked than lose a game like that, in the last second or something like that.”
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Missouri’s new head coach
The Tigers will have a new head coach heading into the Gator Bowl after losing offensive coordinator Kirby Moore, who most recently served as head coach at Washington State. Coach Eli Drinkwitz said Moore “can’t serve two masters” and has moved on with his new job.
Drinkwitz hired Michigan’s Chip Lindsey to replace Moore, but Lindsey will be a spectator at the bowl game. Drinkwitz said the team will work together as it prepares for the Cavaliers.
Clary comes home
The only player in Virginia coach Tony Elliott’s program to play in a Cavaliers bowl game is Clary, who grew up in Jacksonville. So the sixth-year senior will get a rare homecoming opportunity in the varsity finals.
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Clary shared a childhood photo his mom took of him in the stands at the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars homestand.
“It’s really cool to see that and be able to play my last college game in Jacksonville, especially after everything I’ve been through.”
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