Referees in Texas-Missouri Game Under Fire for Series of Controversial Calls

SEC officials have turned No. 7 Texas vs. No. 18 Missouri into a referendum on replay, with a string of reviewed calls swinging momentum each way in a game with College Football Playoff stakes.

Texas’ biggest gripe came with 38 seconds left in the first half, when safety Jelani McDonald stripped Missouri wide receiver Cayden Lee and recovered inside the Missouri 20. Officials ruled Lee’s forward progress had been stopped, replay upheld it and the teams went to halftime tied 10-10.

Why didn’t Texas get the fumble?

This was ruled a non-fumble by SEC refs in the Texas vs Missouri game pic.twitter.com/GGkdmHyI6A
— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) November 7, 2026

Missouri quarterback Austin Simmons threw a third-down screen to Lee at the Tigers’ 32-yard line, and the former Ole Miss receiver kept his legs moving toward the first-down marker with several Longhorns wrapped around him. McDonald, a Waco, Texas, native, tore the ball loose before any whistle, and Texas came up with it close enough for at least a short field goal try.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian warned Thursday that “Cayden Lee’s a problem,” but this time his defense had solved him. The ruling on the field and the review both went Missouri’s way anyway.

Former Georgia star and college football analyst David Pollack didn’t hold back on X.

“I thought that was a bad call in Texas/Missouri game. Ball carrier clearly going forward, ball stripped out. Don’t understand that at all. Terrible call,” Pollack wrote.

Longhorns fans on Reddit zeroed in on the same logic. “I don’t think neutral fans are fully appreciating how bad that call was. Giving forward progress but then revoking it because the ball comes loose is blatant favoritism or incompetence,” one Texas fan wrote.

Texas didn’t help itself, either. The Longhorns let the half expire without using a timeout after the stop, and they were flagged five times for 50 yards before halftime.

Arch Manning fumble ruling angers Missouri

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) looks to pass during the first half against the Missouri Tigers | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Missouri had its own list of grievances. Replay overturned the Tigers’ opening-drive touchdown before Simmons found tight end Brett Norfleet for a 2-yard score on fourth down, and a Naeshaun Montgomery catch in the end zone was later ruled incomplete, forcing a 22-yard Blake Craig field goal.

The first-quarter reviews drew attention right away. “10 minutes into the Mizzou-Texas game and we already have 2 instances of replays where the rules expert says the call should be one thing and the result is the opposite,” Chris Marler wrote on X.

Another review wiped out a Lee first-down catch early in the third quarter, and Missouri settled for a 48-yard Craig kick.

The call that set off Missouri fans came with the Tigers up 20-13 late in the third quarter. On third-and-10 from the Missouri 39, Texas quarterback Arch Manning’s arm came forward as Brian Huff hit him, and the ball fluttered downfield while most players stopped. Receiver Emmett Mosley V scooped it up at the Missouri 27 and ran to the 25.

Officials ruled a fumble, replay confirmed it and Texas kept the ball with a first down. Three plays later, Manning found Jermaine Bishop Jr. for a 25-yard touchdown that tied the game 20-20.

Social media turned on the officiating crew from there. “I’ve never seen anything like this so consistently,” one X user wrote about the calls going Texas’ way, while a Reddit thread revived memories of Texas fans throwing debris onto the field before officials reversed a pass interference call against Georgia in 2024. When another fan asked why Missouri supporters didn’t try the same tactic, a Tigers fan replied, “That only works for some schools.”

Not every fan saw a conspiracy. The same Texas fan who blasted the Lee ruling later added, “The bad calls have gone both ways so far, so I’m more leaning to the incompetence side of things.” A Washington fan pushed for more transparency: “SEC needs to implement the Big Ten’s live feed of the reviews because we deserve to hear how they could defend that being a fumble.”

The sequence also fed a narrative that began this week when two-loss Texas landed at No. 7 in the first College Football Playoff rankings and sparked SEC favoritism claims.

What’s next for Texas and Missouri?

This was ruled a fumble and a Texas recovery for a first down.

Should this have been overturned? Missouri fans showed their reaction after the call 😮 pic.twitter.com/ClR6IIQSsY
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) November 7, 2026

The teams entered the fourth quarter tied 20-20, and Texas lost another scoring chance when a holding penalty erased a Mosley catch that would’ve put the Longhorns inside the Missouri 10. Texas punted with less than 10 minutes remaining. With about four minutes left in the game, the Longhorns hold a slight lead, 27-20.

Both 6-2 teams have little margin left. A third loss would put Texas’ playoff path in serious danger, while Missouri still has a trip to Georgia on Nov. 14 followed by home games against Kentucky and Oklahoma.

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy picked Missouri to win this week, pointing to Manning’s turnovers and Texas’ injuries at left tackle and receiver.

Add us as a preferred source on Google