A few inches. That was all that separated Missouri from a game-tying Hail Mary touchdown on the final play of Saturday’s game.
Down to their third-string quarterback, Missouri had a last-second opportunity to force overtime. A heave from Matt Zollers to Kevin Coleman Jr. was ruled complete, but Coleman was ruled down just before the goal line, and No. 10 Vanderbilt held on for a 17-10 win.
All throughout, it was a game of margins.
Mizzou outgained Vanderbilt 376-265 in the game. The Tigers out-possessed the Commodores by nearly 13 minutes and ran 33 more plays. Neither team did well on third down. Both teams turned it over once.
But Mizzou, without quarterback Beau Pribula for much of the second half after he injured his left leg early in the third, went 1-for-3 in the red zone.
Missouri missed a field goal from the Vandy 11 and turned it over on downs at the Vandy 1. The Tigers’ fumble came near midfield in the middle of the fourth quarter and led to the game-winning touchdown for Vanderbilt.
Pribula completed 9 of his 14 passes for 68 yards before leaving the game. Zollers completed 14 of his 23 passes for 138 yards and a score in relief.
Ahmad Hardy, the SEC’s leading rusher, gained 97 yards on 20 carries to inch closer to joining Mizzou’s 1,000-yard rushing club.
After Jamal Roberts fumbled with 7:11 to play in the game, Vandy took over at the Mizzou 44. A roughing the passer penalty on Mizzou turned what would have been a third down early in the drive into a Vandy first down. Three plays later, the ‘Dores had pushed inside the red zone.
Another 15-yard penalty on Mizzou negated a holding call the play prior and moved the ‘Dores inside the 15. Quarterback Diego Pavia paid the drive off with a 1-yard rushing score on second down as the clock ticked under 2 to play.
Pavia had just 149 yards of total offense and a touchdown. He also threw a pick.
Vanderbilt (7-1, 3-1 SEC) heads to Texas next weekend. The Commodores are off to their best start since 1941.
No. 10 Vanderbilt 17, No. 15 Mizzou 10
Here’s the Vandy-Mizzou box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Diego Pavia vs Beau Pribula
Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia entered Saturday with favorable Heisman odds. Here’s a statistical breakdown of how Pavia performed against Mizzou counterpart Beau Pribula:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
