SEC fines Missouri $100,000 for fans storming the field after Kansas State upset

Missouri went wild inside on Faurot Field following their 30-27 win over No. 15 Kansas State on Saturday. The Tigers hopefully got their money’s worth, though, based on their wrist slap from the SEC.

Per a release on Sunday, the Southeastern Conference has fined Missouri for $100,000 following their field storming this weekend. They fined them as part of the conference’s updated policy when it comes to access to the competition area.

NEWS | Missouri incurs fine for violation of @SEC
access to competition area policy

🔗 https://t.co/5o8fHByp9K pic.twitter.com/NafB5H5LP6

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) September 17, 2023

“The Southeastern Conference announced today that the University of Missouri will be fined for a violation of the league’s access to competition area policy due to fans entering the field following its football game against Kansas State University on September 16,” the release read. “Missouri will incur a fine of $100,000 for a first offense under the league’s revised access to competition area policy that was adopted at the SEC Spring Meetings in 2023.”

Mizzou K Harrison Mevis is who sent Memorial Stadium into such an expensive frenzy. After a back-and-forth game, he nailed a 61-yard field goal, the longest in SEC history, to win it. The kick also gave Eli Drinkwitz his third-ranked win as head coach.

The SEC updated this policy at the conference’s spring meetings earlier this year. This is the first offense in the league under the new rules. The first infraction costs $100,000 while the second will cost $250,000. The third and each one to follow will then cost $500,000 apiece.

The program’s first sell-out, one with 62,621 fans in attendance, got to witness and celebrate Missouri’s first 3-0 start since 2018, first Top-25 non-conference win since 1990, and 61st all-time win over the Wildcats. That’s why, to some in attendance, their fieldstorming against their rival is going to end up being worth every penny.

Paul Finebaum: Missouri’s 61-yard field goal bailed out Drinkwitz

Harrison Mevis played hero for this weekend’s slate in college football with his game-winning 61-yard field goal that gave Missouri a 30-27 victory over No. 15 Kansas State. To Paul Finebaum, though, it also might have kept Eli Drinkwitz off of the hot seat.

Finebaum spoke about the game-winner in Columbia during ‘The Matt Barrie Show’ on Sunday afternoon. He said a loss by Mizzou would have made the SEC’s start look even more dreadful, as well as further hurt the perception of Drinkwitz, considering how it was nearly ruined by poor time management right beforehand.

“Can you imagine, assuming we ever got to Missouri had it lost to Kansas State, the clock management of Eli Drinkwitz? It would’ve been one of the biggest topics in college football,” said Finebaum. “He got bailed out by a 61-yard field goal, which would have made (the SEC’s weekend) even worse.”

Disaster nearly struck in the final seconds of the game to send it to overtime. After a timeout by the Wildcats, Missouri ended up taking a nearly catastrophic delay of game penalty. That flag cost them five yards and pushed the field goal to that 61-yard distance.

Still, it didn’t end up mattering in the end. Mevis stepped out, let it fly, and laced the longest kick in the conference’s history between the uprights. The boot gave Missouri their third-ranked win under Drinkwitz. It also tallied their first victory in the rivalry with Kansas State since 2010.

Drinkwitz is now over .500 in his tenure, has what is likely the biggest win of that span, and could now go on to have his best season yet with the Tigers all thanks to the Mevis’ historic kick.