GLENDALE, Mo. — Mizzou kicker Luke Bauer has always been a Tiger at heart.
There are few photos of him as a toddler when he's not a Tiger, and this past Saturday, his passion came to life on the football field in a moment that his family will never forget.
Bauer executed a fake punt that resulted in a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marquis Johnson—the biggest play of the game in Mizzou's 38-21 win over Kentucky.
His mother, Kathy was watching at home in Glendale.
"I started screaming like an annoying old lady screaming," she said.
His father Jeff was in the stands.
"I was yelling, 'That's my boy, that's my boy, that's my boy,' and everybody realized around me that I was Luke's dad. And everybody came over and just started high-fiving and cheering me," he said.
And the texts started coming.
"About a thousand," Kathy said.
She said she's rewatched the play probably 50 times.
"I was sitting right here, and I was thinking, 'What is he doing? It looks like he's gonna drop it," Kathy reminisced as the family sat down to watch it once more.
Right after the game, Jeff and Luke had another moment to remember when they embraced outside the stadium.
"I saw him, I just started crying and he started crying. Just an emotional moment, and one I'll remember for the rest of my life," Jeff said.
Jeff's life has been difficult lately as he battles stage 4 kidney cancer that has spread to other parts of his body, yet his spirit remains strong.
"I try to live each day. I use the word 'believe' with my son, my other son and my daughter. And I just try to believe each day that there's a long-term plan for me from the guy above, and hopefully everything works out," he said.
In a text message to his son, Jeff wrote, "Believe!! Believe! Believe! Love ya, Dad."
Luke responded, "I will believe and do my best at everything I do!!! Love ya, Luke."
However, there was a split second of not believing on Saturday night from Luke.
"For a second, I didn't think it was gonna get there, but then I saw (Johnson) jump up and I was like 'Oh, this is happening," Luke said.
And for a football program, and most importantly a family, it did.