No. 10 Vanderbilt Football took down No. 15 Missouri, 17-10, at FirstBank Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 25. With College GameDay on Vanderbilt’s campus in the morning, there was considerable excitement and anticipation for this top-15 showdown. The Commodores had a stellar defensive showing, holding the Tigers to just 10 points and 206 passing yards. While it was a slow start for both teams, with both putting up less than 160 yards of total offense in the first half, the Commodores had a last-minute touchdown drive to seal the game. Diego Pavia did not have his best performance in the black and gold, accumulating just 149 all-purpose yards. Still, the Commodores managed to pull out their third ranked win this season and improve to 7-1 for the first time since 1941.
“That was an ugly win, and yet, it was a win. And we’re not going to complain about that,” head coach Clark Lea said postgame. “We’re going to celebrate it, because if you’re going to be a great team, you’ve got to find ways to win games like that.”
First half
Vanderbilt won the toss and elected to defer, giving Missouri and quarterback Beau Pribula the ball first. A blocked run and two incompletions forced a three-and-out which put the Commodores and Pavia on the field just 45 seconds into the game.
Two unsuccessful runs by Pavia and MK Young set up a crucial third-and-long situation early in the drive. However, the graduate quarterback found Richie Hoskins on a slant route over the middle to pick up the necessary yardage. The Commodores struggled on early downs once again on the next set of downs, though, facing a challenging 3rd-and-8 which they were unable to convert with 10:10 to go in the first quarter. Vanderbilt’s Nick Haberer punted it away as neither team brought its best offensive performance to start the half.
Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy started the Tigers’ next drive strong, finding a big hole on the right side for an 8-yard gain. An incompletion and blocked run set up another third down, which was stopped short for a tackle for loss by Randon Fontenette. Pavia once again had the ball placed back in his hands but went three-and-out as Haberer punted it away for the second time with 4:57 to go in the quarter.
Missouri couldn’t find any momentum on the other side of the field, despite Hardy picking up decent chunk yardage on the ground. The star sophomore began the drive with gains of eight and nine yards, before getting stopped at the line of scrimmage. Pribula threw an incompletion before he was pressured out of the pocket on third down, forcing yet another punt from Missouri’s Connor Weselman.
Vanderbilt received the ball back with 2:25 left in the first quarter. Pavia found a gap on the right side to start the drive, running with a purpose to pick up 13 yards. A 16-yard completion to receiver Tre Richardson put the Commodores at their own 41-yard-line as Young ran out the clock in the quarter with the game knotted up at 0-0.
Pavia began the second quarter with a designed run, picking up four yards. A 15-yard facemask penalty put the Commodores inside Missouri territory for the first time in the game. Several costly penalties eventually ended Vanderbilt’s hope of scoring on the drive, as delay of game and unnecessary roughness penalties set them outside of field goal range when fourth down arrived.
Missouri finally found some offensive momentum in its subsequent drive, capping it off with a successful field goal courtesy of Robert Meyer. Pribula was incredibly efficient in the drive, finding five different receivers while connecting on seven pass attempts. Missouri also sucked up a large chunk of possession time, using over seven minutes to run much of the second quarter clock. Meyers eventually knocked in the 39-yarder for Missouri to take a 3-0 lead with 5:11 to go in the half.
Vanderbilt got the ball back after an attempted kick return by Tre Richardson. Pavia immediately connected with Richardson on a hefty 39-yard reception to get well inside Tiger territory. Three-straight completions by Pavia to Junior Sherill, Eli Stowers and Richardson put the Commodores in the red zone. Once again, though, penalties got the best of them. A holding penalty and a false start forced Vanderbilt to settle for a field goal as Brock Taylor tied it up at 3-apiece with 2:00 to go in the half.
The Tigers executed a perfectly designed run for receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. on their final drive of the half, as he burst through for a 34-yard gain. But a holding call on Missouri’s Cayden Green pushed them out of field goal range as they settled for a punt after being backed up. Pavia kneeled the ball to end the first half.
The Commodores entered the locker room tied with the Tigers, 3-3, as neither offense had a stellar half. Missouri outgained Vanderbilt 156-141 in total yards in a somewhat ugly affair that saw both defenses tested.
Second half
Vanderbilt received the ball to begin the third quarter, and Richardson attempted to run the kick back. He got out to the 20-yard-line before Alexander rushed the ball twice to force a third down. Pavia dropped back in the pocket, attempting to hit Stowers, but it was batted up at the line of scrimmage, and Missouri’s Damon Wilson was there for the pick just under two minutes into the half. The Tigers took over in the red zone as they tried to take the lead for the second time.
The Tigers plugged Hardy and Coleman on designed runs to bring the ball to Vanderbilt’s 3-yard-line. The Commodores got three consecutive stops to force a critical fourth down. Missouri opted to go for it but was stopped short as Pribula tried to score on the keeper. The graduate quarterback was then carted off the field with an apparent leg injury with 11:15 to go in the third.
With possession of the ball again, Vanderbilt couldn’t get it off the goal line, running two consecutive ineffective run plays before completing a short pass to Hoskins to bring up fourth down. The Commodores punted it away for the fourth time, as Pavia still struggled to find any momentum with his arm.
Missouri took control once again from midfield, hoping to avenge its turnover on downs from the previous possession. With backup quarterback Matt Zollers in the game for Pribula, the Tigers relied heavily on Hardy and the run game to start. Zollers worked up some confidence, though, connecting on four straight attempts to push his team into the red zone. The Commodores eventually forced a fourth down after an incompletion and two stopped runs. Meyers stepped up for the field goal and knocked it straight off the upright, another unlucky break for the Tigers in the red zone as they came up empty on another opportunity at the 4:04 mark.
With a new possession and a fresh set of downs, Vanderbilt once again trotted onto the field to try to take the lead. Young immediately burst through a hole on the right side, taking it 80 yards to the house to turn the game in Vanderbilt’s favor at 10-3 with 3:51 to go in the third quarter.
The Tigers weren’t set on going home quite yet, though. Zollers executed the ensuing drive to perfection, utilizing six minutes of clock to eventually tie it up at 10-10. The drive kicked off with several rushes by Hardy, who found a big hole on second down for 17 yards. Zollers connected on several short passes to advance into Vanderbilt territory as time in the third quarter dwindled. Zollers eventually found Jude James for the touchdown to tie it up with 13:14 to go in the fourth.
Vanderbilt once again went three-and-out on its next drive after two unsuccessful runs from Alexander and an incomplete pass by Pavia. Missouri started from the 24-yard-line after the punt and went right back to work with Hardy on the ground. Once at midfield, there was a miscommunication between Zollers and Roberts, leading Vanderbilt safety CJ Heard to strip the ball to regain Vanderbilt’s possession with 7:11 to go in the fourth quarter.
Pavia immediately benefitted from two penalties on Missouri — roughing the passer and pass interference — to advance it into the red zone. Young and Alexander picked up solid yardage to advance it to 6-yard-line before Pavia ran it to the 1-yard-line as the game hit the two-minute warning.
After the warning, Alexander seemingly fumbled the ball, but it was later overturned and marked as carry of no gain. Pavia then ran a quarterback keeper out of the shotgun into the end zone for Vanderbilt to take a 17-10 lead with 1:52 remaining in the game.
FirstBank Stadium then rose to its feet as Missouri looked to put together a final touchdown drive to tie it. Zollers looked rattled in the pocket from the first snap of the drive but benefitted from a pass interference call to get a fresh set of downs. A final hail mary attempt by Zollers was caught but short of the goal line, giving Vanderbilt the 17-10 win as time ran out.
Pavia finished the day with 149 all-purpose yards while Vanderbilt’s running back room was led by Young with 86 rushing yards. The Commodores have now knocked off three top-20 opponents this season.
“The only reason I am up here is because I play quarterback for the team, but I think there are lots of guys on defense who really changed the game,” Pavia said postgame.
Vanderbilt returns to action in Austin, Texas, as it faces the Texas Longhorns on Nov. 1.
